Lover's Leap is a steep

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

cliff band in

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a landmark which catches the eye as one travels by, and a popular destination for climbers. The origin of its name is unknown, but common to most

Lover's Leap Lover's Leap, or (in plural) Lovers' Leap, is a toponym given to a number of locations of varying height, usually isolated, with the risk of a fatal Falling (accident), fall and the possibility of a Suicide by jumping from height, deliberate jum ...

s, one version from local folklore says two Native Americans lovers leapt to their deaths from the summit.

Geography

The cliffs of Lover's Leap run horizontally through the

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others countie ...

for over , with heights between . The formation faces towards the northwest, and lie just south of

Route 50 The following highways are numbered 50: International * European route E50 Brazil * BR-050 Canada * Alberta Highway 50 * Manitoba Highway 50 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 50 * Ontario Highway 50 (Also referred to as Peel Regional Road 5 ...

, between

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

and

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. The historic

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...

trail roughly parallels Route 50, and runs directly beneath Lover's Leap. The closest major urban center is the Tahoe area about 10 miles to the northeast. The cliff is at the northern terminus of a sloping ridge that runs southwest for six miles to the peak of Little Round Top. The Forest Service operates the nearby Lover's Leap Campground, and the historic

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

Lodge is also nearby.

Climbing

Lover's Leap is a popular climbing destination with over one hundred and fifty established routes. It is best known for its

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

multi-pitch routes, often using granite

dikes Dyke or dike may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), formations of magma or sediment that cut through and across the layering of adjacent rocks * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess ...

for holds; but the area also includes some boulder problems. Bruce Cooke established the first recorded climbing route here, a chimney in the middle of the wall, around 1950. A handful of routes were put in the following decade by local climbers (some with the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

) from the

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

and the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. Routes established in this early period included future classics '' Corrugation Corner'', and ''

Bear's Reach The Bear's Reach is a technical rock climbing route on Lover's Leap near Lake Tahoe, California. Considered a classic for its grade, it includes both face and crack climbing. The route is named for the crux of the second pitch, a long reach bet ...

'', a route made famous half a century later by a

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

in which

Dan Osman Daniel Eugene Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998) was an American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sport of free-soloing, rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear. He participated in rope jumping, fallin ...

speed climbed it. The 'Leap gained its current climbing popularity during the 1960s and 1970s, a period during which the first ascents of most notable new lines were done. '' Traveler Buttress'', featured in ''

Fifty Classic Climbs of North America ''Fifty Classic Climbs of North America'' is a 1979 climbing guidebook Climbing guidebooks are used by mountaineers, alpinists, ice climbers, and rock climbers to locate, grade, and navigate climbing routes on mountains, climbing crags, or ...

'', was put up in 1966. Well-known climber

Royal Robbins Royal Robbins (February 3, 1935 – March 14, 2017) was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, Robbins went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent o ...

moved to the area from

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

during the 1970s, and opened the first climbing school at Lover's Leap. Some popular routes at Lover's Leap today are:

References

{{reflist

External links

Lovers Leap on SummitPost.orgLovers Leap on MountainProject.comLovers Leap on RockClimbing.comLover's Leap GuidesStrawberry Station - Climbing gear!
Climbing areas of California Landforms of El Dorado County, California Rock formations of California Tourist attractions in El Dorado County, California Landforms of the Sierra Nevada (United States)