Black Magic 

On March 23rd, 2007, the ASCA replaced 4 protection bolts on this route. Three on the first pitch and one on the third pitch. The first bolt is 1/2" stainless, the next two are 3/8" stainless, and the final bolt is 1/2" non-stainless. Thanks to Greg Barnes for the replacement effort.

The reason the final bolt is non-stainless is that it's extra long - 3.75". Those bolts are not made in that length in stainless (2.75" or 4.75" only). The original bolt was not rusted at all, and with softer sandstone the water evaporates through the rock anyway, so it should be fine for quite some time!

The original bolt on the 5.6 variation (the huge left traverse) is bad, and rusty as well since it's in a water streak. We did not replace that one since that variation is rarely done (and my arm was tired!).

Careful with those pebbles on the second pitch -- I busted one off 20 ft out on lead. Spicy!

Intimidating at first, but moves are pretty easy for the grade. P1 is long.

I highly suggest leading directly up the dihedral under the small roof at the start of the route rather than going up left and then traversing back right after the bolts (as the chalk misleads you). This is maybe a grade more difficult, but WAY better movement.

MM

Wish I had tried McMurray's direct line. As it is, the enterprising leader could protect the reachy/stemmy opening moves without the bolts (but with some balls)and turn this into a truer trad masterpiece. (Full disclosure: I clipped the bolts.)

The airy P3 could also have it's bolt skipped for a PG runout move above the bulge. Exposed but very manageable for the grade.

Fun climb. Better than Lotta Balls.

Flash this and do a lap on Lotta Balls for a fun, low-commitment, close-to-the-road 1000ft day of 5.7 and 5.8.

Classic route.

The moves on the first pitch are wonderful, athletic and improbable, but great holds always show up when needed. The big face pitch is an adventure, and though easy, risk mitigation is a little harder to come by than hoped for. Pitch three is massively thrilling, an intimidating lead but all there.

Well said, Chris! Agreed.

The fun starts right off the deck on that first pitch. I enjoyed the delicate/technical sequences right before and after the first two bolts. This pitch will take lots of your smallest cams and tcu's.

Don't be confused by the 3rd bolt on pitch 1: the belay anchor bolt (and cool natural thread) is about 50 feet above.

It was a great route but a bit cold (my partner was freezing in a down sweater) in mid February, I thought the route would get some sun but it never came.

Keep going after the 3rd bolt on the 1st pitch or it makes pitch 2 a rope stretcher. The route soaked up small chocks and TCU's so pack extra.

"Pull down, not out." - Nick Rhoads

John, you need to credit me with that quote. That was awesome when you punched yourself in the face. Ha!

Great route. I loved that the cracks and flakes were so friendly for passive protection.

Fun route cool moves at the start and at roof. We did the route with a single set of nuts, hexes 7,8 & 9 and some natural pro made for an even more interesting route.

This is a really fun route with a lot of variety. The first pitch moves are SOOOOO cool. And the third pitch roof/bulge/corner/traverse thingy looks so intimidating, but it's really a one-move wonder (and it's not blind---the hold is right....there). Thought this route was better than Lotta Balls.

Phenomenal climb, and definitely better than Lotta Balls! You can get a couple small pieces (0/1 TCU) in below the first bolt. Crux on P1 is the hand rail above the second bolt to the corner - super fun! Lots of nuts on the rest of the pitch.

Wasn't quite sure what people were talking about with the "blind" step on P3. It's very clearly there. Kept thinking it was coming up, and then I was face-to-face with the bolt.

The big balanced flake at the start of the route is now 1 foot shorter. Some climbers after us pulled a little too hard and a big chunk off the top came off. To avoid the scary stuff, you can step across right on face holds and hidden edges to get to your first gear placement. Other climbers mentioned they did a "direct" start left which went about 5.9.