Long Dong New Routes Series – Siddhartha

Siddhartha 流浪者之歌

Grand Auditorium, trad, 5.11a?

Siddhartha is the fourth new routes (that are not included in the 2012 guidebook) left of Via de Drago. These four routes are Jasmine Beauty  (orange line in the photo below), White Handsome Devil (green), Jafar’s zaba-caba-dabra (red), and Siddhartha (yellow). Each one has its own style and requires different techniques. They all start from the same belay ledge, a cozy corner shaded in the whole morning where you can take time to savor the fun and challenge of trad climbing.

Photo by Li-chin Chuang

Siddhartha starts from the left verge of the belay ledge. Step out of the ledge to get to the dihedral on the left. Go straight up to the interesting crux, the small overhanging crack, and continue climbing the dihedral all the way up to the very top of the crag. Be careful: there can be some loose rocks in the inner corner before and after the crux. The protection for the crux is obvious and solid. Just give it a try!

Important note: Wherever you set up the station on the starting ledge, extend the self-belay for the belayer so that he can stand approximately where the blue circle is. Otherwise the rope can possibly be damaged by the arête there during a leading fall!

Gears: Black Diamond camalot #0.2 to #3 (#4 and #6 might be helpful but not necessary)

↑The starting part of the route. Instead of slinging the loose chock stone as done in the photo, placing a #6 in the wide crack or small gear in the horizontal thin cracks on the left face may be a better option.

↑The loose block under the roof has been cleaned. Still, be careful of other loose rocks when climbing.

Article by Ya-te Chen

Photos & Info & Grading suggestion by Kai-ming Lo, Yung-hui Hsu, Ben Tsai