Yosemite- Voyager

back to home page

March 22, 2026

Voyager is a classic and fun low-commitment route up the west side of Fifi Buttress. It has some of the grippiest rock in Yosemite and is very well protected to the point of being overbolted in some spots. One can expect a wide variety of climbing from a wide range of crack sizes to stemming corners to slabby boulder problems. In late March, the route stayed in the shade until around 1pm.  

Routes climbed:

Name	Grade (YDS)	# Pitches	Quality (1-5)	Type
Voyager	5.11c	7	5	trad

Gear

- 70m rope

- cams: doubles .2-2, triple .6-.75, single 3,4

- a few small to medium stoppers

- 10 alpine draws

Total Stats

1.2 miles

1,200 ft gain/loss

Approach

From Bridalveil Falls Trailhead, we headed directly south and slightly left on a decently obvious climbers trail which pretty quickly reached a bouldery riverbed. We boulder hopped up this riverbed until forward progress was abruptly blocked by the vertical sheer wall of Fifi Buttress. From there we turned left and headed up a prominent class 2-3 ramp to the base of the route. 

The following pitch descriptions (in blue) are taken directly from Mountain Project, with my remarks below each one. 

P1 (5.11a, 105 ft)

Blocky bolt-protected climbing leads to a long clean stretch of fingers in a corner. Stemming and jamming segues into fun face climbing on edges and knobs. Step right to a bolted anchor below the tree. Alternatively, continue to a larger ledge and below directly below the base of the next pitch. 

The first half of this pitch was easy and great for warm up. Halfway through, the angle steepened into a right-leaning dihedral where amazing stemming and face moves were had. 

Julian following pitch 1

P2 (5.10c, 105 ft)

Move up and past the tree to the base of a stem box. Climb the corner past a small roof. Wide stemming leads to a bolted anchor next to a large ledge.

Easy decompression pitch. There were only a few real moves amidst a lot of scrambling. 

P3 (5.11c, 80 ft)

The Incinerator! Flared fingers in a left-facing corner. Lay it back or stem it out. Keep your cool or you might get...burned. Heh. Bolted anchor.

My mouth watered as I stared up this pitch. A wavy finger crack split an amazingly geometric dihedral. I started off stemming, but eventually turned to climbing the crack straight in as the angle made stemming awkward. A few thank-god hand jams were found at the top. 

P4 (5.11c, 70 ft) 

Boulder Problem. Move right across a ledge to the first bolt. Nice movement leads past a couple bolts to a stance at the base of a short right-facing corner. Technical difficulties begin as the corner ends and the slab begins. Draws and a few finger-sized pieces are all you need for this pitch. Bolted anchor. 

Short pitch. Well protected climbing with a bolt or two led to a short corner with a few small gear placements, a bolt, and a boulder problem. Julian skipped the gear and gunned for the bolt and took a 15 ft fall. Besides a slightly dinged up heel, he was mostly unphased and repeated the move, this time placing the extra cam. I fell off the cryptic boulder problem on my first go on follow in which the beta became more obvious. I pulled the rope to redpoint the pitch on my second go.

looking up pitches 4 & 5

P5 (5.11a, 105 ft)

Delicate opening sequence of stemming in a steep corner. Hit a jam and pull into a stretch of hands and fists. Bolted anchor.

Another short pitch of great corner climbing. Some fun scrunchy stemming led up to a small roof and some cracks that were wider but just not wide enough to require offwidth technique.

looking down pitch 5

P6 (5.10c, 105 ft)

Follow the cracks up into lower angle terrain. As the crack thins and the angle eases look for a bolt on the right. Clip it and move right onto the slab. Face climbing leads past another bolt to a stance. Work your way up a fist crack in a short left-facing pillar. Bolted anchor.

Fun thin cracks led to a rightward slab traverse with bolts. One of these bolts was missing a hanger but it wasn't really needed anyway. A short fist crack after the slab led to the base of an obvious splitter.

looking up pitches 6 & 7

P7 (5.11a, 105 ft)

Starts out with a punchy crux of overhanging tight hands. Gain a stance, catch your breath, and press on through an enjoyable hand crack to a blocky section below the anchor. Watch for loose rock here. A tricky mantle guards the anchors. Bolted anchor.

A couple crispy ringlocks to tight hands quickly brought me to the good hands section of this awesome crack. Easy corner climbing led to the anchors. Bring the whole rack. 

Descent

We did 6 raps with a single 70m rope, linking the raps for pitches 5 & 4 into one.