For as long as it’s sat high above Franconia Notch, in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Cannon Cliff has been slowly but surely losing its battle with gravity. If you have any doubts, just look at the giant talus slope running more than a half-mile along its base, where you’ll find the remnants of the Fugue rockfall (early 1990s), Whaleback Crack (1997), and most recently, the Old Man of the Mountain himself (2003).
The wall has a number of classic, well-traveled routes, but when asked to choose their all-time favorite, most Cannon aficionados proclaim Vertigo the best of the best. First climbed in 1971 by Paul Ross, John Bragg, and Michael Peloquin, the route has two features that make it entirely unique in the East: a sporty pendulum and a committing 5.9 R offwidth. And while a lot of other routes on this wall follow exfoliating, hollow flakes, Vertigo climbs a 400-foot granite buttress reminiscent of Yosemite or Squamish. This is one route that won’t be joining the talus anytime soon.
You’ll find Vertigo near the middle of Cannon Cliff, just north of the Big Wall section. The guidebook recommends starting on the first pitch of Union Jack, a zigzagging 5.6 hand and fist crack that finishes at a comfortable ledge about 100 feet up. Another option is to bypass the ledge and climb the pendulum as part of a rope-stretcher first pitch. Above, Vertigo tackles splitter 5.9 fingers to tips. When the crack blends back into the dihedral at a small roof, fiddle in a nut and make wild, awkward moves around the arête to a bolted belay.
As the name implies, the Half Moon Crack (left) curves in a gentle arch, climbing (almost immediately) from fingers to offwidth. Place cams deep inside down low and steel yourself for a solid 25 feet of unprotected offwidth. The fall from high within the Half Moon is unthinkable, so look for a tiny nut placement in a flake, just before your final thrutch up and out of the fissure.
From the top of the Half Moon you can reach the ground in two 60m raps. But first, stop to soak up views of Eagle Cliff and Mount Lafayette, on the other side of the alluring Franconia Notch.
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