Black Widow Hollow 

A very fun route. The second pitch is sustained and suprisingly varied for a squeeze chimney. Bring a decent selection of small gear.

we did this route this weekend, have to disagree with what was said about not needing any large gear!! we had a No. 5 & 6 cam as well as a green and yellow big bro... placed all of these pieces on the second (crux) pitch... was glad that we had them with us too!!!

I though it was a great route, exciting... a bit scary & highly phsyical! all in all... it's why you climb!

we had a single rack to 4", and it was well protected- leave the monster gear on the deck.

Also- p2 as described is more like 215' or 220'- definitely bring a 70m or break p2 into 2.

I'd agree with 5.9 on this- joe herbst 5.9, that is!

We belayed on a nice but smallish ledge at about 140' on the second pitch. You'd never reach the huge ledge on the crest anyway, even with a 70 m rope, (I think), and the rope drag would take alot of the fun out of it. We liked our standard rack to a #4, and had added stoppers at the suggestion Handren's guide. Maybe a few extra medium and large, not a whole additional set.
Don't forget your kneepads.

i reached the ledge with a 70m and about 6' to spare- probably the longest pitch i've led! i had practically no drag (although the weight of the rope was noticeable)- but then, i didnt think the pitch was that well protected, i think i ended up using all but two or three stoppers and a couple of cams out of a single rack to 4" and a set and a half of stoppers, which isnt that much considering the length of the pitch.

a great route, though- i'd highly recommend it regardless of how you break it up!

Handren comments in his exellent guidebook book that the second pitch would make a great warm up for Epinephrine....I agree.

Also A standard rack to a #4 works great.

josh

Clearly, I stand corrected on that ' 70 m rope' comment. Go for it, I guess. For whatever it's worth, I reached my belay on the second pitch with the #4 cam still on the rack. Saving it for the hard part, perhaps.

As stated, highly physical. I enjoyed immensely but would not do it again. Leading 2nd pitch, quality of many of the holds at critical points suspect. I found myself trying to distribute my pull between holds to lower chance of disaster. The crux chimney really suckers you off course. Harder and less protected than E. Steve

Michelle and I did this route today. I should have read the description here instead of just the Handren guide. All I saw was "5.9" and "great warm up for Epinephrine". Epinephrine is the perfect size for tall climbers. Easy and secure. Somehow I didn't see the name "Joe Herbst" and "harder than Epinephrine!". Still a great day but for the tall person, these are VERY narrow squeeze chimneys! I think a better description would be "a good warm up for Unfinished Symphony". :-)

We also used the 70m and had no trouble making the big ledge on the ridge. The rock deteriorates a little on the last pitch (pro is still good) but you're so happy to be out of the chimneys you don't care. Cool moves and some cool hand jams on the last pitch almost made me forget about the squeeze chimneys. Very interesting route that has your attention the whole way.

Keywords: Squeeze Chimneys!

This route is hard. True in the grade at 5.9. The squeeze chimney is narrow enough that my helmet would get stuck if turned my head the wrong way. On the first half of the chimney pitches, there's a sling around a nasty looking chockstone. There's a few committing moves after that, but if you stay calm you'll be fine. The second half of the chimney pitches did not seem to be as hard.

Climbed this last Spring and it was rad! Definately not for the faint of heart! Physically demanding, no bolted anchors (rarity at RR), and is great to climb on a windy day. 30-40+ mph and we didn't feel a thing.

A herbst 5.9 indeed.

Super, esp P2. Rack-- singles of .3 to #4 camalot and long slings. The chimneys are hard 5.9

after burlesque the day prior, there were no real squeeze chimney portions here IMHO (correction - Burlesque attempt as my petite 6'6" frame would not fit thru. the narrowest part of that chimney). great route this one!

Used red and yellow ball nuts several times. We broke up P2 into 2 pitches, belaying at a sloping ledge just before the lieback and above the main chimney section (better photo ops and rope management IMO).

Climbed it today and thought it pretty honest for 5.9. I never had to climb it like a bombay, as every time it tightened down you could climb face holds on the outside. We broke the second pitch into two pitches (I recommend this) and took a single rack to #3. If you're comfortable in chimneys at 5.9 you likely won't need anything bigger then #2. If chimneys are foreign you might want bigger gear.