This was an excellent climb. Aaron and I have been wanting to do this one for
a long time, so it's too bad I couldn't do it with him, but I'm glad I finally
got to do it. I'll go back and do it again, and let him lead the crux next
time. This time, I led the crux (the first pitch), and since we swapped leads
I also got to lead the runout-and-rope-drag-hell last pitch. We were using
Will's double ropes, so if I had thought a little more clearly about (or just
known better in advance) which way the damn route went, I could have greatly
ameliorated the rope drag, but unfortunately I didn't manage the ropes so well
and the rope drag sucked. Oh well. Live and learn. The crux pitch was
beautiful, fun, hard, and sustained. There were several short hard sections in
a row, with pretty good rests after each one. Then, just when the dihedral
started to get wide and dirty and look scary, I looked down, and there was a
good ledge leading to the left, into the other corner, which had a nice
straight-in crack. Hobbs led the second pitch, which was a really nice,
slightly slabby 5.8 finger crack. The last pitch, as I said, was mostly easy,
but a bit runout, and I wasn't always sure which way to go. At each step,
however, I evaluated my options and found that there really was only one way
to go, so I know I was on route. The very end of this pitch, the summit slabs,
involved some pure friction moves (absolutely nothing for hands) with my last
piece of pro at least six feet below my feet, and out of sight around a short
headwall. Below that headwall was a large slab, which probably would have made
for an ankle-breaker of a fall, or at the very least a serious bruiser. The
moves felt at least 5.8, but that may have only been because of the rope drag
or my head. The whole section may have actually been much easier than it felt.