The Showdown - 5.12a

Thought it was a easier warm up route. I was wrong. Well protected though.

Return to Holcomb to work on this project. A much faster climb, but was again the last climb of the day and ran out of energy and finished ugly (although a lot less ugly than last time).

Because this route requires endurance (due to its length) and power, I highly suggest making this the 2nd or 3rd climb of a fresh day.

There is a way around the slaby airy bulge at the top by traversing left onto the 10b... and because you can still touch the bolt line, it's technically not off route (but resist the templatation if you really want to complete this route the RIGHT way).

There are more crimps than I remembered last time at the top section. If your hands are fresh, you can easily dig in your fingertips and power the moves.

The problem with relying on one's memory as a guide to routes is the fact that mine is about as solid as swiss cheese. For some reason I thought the Showdown was a pretty easy 10+... and that turned out to be WRONG. Had I know the grade, I would have never attempted... this is the making of an ugly climb (even on top rope).

The climb starts in the 5.10 range with slabby face climb... the first difficult section is getting over the bulge of a flaky block about a quarter of the way up. Look for thin mini flakes for crimping but for those of you ladies out there, you can actually get the tips of your fingers in between the flakes and the wall, giving you additional security as you power up the route.

The crux is near the top when the wall thin out to bulbous rock knobs, which does make the climb difficult, but not impossible. You can palm and squeeze around the knobs for small upward moves. You have to trust your feet.

Overall good climb, and DEFINITELY NOT A REAL 5.12a (more like a 11b).

Fun climbing. The top crux off the shitty crimps was a bit sequency for me. Gave it two tries. Will go back to RP.

Update: June 21, 08
Went back to get this and got it on my second try. Really fun climbing IMO. This is probably the first sport climb I have actually tried more than once or twice.

crimpy and short easy for the grade imo. crux is well protected