The is the best of the trad crack climbs at Sleeping Beauty. It would be 3 stars if cleaner, but as is it is cleaner than the other crack climbs here. Rossiter calls the initial ceiling 10d. It felt about 10b to us--perfect straightforward jams. I had more trouble higher up at the wide spot that Rossiter calls 5.9.
Start: At the left end of Ledge 2 is a "gap" in the ledge where you either have to traverse on the rock and squeeze behind a tree, or drop down about 8 feet and climb back up. Just left of this gap is a hand crack through the ceiling. This is the route. Just left of this the bolted Lightspeed climbs the same ceiling.
P1. The climb: Climb the ceiling on perfect jams and gear. Easier climbing follows the crack to where it gets wide. Use the #3 Camalot here. I thought the wide section was quite hard. I did a couple of fist jams. My partners used various other techniques. Rossiter says you can, instead, move left at 10c and up a flared hand crack at 5.9. I considered that.... 55 ft.
P2. Above the wide section, pass a small tree and then follow a very fun, thin, 8-ish crack that angles slightly left. There are lots of scoops, etc. for your feet, so it's more like face climbing with the crack for gear. The crack is slightly discontinuous, but there is good gear when you need it. There are quite a few grass tufts in the crack, but they do not detract from the climbing. At the top, when the angle eases way back, get a directional and angle left to the anchors on Aerial Boundaries and a comfortable belay. 100 or 120 ft.
Descent: Two raps from bolts with rings with a single rope or a single rap with two ropes.
Protection
Doubles from green Alien to #2 Camalot, single #3 Camalot and #3.5 (#4 Friend). Single set nuts to conserve your cams. 20 draws including some long slings should be plenty. Tape or crack gloves optional for the bottom third of the climb.
By CHRIS TAYLOR From: Louisville, Co. Sep 11, 2004
Certainly the best of the crack climbs at Sleeping Beauty. Perfect jams down low.
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Sep 12, 2004 rating: 5.10b
A long, excellent crack climb. A few burly hand jams through the roof, and an awkward wide section a little higher were the main difficulties. My partners with smaller hands (and shorter reach) found the roof difficult. The long, angling finger crack at the top was also fun.
You can rappel with two ropes back to the ledge at the start. Rappel straight down Aerial Boundaries; don't angle the rappel back toward the start of the climb, or you risk getting a rope stuck on a ledge with loose blocks after you pull it.
Just make sure when you throw a rope over the edge of a cliff, you let the climbers below you know that a rope is coming...i.e. yell "ROPE!" , and maybe wait a few questions for a "CLEAR!".....even if you think no one is below you.
After the many happy hands and feet that have scrapped up this fine climb; we can safely say this is barely 5.10, including the traverse left to avoid the angry wide section.
By Pebby Johns From: Boulder, Colorado Aug 29, 2006
There has been extensive work done recently on this spectacular crack. Along with the trail work to the approach being done, there are now new anchors at the tops of the first and second pitches. The new anchors on the first pitch are even with the anchors on Lightspeed. This pitch is about 75 ft. long. The finger crack on the left has also been cleaned (again) and offers an excellent alternative to the off-width. The second pitch has been cleaned to open the crack for solid jams and placements. This pitch is about 100 ft. long. The route is high quality in excellent rock and deserved the attention given to it over the last couple of weeks (inspite of the adverse weather conditions at times). Kama Sutra is wholly deserving of three stars !!! Pebby Johns
It seems that there is a 3rd variant. Realizing that my rack would not afford me any protection in the wide section, I traversed right past a lone bolt just below it and up a crack on the right. It was quite fun, well protected and not too dirty.
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Sep 19, 2006 rating: 5.10b
Ben,
The variant you did is a new route by Richard Rossiter and Pebby Johns called The Tree of Life.
Why cut the tree down to place the new convenience anchors at the top of P1? The tree is clearly visible in Ron's beta photo. What remains now is a 6" stump, 4-6" in diameter. I assume it was cut to make pulling the rope easier, but as there is another descent that has worked just fine for the 8 years this climb has existed, the tree should not have been chopped.
"Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups." Wisdom from PULP FICTION.
This 4-foot-tall tree was removed because it was totally in your face at the top of the off-width, totally wrapped around you at the only possible belay and was being slowly destroyed by people belaying and climbing the second pitch. I could not stand to see the slow mutilation of this ill-fated Douglas fir. Perhaps you can think of it as a mercy killing. For the record, I dearly love trees. THE MEMORY OF TREES. THE TREE OF LIFE.
In their own way, trees are better things than any animal or human that ever walked the face of the earth. When is the last time you were attacked or robbed by a tree? Do you have locks on your doors because trees exist?
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jul 11, 2008 rating: 5.10-
I'll have to second Ivan's thoughts here. The bottom felt 10a at hardest, and Pretty solid- I placed gear expecting hard moves, tehn just cruised it. But then I got higher to the wider section and slowed down quite considerably- fighting in and out of the back of that crack for fist-jams. I walked the #3 camalot up because I didn't have anything else bigger than hands with me. Felt like 5.10- up there.
If I were to do the climb again, I'd take cams from 1/2" to 4" (one each) and a double set of stoppers- this thing EATS large stoppers and I only had 1 set.
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