We finally did it! We have a couple routes on the Upper Face. They are rope stretchers so read carefully. Do Not Climb these routes without a 60 meter rope and even then be very careful not to belay your partner off the end of the rope. The bottom apron was a bit of a issue. The climbing there was very easy and not consistent with the climbing above. We decided to split the route into 2 pitches. The bottom route is a 5.3 or 5.4 up to the rap anchors noted in the photo by the blue dots. We shall call it 'Cake Walk'. The next 2 routes start at the top of Cake Walk and are meant to be belayed from these anchors. Both routes can be belayed from the bottom but have very little rope to spare. If there is a concern, stop at the rap anchors and lower in 2 stages.
The route in blue on the right is called Obsession 5.8. This route moves through the little ceiling I have been staring at for the last year. It was fun and challenging to bolt. The route has really cool movement as it moves over 2 small ceilings. It may seem a bit intimidating but the climbing is solid. Just when you think you have gotten through the hard stuff, you get to the hard stuff...it is a little blank but I am sure you will figure it out. It finishes on some easy slab terrain. It lowers off onto the apron and terra fir-ma can be reached with rope stretch.
The route in red (on left) is called Juggernaut 5.9. It is fun right off the ground with very consistent climbing. It follows some great features that appear to be just seams in the rock. Sometimes you just get tips and sometimes your whole hand falls in. You never know if it is going to be a jug or not. I brought the top anchors down a bit so the finish was more consistent and the lower should be fine now.
Note: if you do intend on belaying from the bottom, bring an extended sling to clip the belay anchor on your way up.
Post some feedback for me. I would like to hear.
2 comments:
I got on both of the routes on Saturday... and took 4 other people up as well. We did them as mini multi-pitches just to give people a taste of something different. It did feel like they could've been done on a 60m rope though.
Obsession is a great route with really fun moves for a 5.8, especially through the roof.
Juggernaut was good too, but nothing special... it felt a lot like the other routes down on German Face. I also fell snapping a huge jug off of this one... didn't change anything as there were plenty of other jugs around, but certainly got the heart rate up!
We cleaned to route but there is always the possibility of loose stuff, especially if people climb where I didn't anticipate people would go. I hope everyone had helmets.
Post a Comment