Road Warrior 

This is a spectacular splitter crack on an amazing, steep alpine wall. I would rate this closer to 5.10+ for its sustained nature.

An outstanding splitter crack in a beautiful setting, this has got to be one of the best offwidths in the state! The gear beta above is good, but we brought two #5 Camalots and one #6 Friend instead of the Big Bros, and that worked well. Although the hardest moves may have only been 10b or 10c, it is brutally sustained 5.10 OW for over 200 feet, which in my mind warrants a 10d rating. Have fun, and be prepared for lots of gasping for air and a full-body workout!

Good climb- on the P2 & P3 (the OW pitches) the rock is pretty friable on both sides of the crack. Lots of flakes and crystals were buzzing by the belay for both of us. If you pop and hang on second, and/or decide to rest, you might as well brush this up a bit. I think it detracts from the climb a little.

I always think of OW being #4-#5 Camalot size, Sheesh- this one is like #5 [Camalot] and up. The rock is featured well inside the crack though, enough so that you can almost always get some decent feet. [And] there are enough convolutions to get tons of no-hands rests on both pitches, but [moving] up is still hard. This route's sustained nature gives it a grade close to that of the Diving Board in Eldo, so yeah, 10d sounds good.

1) The first pitch belay is over right of the OW crack- you have to leave a good fist-sized splitter (3-4") to get to it, and you have to traverse an unprotected face to get back to it. I am certain that a 70M would make the link-up of P1 & P2 possible, and a 60M would be close. It would also give a better line, add more interesting climbing, and remove [one] of the routes flaws (climbing through or around the plants to the anchor) [This] doesn't require additional rack, as you'll be using smaller grear to point of merging anyway.2) The second pitch is probably the crux. The cam beta given above is pretty good, but a few big bros wouldn't hurt if you don't like leapfrogging and depending on single [pieces] while doing it. We survived.3) The 3rd pitch will be the mental crux, odds are. [The] #6 Friend was pretty tipped out and there were sections where it would not go, requiring me to pull it and climb with no gear for 20-30 feet below me, and that being a so-so stopper in pegmatite or a tipped out #5 Camalot. If I did it again, I'd take the big bros for this pitch. Big gear or big balls. Or maybe take just 1 #5 Camalot and two #6 Friends... 2 tipped out pcs are better than one? Or at least you can leave one in down lower and keep going with pro below.4) [The] 3rd pitch can be extended up beyond it's intended finish [on the] ledge to a semi-hanging belay in the corner up and left, about 10M extra with an additional 5.10 crux hand traversing above the roof- a purple [Camalot], a few medium and large nuts and the bin are bomber when put [together] here... the advantage being you can now finish the climb in [one] more pitch... just use long runners under the roof (5.9-) and head up and over. We did this with double ropes, but heck, you need 2 ropes to rap in, so I presume you've got them.

This is an awesome line - a must do if you're into off-widths. Harder than Crack of Fear and the Maelstrom mainly because of the altitude and length. The crux pitch does take some good smaller gear (small to medium nuts & small aliens) at the pegmatite roof, but then gets runout unless you have more than one #6 - which will usually be tipped out.

The second set of rap anchors along the rim seemed like the way to go - two 60m raps put you on a large ledge from which you can combine p1 & 2 in about 50m to the semi-hanging belay.

Some[one] named [Lew] from Golden just added new bolts to this route just so he could retrieve a cam... [Eds. This has been edited and moved off the beta page due to the subsequent rebuttal]

First off, the way I spell my name is Lew....and if you want to do the route and find those new bolts that I put in go right ahead....as far as I know there are no new ones on the route, and I would know if I put them in....granted the pin at the top of the second pitch should be [yanked] out and replaced, but who am I to say as a wanker....also you have no idea why the cam was left in the first place or the rescue that followed it.....maybe one day when you are a big man and able to do [more than] follow 5.7, you can lead, I'll be more [than] happy to follow and we [can] look for those bolts together.....have a good day fellow wankers.

My partner went from feeling slow on the approach, to 'hey, why don't you let me carry the rope', to belaying midway through the first pitch, to dizzy and near-hurling on the second, to prussiking the third, finally staggering to the top and exclaiming. 'oh, flat ground!' at the top.

You want to be in good shape for altitude on this one.