Pluto's Playground

Pluto's Playground  is essentially the 2nd pitch of a two-pitch sport route that starts with Make Believe. This upper pitch, which starts out of a gulley above Make Believe that eventually heads downhill toward SLAMAT and Moonstone, doesn't seem to see a lot of traffic, and we kept kicking micro pebbles off it. Nonetheless, the rock quality and movement are quite good. The route features some bigger, steeper moves that utilize positive knobs, crimps, and dishes. There are a couple thoughtful blank slabby friction sections as well (one of which is probably the crux).The difficulty of a somewhat bouldery start could be eased by stemming off the fin that constitutes the top of Make Believe. The 5.9+ rating of Pluto's Playground  might seem a bit soft (it actually seemed a touch easier than the sandbagged Make Believe) compared to other 5.9+ climbs at the rather stiffly-graded Magna Carta crag, but would be quite on the mark elsewhere at Rushmore. I decided to list the R safety rating for this route that I think was in the old Phinney guidebook as opposed to the PG13 in the more modern Busse and Burr version. While most of this route is well-bolted, there was a runout slabby section that was not entirely trivial. A fall there could well result in the leader falling on top of the belayer, decking in the gulley, or getting impaled on the fin at the top of Make Believe . Any of those possibilities would make for a bad day indeed... in addition to the fact that any stricken leader would be around 100 feet above the ground.

2nd blade from the top of Marker (NE). Directly above Make Believe. Just right of the crack. NW-facing. With a little scrambling, the tops of some other routes are accessible from the Pluto's Playground  anchors. Is That Uranus for sure, and I think some others.

6 Bolts