Yosemite- Hotline

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October 10, 2026

Hotline is a fun and well protected 7-pitch route that ascends the west side of Worst Error Pinnacle, a detached tower located on the west side of Elephant Rock. It could be best described as a moderate route with two short difficult cruxes sprinkled in. Overall we found clean rock, decent movement, and several short and sweet pitches. We climbed the route as a group of three.

Routes climbed

Name	Grade (YDS)	# Pitches	Quality (1-5)	Type
Hotline	5.12b	7	4	trad

Peaks/Towers climbed

Peak	Elevation	Topographic Prominence	Summit Coordinates (lat/lon)
Worst Error Pinnacle	4,142 ft	200+ ft	37.71456, -119.71521

Gear

- 60m rope

- tagline or second rope (for raps)
- cams: doubles 0.3-3, optional 4

- 10 alpine draws

Total Stats

0.7 miles

600 ft gain/loss

Approach

We started from a paved pullout on the east side of SR-140, 2.5 miles west of the 120/Big Oak Flat Rd intersection. There was a clear view of both Elephant Rock and Worst Error Pinnacle to the northeast. 

After rock-hopping across the Merced River (this approach would be way more difficult in the spring with high water), we located a very faint use-trail marked with cairns and followed it east to the base of the route. There was some light bushwhacking to be had through bay trees and some surprisingly spiky pine needles. We located the start of pitch 1 as a prominent left-facing corner capped by a large triangle-shaped block, about 200 ft left (north) of the lowest point of Worst Error Pinnacle. 

Pitch 1 (5.10c, 90 ft)

A great warmup off the bat. A mix of crack and face climbing headed up and right of the triangular block, passing by a rattly chockstone. A short finger crack rooflet led over to a good hand crack and a single bolt which marked the end of pitch 1. The single bolt could be supplemented with a hand-sized cam for an anchor. 

Pitch 2 (5.12b, 50 ft)

I headed straight up the obvious hand crack which quickly turned to strenuous thin hands and then fingers. About 30 ft above the belay, I clipped a bolt out right and one-hung the crux, a strenuous bouldery hand traverse dead right with bad feet. After the initial hard move, I continued further right on easier terrain, arriving at a bolted anchor. 

Colin following pitch 2

Pitch 3 (5.10, 110 ft)

This was the pitch I was waiting for. A deluxe perfect splitter headed straight up, reminiscent of Indian Creek more than Yosemite. The climbing was straightforward and only slightly pumpy as a short section of thin hands became perfect hands for a while and wide hands at the end as the crack turned into a shallow corner. I belayed at bolts at a large ledge where the crack abruptly ended.  

Andrew leading pitch 3

Pitch 4 (5.9+, 80 ft)

The next couple pitches headed up the obvious chimney above, broken up by a ledge with old slings around it. They were fun and surprisingly burly. Pitches 4 and 5 linked easily.

Pitch 5 (5.9+, 80 ft)

This continued up the chimney system to a pair of bolts on a sloping ledge. Linked with pitch 4. 

Pitch 6 (5.11c, 60 ft)

A splitter hand crack out left led up to a thin and bouldery roof which for me felt harder than the pitch 2 crux. All three of us fell on it. Colin continued past the bolted belay above and easily linked into pitch 7. 

Pitch 7 (5.10+, 50 ft)

This pitch was defined by a slabby boulder problem about 20 ft up after clipping a single bolt. After that move, easier terrain led up to a giant sub-summit ledge with a bolted anchor. 

We lounged around on the giant sub-summit ledge for a while as another group below us made their way up. The actual highpoint of Worst Error Pinnacle was a 10 ft detached block leaning up against the main wall of Elephant Rock. I easily scrambled up this. I looked down to see a deep chasm between Worst Error Pinnacle and Elephant Rock, indicating that Worst Error was completely detached. The chasm was only about 7-8 ft across but dropped down into blackness, likely over 200 ft down. 

on the sub-summit ledge

atop the pinnacle

Descent

With two ropes, it was possible to easily descend back to the base in three raps. Rap 1 went from the summit to the top of pitch 5. Rap 2 descended the two chimney pitches to the top of pitch 3. Rap 3 reached the ground from there.