A 16-Pitch Run-Out Chossy Seaside Traverse

War and Peace, originally graded E5, is an epic 16-pitch traverse across Craig Dorys, on chossy stone. It was originally climbed by Pat Littlejohn and Steve Sustad in 1997 over two-and-a-half days, with 20 hours of climbing time.

The guidebook quoted Littlejohn as saying, “It would go well in two days with a bivvy, a one-day ascent would be very impressive, as it’s the sort of ground you can’t rush.” In 2021, 24 years later, Nick Bullock and Mick Lovatt took on the challenge of attempting to make the second ascent. Paul Diffley and Ray Wood followed their progress. As Wood says about a new video series (watch episode one below), “This documentary is as much a character study, highlighting the depth of a strong climbing partnership, as a record of the climb.”

Bullock and Lovatt climbed 10 pitches on the first day, with pitch eight proving particularly “naughty” as Lovatt described it. “Down climbing the sandy groove to the belay was on really poor quality rock, even by Dorys standards. I had eight pieces in at what was still a shit stance and I was concerned about Nick falling down the groove and directly on to the belay.” The finished the route on day two.

After the climb, Bullock said, “Well that has sated my desire for choosy ledge shuffling for a while. It’ll take some time to sink in and absorb that journey. It was the second ascent of a route that’ll probably never get a third one.” And Lovatt said, “As an experience it was a bit mind numbing, having to pull on suspect rock for so long. Fatigue definitely became an issue. My fingers and hands were cramping and with very little shade on the crag I don’t think we drunk enough. Lots of hanging belays.”

Chossy Traverse