The first pitch requires slinging a tree up about 20 feet and then running out another 20 feet above the tree before getting some gear in. It is a lie back flake where you walk your feet up on the wall behind the flake, relying on the positive angle and the friction on the rock to stop you from taking a serious fall.
Most of it was pretty fun and we often ran it out up to 7 or 8 meters to save time where it was positive holds. the rock was bloody hot.
The crux move both of the climb is a 5.8 mantle onto a block above a non-verticle slab, with the last protection at the bottom of the block. A fall in the mantle would leave a very lasting impression in the slab below. Probably about 4 meters before you would slam home. Anyway, Alex felt around the top of the block before commiting and found a good jug. He got up in good style and noone got hurt. Seconding the pitch was almost as bad as it would have meant swinging across the block with the rope not in a good position.
The moral to the story is that I would never do this route if I was a 5.8 climber, or even a 5.10 climber probably. There are far nicer routes to get hurt on. I think that it should only be a 3 star climb.
No comments:
Post a Comment