Black Magic 

Here's a video:
Black Magic on Vimeo

This Franklin roof crack on rockclimbing(dot)com is also listed there as the trad route Skid Marks. Black Magic looks exciting, nice work.

Sorry... a bolted 12d with a tree anchor, in a place where NO OTHER BOLTED ROUTE has a tree anchor? I'm sure the landowners are going to love all the extra people climbing onto the plateau, either finishing this route or to try to set a TR to work it for their 8a.ego tick.

This is why Mike Fisher and I have gone to the trouble and expense of replacing all those tree anchors with climbing anchors.

Please be responsible enough to do the same.

I'll consider adding an anchor here, but think it would be obtrusive for the top moves of the climb. This is somewhat hard to explain, but once you establish on the vertical face, they would stare right at you. Also, if someone can set a TR on a tree, would it be safe to assume that they could simply reach down to clip one on the anchors four inches below the cliff top? In any case, top-roping dead horizontal roofs isn't recommended for a variety of reasons.

And to further ward off the hordes of ego-trippers at Franklin: if you're looking for an easy tick at 12d, this probably isn't your route.

Sorry for the delay... I had to find a towel to wipe off all the spray.

I know a little bit about Franklin; started climbing there in '91, put up Belly of the Whale, Hard Thing, Franklinstein, Wintermute, and Oddyseus. Along the way, Mike Fisher and I also created the first draft of the existing trail, and I organized the first Trail Daze, since the dozens of Access Fund members who routinely trampled the place were too busy meeting each others' crag dogs and getting their free T-shirts for a half day of sipping Starbucks and occasionally getting their hands dirty at Carderrock and Great Falls.

So we could take it as a given that I know the spot you chose to bolt a route with no anchor.

Was it not obvious when you started that the route would end in this position and have these problems? And did it occur to you, even once, that the dozens of experienced hard climbers who bolted the high quality lines on every side, many of whom could climb this grade, had decided this line was NOT worth bolting?

Fascinating the way you didn't find the route hazardous when you were bolting what amounts to a boulder problem (your own words), but were suddenly overwhelmed with concern for your fellow climbers when it came to installing top anchors.

When I put up routes, at Franklin and in Colorado and Arizona (142 FAs and counting, so far), it has most often been because they were good lines with great position and moves that could be enjoyed... not survived.

Today, the motivational mantra seems to be "Anything for an 8a.ego tick and a new video. Even if someone else breaks their neck on a contrived piece of crap, at least I got 15 minutes of fame out of it."

Routes like this cause crag closures. Fix it.

Ok... I'll let everyone make their own judgments here, but I'd like to say a few things:

1. The bolts are all stainless and 3.5".

2. The tree is solid, near the cliff edge, and equipped with slings and rings for lowering. I've encountered tree anchors at hundreds of climbing areas. This is common practice.

3. The route is really good, requiring complex movement drawing from a number of climbing skill sets. It is not contrived. Most importantly, it is not dangerous. I enjoyed the process of climbing this route more than I can hope to describe here. I hope someone else enjoys it... Please let me know if you do. I'd be thrilled to hear about your experience.