Already stacked with four-star alpine rock climbs, the Incredible Hulk in California’s Sierra Nevada got two more cool routes in 2024. Reports from the Hulk by Abel Jones and Jeremy Collins will be published in AAJ 2025; we’re previewing them here for those who might like to sample the goods this summer. You can find the complete reports, more photos, and topos for the climbs at the AAJ website—see the links below.
Over 15 years of exploring and countless days of dreaming led to the discovery of a new route on the tallest section of the Incredible Hulk. The basis for the route was an array of features I had spied over the years while climbing classics on the peak’s roughly 1,200-foot walls. During the COVID-19 lockdowns and California’s smoke apocalypse of 2020, my wife, Monica, and I took extended climbing trips to the area, armed with binoculars and our imaginations. We spent a lot of time gazing from the cliffs surrounding Maltby Lake, which offer a unique perspective from slightly up-canyon of the typical bivy area.
Putting a rough plan in place, I spent the next couple of years roping in various partners for ground-up exploration. We scoured the right side of the west face of the Hulk, trying to link the desired crack systems. After cruising dreamy, well-protected sections, we’d be stymied by closed seams or blank faces that forced us onto existing routes or dangerously loose terrain. We pioneered some decent pitches that led to nowhere in the area left of what became our final line, and we did a chossy 5.10 that topped out to the left of Red Dihedral, right of our final line.
With our ground-up methods exhausted, we started swinging around to seek out the highest-quality free climbing. The advice I got from other developers was to “make it classic,” and we aimed for that. I spent two summer seasons—2022 and 2023—scrubbing and equipping, primarily alone.
In the summer of 2024, my wife and I attempted the route and found it harder than expected. We had to redpoint most of the five 5.12s, cleaning and working our way up. The crux third pitch, a beautiful 5.13- splitter, was out of my league due to soaring summer temperatures and my still-developing fitness.
Monica and I worked out a 5.11 variation around the pitch, but the direct route deserved a proper send. Eventually the temperatures dropped, and with refined beta and support from one of the Sierra’s main crushers, Chase Leary, I was able to pull off a no-falls free ascent on August 28. The ascent included a thrilling runout due to skipping the gear placements I had rehearsed for the 5.13- crux—I climbed through the hardest part to a thumb jam, then barely got in a below-knee placement. I also got to witness some amazing onsighting by Chase, and the absolute glory light and stoke we had topping out the 1,200’ line.
Choose Joy (12 pitches, IV 5.13a) is a safe, no-grovel endurance route characterized by sustained 5.11 to 5.12- crack and face climbing between nice belay stances. We placed bolts where necessary. This route provided me with a ton of joy, and I hope it will do the same for others.
— Abel Jones
If you are an active AAC member, you can download a PDF of the 384-page 2025 American Alpine Journal right now and discover hundreds of new climbs. Log in to your Member Profile, look for the Publications section, and open the download link. The printed AAJ will be mailed out in September.
Have you climbed a long new route this year in the Alaska, Peru, Bolivia, or Greenland? We’re working ahead on these sections for the 2026 AAJ. Email us about significant first ascents here or anywhere in the world!
It’s a funny story: My first time hiking in to climb the Incredible Hulk was in 2003 with my friend Allen Currano. He caught wind of a prank I was going to pull, and he found a way to meet me at my own juvenile level. We both changed into spandex Spider-Man costumes at the base and did probably the first team Marvel superhero ascent of the peak. Other lighthearted ascents followed as I fell in love with the place, including a stimulating ski-in February ascent of Beeli...
https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/6/22/the-line-new-routes-on-the-incredible-hulk
