guidebook's Logbook (20 ascents)

This is one of my favorite climbs, long, good pump, and nice and cool in the hot summer months to climb. This was our warm up for Caveman, Medusa, Heroes are Zeros, and Shelter from the storm. We also would leave a rope hanging on it when there was a full moon and come back and top rope it by moon light and trip on the light of Alta and Snowbird.

Other then Scare face, or battle of the bulge, at City, this was one of my better on sight natural pro leads. Not a lead for people scared of run out. If you liked dike route in Tuolumne, you will love this one.

We climbed the regular rostrum, a cool Bombay chimney, perfect hands 10b crack, followed by a triangle belay stance in space, where my new summit shoes felt like they were milking blood out of my feet. Then to a large ledge where most parties exit the climb, but for those who continue is the 11c thin crack pitch. Bill led this pitch then we were under the mushroom like roof looking at the final pitch to summit. Bill planed on climbing out the 10a off with but backed down several times because of poor pro. He resorted to aid the Alien 12b roof instead. Once past the roof bill yelled, “Okay I’m going to stop aiding and climb the head wall clean.” He threw in a 2-½-inch friend and climbed past it only to hang on all the rest of the gear he placed. So my saying is that Bill led the Alien and did not hang on a piece of gear. Yea the only piece he did not hang on was the 1-½ inch friend. When I hit the head wall I wanted to hang on the rope but when I did I started to be lowered into space off the lip of the roof. Bill yelled, “ I can’t hold you” so I hook onto a piece of pro. When I reached the top Bill was sitting on the edge of the climb where I had drug him because he was not hooked on to a belay? He said, “ He could not make the manzaneda tree because of all the rope we used for the belay.” This was a very demanding climb, I have only repeated this climb once after in my life.

I always fell off when you leave the wide over hung crack and traverse out left then up to the chains, until I found a leg jam for the no hands rest before the traverse. I did red point accept my leg hurt for a few days. To go straight up to the chains is a lot harder because the handholds are very crimpy and feel horrible after the pump factor.

Bill and I Went down and climbed on Chris Barns new climb she is the bosh. We walked down to look at Singapore, which was in the making and decided a route would go up the wild looking side pull line we later named jet lag. I remember having to walk away from the side pull up several ascending ramps to barely be able to clip the bolt, and taking leader falls with the draw in my hand have only a single divot for one finger print on the side pull to hold on to. I took an average of at least two 30 footers every time I tried to red point it. I never did but on the day we did she is the bosh I flashed the natural pro route Battle of the Bulge 11a. The finish to Jet Lag is exciting, a stem with bad feet to a pinch in the seam. Steve Hong, who put up bath rock did the first accent and people yelled even from the parking lot in front of parking lot rock.

Brian Smoot, who also put up fin arête, founded this climb. I try to make a point of doing it at least once a year. The chimney first pitch is easy if you crawl inside and put pro with long runners in the belly button like holes, then climb back down and out of the chimney and shimmy up on the outside. The tension traverse is cool until your be layer decides you’re there and stops holding tension. And the pendulum into the Zion curtain is weird because you are jamming into a crack facing you not grabbing a hold when you swing out. The bolts on the 10a bolted pitch are spinners, so we always sing, “The bolts on bell go round and round, round and round, round and round.” I prefer to follow the crack right out to the summit and walk down. Once you’re in the lower cave, where an optional repel is it is hard to return to the line that exits to the summit. This is a high quality commodity.

The first belay was a hanging belay on a single bolt with a 11/2 friend after climbing a beautiful perfect hand crack. The next pitch is a wide crack and we only had one #4. The wide crack peters out to a slab move with your feet jammed in the end of the wide crack into a small cave. There are worn groves threw the roof for the rope, it sucks when the rope gets stuck in the crack exiting the cave instead of being placed in the groves. This along with Fine Jade makes for a good day,

The first moves into a like eagles size nest are interesting under cling moves. Then the head wall with the 11a pitch is spectacular. There is a cool traverse around a Hugh cube near the top. Lots of fun.

This route was way run out. The crux pitch you move threw the crux with only the belay to catch your fall. The dike has a yellow strip, that is slippery and right where you would normally place your foot to catch the cup of the dike. After the crux you round over and see the final wide crack finish, and your way out on your delay and want a bolt. I felt on the edge of the world and yelled, “ where is the bolt” off left and in an indentation is the hard to see bolt. After that pitch there is a four-inch vertical crack and I only had one #4, kind of freaky. At the top of the crack is a cool hump with a seam in it and lots of knobs. Cool but not well protected. To the left is a little harder but better protected climb.

I loved it, at the last section, it maybe gone by now, was a 10 foot piece of webbing hanging down. After reefing on it for 7 feet you get to see what it is attached to, a golf ball size hole with a broken slider wedged sidewise single piano wire knotted. I watched the surprised look on everyone faces, they instantly took their weight off the webbing. The Tyrolienne traverse was the best airy felling I have ever had. I was thinking please no earthquake in California today.