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Sidekick 
Stayin' Alive 
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Toe The Line 
Total Eclipse 

Sidekick 

5.11a/b

   

FA: Bruno Haché and Ron Olsen, 6/9/07
New Route: Yes
Type: Sport
Consensus: 5.10c/d [details]
Length: 2 pitches, 150 feet
Season: Summer from noon
Views: 1,753 page views

Submitted By: Bruno Hache on Jun 9, 2007


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Bruno Haché moving onto the steep, sustained face.


Description 

Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor just up and right of the starting anchor for Total Eclipse. This is the same anchor as for Nick of Time.

The first pitch offers very high-quality, technical moves, climbing onto side-pull cracks, all the way up the steep wall. Sustained! 5.11a/b, 95', 11 bolts.

The second pitch is easier but offers quality, big-feature climbing. 5.9, 55', 5-6 bolts.

All the way up on this climb, you will find loads of fun and challenging climbing. It makes you think!

It is called Sidekick for good reasons that will be obvious as you climb the route!

Descent: 2 rappels with a 60m rope.


Location 

This route is just right of Total Eclipse and left of the Nick Of Time corner on the east side of Tonnere Tower. Route #5 in the beta photo.


Protection 

Pitch 1: 2-bolt belay anchor at the start, then 11 bolts to a 2-bolt top anchor.
Pitch 2: 5-6 bolts to a 2-bolt top anchor.

Trad climbers can skip some of the bolts and place gear on the route if they so desire.



Photos of Sidekick Slideshow Add Photo
Close-up of routes in Sport Land:<br /><br />1. Toe The Line, 10b, sport.<br />2. Generous Donation, 11b, sport.<br />3. Tag Team, 11a, sport.<br />4. Total Eclipse, 10a, sport.<br />5. Sidekick, 11a, sport.<br />6. Nick Of Time, 6, trad.<br />7. Hard Times, 11c, sport.<br />8. Face Off, 8, sport.<br />9. Stayin' Alive, 10a, sport.<br />10. Clean Sweep, 9, trad.<br /><br />Close-up of routes on Treasure Wall:<br /><br />11. Tree Line, 9, sport.<br />12. Twilight Time, 10a, sport.<br />13. Bobby's Back, 10d, sport.<br />14. Buried Treasure, 9, sport.<br />15. Join The Party, 9, trad.<br />16. The Twilight Kid, 11a, sport.<br />17. Fields of Gold, 10a, mixed.<br />18. Workingman's Blues, 10, mixed.

BETA PHOTO: Close-up of routes in Sport Land:

1. Toe The Line...


Bruno Haché chalking up, contemplating the hard moves still ahead.

Bruno Haché chalking up, contemplating the hard mo...

Routes in Sport Land:<br /><br />1. Toe The Line, 10b, sport.<br />2. Generous Donation, 11b, sport.<br />3. Tag Team, 11a, sport.<br />4. Total Eclipse, 10a, sport.<br />5. Sidekick, 11a, sport.<br />6. Nick Of Time, 6, trad.<br />7. Hard Times, 11c, sport.<br />8. Face Off, 8, sport.<br />9. Stayin' Alive, 10a, sport.<br />10. Clean Sweep, 9, trad.<br /><br />Routes on Treasure Wall:<br /><br />11. Tree Line, 9, sport.<br />12. Twilight Time, 10a, sport.<br />13. Bobby's Back, 10d, sport.<br />14. Buried Treasure, 9, sport.<br />15. Join The Party, 9, trad.<br />16. The Twilight Kid, 11a, sport.<br />17. Fields of Gold, 10a, mixed.<br />18. Workingman's Blues, 10, mixed.

BETA PHOTO: Routes in Sport Land:

1. Toe The Line, 10b, sport...


Tony Bubb leading Sidekick.  To the left, three climbers at the first belay on Total Eclipse.

Tony Bubb leading Sidekick. To the left, three cl...


Comments on Sidekick Add Comment
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By Tony B
From: Boulder, CO
Jun 14, 2007
rating: 5.10c/d PG13

The best of the pitches I did here that day, worth 3 stars. Worth the trip up there to do, I was really quite surprised at the number of sidepulls one can do in a single pitch. Good find, though you might not want to climb it after a rain. It had some slick dirt/mud at the steep sections just 24hrs since rain.

I did this trad (gear only) with Jerry Bargo with a light rack of stoppers and cams. Doubles in the cams 1" and below might have been nice to have, but it went without. The climb had some 5.10 moves with a little runout, but not big ones. On the way down I cleaned the crack a little more. RPs and ballnuts could now be used where I did not place anything. This would make it well protected for someone with the skill to place small and complex protection. That may be tricky to get in solidly, so some minor caution remains. I'd call it PG-13 to be conservative. If you don't like it, clip a bolt; there is no risk of getting totally snaked.

Perhaps this makes this line an idea line for people just pushing into more complex and harder trad lines to attempt. Since bolts are available every few yards, one can easily 'bail out'

A 70M rope rap from the anchors got me down to a short 4th-class downclimb to the belay.

By pfwein
From: South Boulder
Jun 23, 2007

Lots of good, fun moves; relatively sustained at the grade, whatever that is. Good new school bolt job.

By Ken Leiden
From: Boulder, CO
Jun 24, 2007
rating: 5.10d

65 ft of continuous moves on nicely featured rock -- this is destined to become a favorite at the grade on the Boulder Canyon sport climbing circuit. I'd say it is about as much fun as Hound Dog on Bell Buttress, but it's slightly less than vertical so working the hard sequences before committing makes it a bit easier than Hound Dog.

Great find guys.

By Bruno Hache
From: Longmont, CO
Jun 25, 2007

I posted initially 5.11c and it was the feeling I had when I climbed it on my Shunt, when it was still full of lichen and moss!
In my opinion, it probably is more around 5.11 a/b, especially onsight. But the grade being so subjective and personal, we will see a lot of variation on the grade people will post.

Update: Nearly two months later as 08/04/07, I climbed Sidekick and in my opinion, this is 5.11a/b due to the continuous nature of the climb.

By Paul Hunnicutt
From: Boulder, CO
Jul 13, 2007
rating: 5.10+

I can see it being harder when first sent as there is still a lot of lichen on the route - especially high up. You can send this in one pitch with a 60m rope. You'll need two ropes for the rap though (perhaps two 50s would work? or like Tony said one 70 and a downclimb).

I didn't try, but I would probably agree with Tony that this could be a trad lead...probably pumpy to place gear though. My guess is when it cleans up even more it would be 5.10b/c. The lower section is quite continuous, but if you get good stances you can shake out. Beta hint: sidepull, sidepull, sidepull....etc.... Nice, fun route. Well-protected if you are trying to break into mid to hard 5.10 climbing.

5.11a/b is my onsight limit right now, and I didn't seem pushed that far.

By desbien
From: denver,co
Jul 19, 2007

Don't usually have a problem onsighting 11b. Maybe because I was tired but I took on this one after the crux. Long and sustained. Best route we did.

By Bruce Pech
Aug 31, 2007
rating: 5.11a

No move harder than .10d, but the sustained climbing merits an .11a. Several surprisngly good rests and shakes. Probably the best single pitch on any route starting from the dirt ledge.

By percious
From: Arvada, CO
Oct 4, 2007
rating: 5.10b

Easy for an 11 if that is the given grade. Very nice moves and well worth doing.

By fou
From: québec
Oct 29, 2007

This is the best lines on that cliff 5.10c.