One of my top five ORG routes.  Perfect rock, sustained, intricate climbing and a unique belay, nearly in the river, combine for a memorable sport pitch.

From the very right side of the Social Platform, climb down a man-made rock wall, then traverse above the river to a scaffolding where the belay is established.  Santana itself passes 8 bolts on immaculate rock with three cruxes: getting to the roof above the 2nd bolt (long way from B2 to B3, may want supplemental yellow Alien or small nut), above the 5th bolt and above the 7th.  The upper cruxes are somewhat atypical for the gorge -- off vertical technical face moves.  There are anchors after the 8th bolt (if you rap here, it takes work to keep your ropes out of the river), but for full value, keep going onto the Abraxas finish, 8 more bolts of vertical face (rock quality deteriorates a little) with a 10d crux near the end.  From the end of Abraxas, rap 90' to the top of the Hotcake Flake whence another single-rope rap will get you to the ground.

Note: the route was put in before the river was restored.  The original start is now underwater as is, I believe, the first bolt.

Santana

Chillin at the Grill

Bone Up

Ned Guy's Big Bang

Bury The Boner

Skeletons in the Closet

Orange Peel

Ned Guys's Proud Pearl Necklace

Tumbling Dice

Abraxas Finish

Return To Forever

Fresh Squeezed

The Gambler

Bats in the Belfry

Book of Bones

Scrutinized

Roll Me

Spinal Fracture

Start in the same place as for Orange Peel but follow the bolt line that leads straight up. The easiest ground in the beginning is found by wandering a bit right and then left. Either way leads you to a juggy flake, then a cool and athletic sequence past slopers, sidepulls, gastons, and underclings over a bulge. A pumpy clip then easier ground leads to the anchor.

Varied Face climbing leads through a roof up high.  Sustained and pumpy.  Classic.

Begin by climbing Ned Guy's Proud Pearl Necklace, and instead of traversing to the anchor of Spinal Fracture, continue direct up a steep and featured face. A full 35 meters. tie a knot.

to the right of bone up, shares the first bolt. should clean up nice.

Climb a seam through a bulge.  More technical than pumpy.  Survive on good footwork and route reading skills on this one.

Very fun, crimpy (of course). Fairly slick rock but on positive holds. Route trends right. Good warm up route.

Start down to the right of Darshan (2 bolt lines right). 2nd bolt is a bit of a run from first, but relatively easy climbing. Crux is going from second to last bolt to the jug (or from last bolt to crack if you are short). Consistently good climbing.

You got to roll me.

This exciting face climbing on this pitch may deserve the R rating ML gives it, but it can be done safely.  The crux comes after the first bolt and there is a good chance of crapping out if your partner in crime is not belaying from the correct spot.  It is tempting to belay from the anchors atop Return to Forever, but this will introduce enough slack into the system that decking from the crux becomes a much greater possibility.  Instead, belay off gear at the top left end of the Hotcake Flake, perhaps 15' up and L of the RTF anchors.  Cheating like I don't know how, it is possible to place some sus gear between the first bolt and the crux (red or gold Camalot, red or brown Tri Cam).  The gear above the crux is widely spaced but the falls would be clean -- you won't see the time flashing by.

Descent: rap 100' to the top of the Hotcake Flake, then rap 50' from there to the ground using the Return to Forever anchors.

Climb Santana (11c), then continue up exposed vertical face (10d).

Fresh Squeezed climbs the prominent arete on the right side of the face you can see through the trees from the bottom of the Central Gorge Approach Trail.

Fun positive edges take you past two bolts to a fun move up and slightly left to a large hold. From the large hold clip the third bolt and contemplate your options. A fun sequence takes you back to the arete for two more bolts and eventually the chains. Shares anchor with the every popular 5.10c Orange Peel, which begins 20 feet to the left of the arete. If you find the right sequence you can stay completely off of Orange Peel at no harder than .11c.

Fun, long new route that leads to a great perch high above the river. Bring several runners and with a little back cleaning do it in one mondo pitch. Bring your second up while you enjoy the great view looking down on the river and the action below and across the way. Sure there is still some looseness but nothing scary and will only keep getting better with traffic. Lower your partner to the ground then have them lower you to the P1 anchor and then rap from there.

A fun moderate continuation of Skeletons in the Closet. Crux near top of route.

This is the dihedral you see when arriving to Social Platform. The movement is fun but the rock quality leaves some to be desired. Some scrappy flakies inside the crack should clean up with more ascents.

Getting over the first bulge is ugly and awkward, and a 5" cam may help. Then its a long stretch of moderate jamming and stemming to the anchors.

Not much chalk on this line.  Maybe that's why you never see people on it or at least I never do.  You get your game on from the first moves and keep it on until you join Skeletons in the Closet.  The moves for me were often inobvious and they just kept coming. Don't expect many big jugs on this route but technical climbing and good footwork, plus a grunt or three, will get you from one good hold to the next. After the last hard move you keep it together for a bit of a run to join Skeletons.   Although never hard this run kept my attention(otherwise this climb is well bolted). After that it's mostly a cruise to the anchor.

Fun mixed crack and face climbing to a great pocketed face and cruxy finish

Acrobatic moves on a mix of jugs, crimps, and finger-to-hand crack.  Listed in the guide as a gear route, but recently retro-bolted.

Description

Protection

Routes in Social Platform