Another one of climbers on British Airways, Pope's...
Description
Located on the far right side of Echo Rock, this is the first route right of Pope's Crack and requires a bit of scrambling through talus to reach the base.
Start 15' right of Pope's Crack behind a clump of yuccas, and climb the left-facing flared corner with an intermittent crack/seam in it's back (5.10) to it's end - pro is decent but the 1st placement is quite high. Above, continue up a steep slab with two bolts that passes along the right edge of a small roof. The climbing in the upper section (5.11a) is characterized by thin edges that require both delicate footwork and thoughtful movement. A bolted anchor/rap will be found at the top to return you quickly to your pack.
A good route in a sheltered location that gets lots of sun for those cold and windy days. The somewhat runout nature of the route means it gets led infrequently, but a toprope is easily rigged by climbing Pope's Crack as the rappel for that route takes you right over this route. Three stars out of five.
Protection
2 bolts (3/8"), pro to 1.5" (mostly thin), bolted anchor/rap
Having lead this route on several occasions, I find the crux, both technical and mental to be above the last bolt where you have to get your feet high on some pretty greasy holds. BTW: this is where Jonny Woodward (being rather inattentively belayed by Maria Cranor-think large half-arc of slack) took the famous 35+ foot whipper. The name for the route became immediately obvious.
By Tony B From: Boulder, CO Jan 5, 2004 rating: 5.11a
The runout section at the bottom is considerably more easy than the top of the route, maybe 5.10a or b?. I TR'd it though. The 2 cruxes are the changing directions move above the 1st bolt and the last move on the high step. I did this move in quite could weather and would not have described it as 'greasy.' Josh 5.11a face climbing is challenging for me. I got on this route on TR expecting 11d as printed in the Vogel book and kept waiting for a crux. One never came. I lowered off shaking my head and told my partner it felt like 11a. Only upon cross-referencing the index did I descover that it was indeed a simple misprint.
We top roped this route after climbing "Pope's Crack". The Vogel guide has it rated 5.11d but I'd side with the 11a rating; only for the fact that I was able to climb it!
Lead this route last weekend again. The rock on the lower section is quite solid (so many TR ascents) and it is a 3 of 5 star route (imsbo). At about 20+ feet up the botton section you can get an excellent 1 - 1.5 inch cam placement. Just below the 1st bolt are thin nut/cam placements. Still runnout at the beginning and the top is thin and greasy.
The rating in the old guide was a typo (it was originally rated 10d).
RSS Feed
Slideshow
