johnnyb336's Logbook (155 ascents)

My partner chose the route this time. The heat made the climbing nearly unbearable initially. Sweat was actually running off of my face and splashing on my footholds. On pitch 3, we have always run up the slab just left of the corner to make it more interesting. This time around, I decided to go up on top of the arete formed by the corner. For the first little bit, I followed the arete and placed two cams in some flakes for pro. After that, I just followed the slab straight to the belay rather than use the arete. About the time my climbing partner reached the belay, it started to sprinkle a little. Rather than bail, we quickly combined the last two pitches with a 70M rope. We had no choice but to simul-rappel back down. With five very fast rappels, we were on the ground with the single rope. It didn't start raining hard until near the end of the fourth rappel. At least we were able to complete the climb and leave safetly.

This was our second climb of the day. I lead all five pitches, mostly prepping for a project. The clouds kept the sun off of us for most of this climb. This is a very fun route and I have yet to tire of it. I did place two small #4 BD nuts in the cracks at the bottom. I have always found this section to be quite slick so I like to have a little pro up to the first bolt. I always keep going past the pitch 4 belay rings and belay on the Pulpit flake since it is so much more comfortable. Then I just move back to the tracks and finish to the top.

The heat made traction a bit of a problem and I had to concentrate more on finger holds in the crux sections but it was still fun. My second was finally able to conquer the lower mantle/jug pull. We decided to go with the second pitch variation and belay at pitch two of Grand Funk. There really wasn't that much difference and the length is nearly the same. We were also going to be climbing Grand Funk, so we made two rappels from here and started over. This is a little stiffer than the average 5.9 at Stone so keep that in mind when deciding to climb. All bolts, no gear.

I still have a lot of love for this route and try to climb it whenever possible. The jugs up to the first bolt are awesome. There is a small shallow crack below that just sucks for gear placement but is just sketchy enough where you want a piece and then all of a sudden you latch onto the first jug and forget all about gear. It's the couple of moves away from the bolt that makes the route interesting. From there, it is a walk around a pine to another bolt and then the traverse to the Dixie Crystals/Dream Waves belay. I just clipped the belay for pro and kept going to the tree ledge.

Snce I was just trying to get in time on the rock, I started a little further right than normal. This made the distance to the first bolt very long and runout. For those using Selected Climbs, the route description does not match what you will find at the bolts. If you climb straight up from the first bolt, the climbing will be in the 5.10A to B range. You have to go right for climbing in the 5.9 range and then move back left to the bolt. The two bolts don't seem to go together very well, especially since you are heading to the base of Great White Way. It is still a fun climb no matter how you go about it.

I have climbed this route from the right of the first bolt, directly beneath the bolt and from the left near the trees. The first two choices being quite stiff. This time, I climbed the face near the trees to the left and traversed over to the bolt and back. Most of the time I just avoid the bolt and sling the tree and run it out to the second bolt, which is much further away than the topo in Selected Climbs shows. In fact, it would be a serious groundfall if a mistake was made near the second bolt. The rest of the climb is not that big of a deal and I didn't feel that it was very runout to the belay rings at all.

I hate having to list this route under U Slot but it is not listed as a route anywhere, even though it has its own line. It is between the Block Route and U Slot and heads up to the overlap at the v shaped notch and on up to the tree ledge. The only protection is a placement at the midpoint and again at the overlap. Other than the fact that it is quite easy, I recommend giving it a try. The move through the v-notch is much easier than it looks.

We are practicing for something that is coming up and this is one of six single pitch climbs I lead today. I took the standard line on top of the arete and climbed through the overlap directly to the belay rings above. I used a single cam near the top of the arete and one just under the overlap and ran out the rest. From the top of the arete to the overlap, I only use the slab. I do not move left into the shallow crack as that makes it too easy. This is another excellent beginner route.

We are practicing for something that is coming up and this is one of six single pitch climbs I lead today. In reality, you can just about walk up this route. I place a draw in one of the belay rings and a single cam at the Block move but no other protection. I do highly recommend this climb for beginners. It was hot and humid but still a fun day.

There was a threat of rain but it never materialized and we were able to climb all five pitches. Luckily, there was very little sun so it was never too hot. I brought two new guys with me and both climbed the route with ease. I forgot about that darned bat.