Northern Comfort

Northern Comfort is an independent pitch worth the effort that branches off from the stellar first pitch of '

Southern Comfort

.' I went for this option instead of the 5.7 option to finish

Southern Comfort

in order to keep the grade consistent at the 5.9 level.

P1. Climb P1 of

Southern Comfort

past the first 'sling belay' opportunity and up into the corner to the right of the overhanging flake and belay off of hand-sized gear (120').

P2. The independent pitch: break left onto semi-positive face holds (5.8-), and climb up with occasional nuts or Aliens up and right, then go up a handcrack with good gear up and left to the summit (70').

With good sling management, this would have likely gone well as a single pitch with a 70m rope. A 60m rope would reach the top but not back to were you need to get to set an anchor, and the bottom is not good simul-climbing material.

This is a pitch branching out left from

Southern Comfort

on the upper half.

Small stoppers to 3", no additional gear beyond what you'd use for

Southern Comfort

, really. 1.5-3" gear is available for the belay at mid-climb. Take your choice if you choose to stop there, but be sure to have a few extras in that size to account for that.

I did not find any use for the RPs the Haas book mentions being useful, nor was the route ever runout. Perhaps some judgment about odd placements on the first section of the second pitch merit the PG-13 grade assigned in that book.