Eric almost through the head traverse on the first...
Description
This is a challenging aid route up the blank wall between Jackson's Wall Direct and Englishman's Home. There are several sections of tenuous and continuous heading, or at least sections of fixed heads. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything else in Boulder Canyon that offers as sustained and sheer an aid line as this. The climbing could be half-way up El Cap if it wasn't for the smell of exhaust from cars driving by below the crag.
Begin on the Jackson's Wall Direct, but where that route hand traverse left continue up and right through some arches, then head up to the top of the second pitch of Never a Dull Moment and belay. Now follow tiny, improbable features that connect the blank wall between Athlete's Feat and Country Club. Belay at a ledge 30 feet left of Country Club's anchors.
Protection
There may be lots of fixed heads scattered about on this climb, but bring a selection of heads, including circle heads, some hooks, a beak or 2, same with rurps, RPs, and a full rack to 3.5" cam (you may not use it all). You may want to have a few blades, LAs, and baby angles along, but this is not a piton-intensive route. Helmet.
A few years ago I went up and tried to TR the second pitch(solo). There were fixed heads everywhere! I started up and the 3rd fixed head off the ramp blew! I was just moving onto it and hadn't moved my Tr device up or unclipped my daisy from the previous piece. I took a short fall and when I stopped I realised I had broken the cable of the previous head in half, with the loop still attached to my daisy and the head still in the rock! I cleaned the deadhead and tried to place another but could not get it to stick. If you are going to try this route you will probably need a sharp punch to place this #1 head. Also most of the head placements appeared to be chiseled?
STOUT! A rebate is in order. I need to learn the art of tough heading first though. Only 1 fixed dead head still in place off the ramp on P2, I ripped the first one (fixed head) while trying to get something in above. Time bomb! I decked on the ledge safely enough. Then I came in from the seam just to the left via hooks to Peckers finally making a large reach to pound in a beaked RURP atop the dead head. Made my way up and made another long reach up to the next fixed head and clipped it, then ripped it out by hand essentially. We decided to bail as we had no #0 heads and I didn't feel capable of learning the art of hard heading on the sharp end on a route rated A4 in the guide. Yep, I bit off a little more then I could chew here on this one, I was hoping for more good fixed heads I think. Now I have a good project to work on, and a new skill to hone.
Attempted to put up the straight up variation on pitch 1 today. It's a bummer, but the only edge to hook on has been blown out. I was high stepping off a hybrid Alien hoping to get a Pecker in upside down in the roof as I could just about reach upto it, the hybrid was a time bomb and next thing I know I land on 2 separate heads with screamers on them (one was my adj. daisy with a screamer) both screamers deployed paritally and I didn't have to whip like Eric when he attmepted this. He broke his finger when the edge he was hooking on blew and he ripped a few pieces (falling 20 ft, nearly decked on slabs below). I got stabbed in the leg with a Pecker when I came to a stop. The straight up variation of pitch 1 hasn't gone for a reason....
Still need to get back up and try to rebate the second pitch.
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