S&M 

I agree with the less-than-classic assessment of this route: the plentiful and sometimes annoying vegetation and occasional choss outweigh the adventure feel of spartan protection and routefinding (there was no chalk when I climbed this route). However, I did enjoy the belay ledge, if I found the correct one - slings around a block, with a deluxe seat and a view nearly as good as that from the top of the Yellow Spur (river straight below, snowcapped peaks to the west). Rossiter's book calls the pitch 150 feet; but a 60 meter rope gets you to the ground from the aforementioned rap station.

Word. I found this pile of choss to be rather disapointing. It makes me wonder about the criteria used when doling out stars.

I agree with the two previous statements. Did this on Sunday, guide book mentions walk off to the South. climbing Boulder correctly calls it north. rapped off a block, but the is a shrub with a sling on it that someone very, very light must have used earlier. no chalk to be found and very thin pro when it was there at all.

Bushes and poor top anchor make this less than classic.

I disagree completely with these comments- except the ones concerning vegetation, which was plentiful on this route. The step across into the crack after the roof is reminiscient of [Gambit], a classic [Eldo] move. There was plenty of gear, and the climbing was fun. We passed the anchors for [Xanadu] and ended up at a ledge after powerful liebacking to avoid the dead tree that really wants to come down. A belay was appropriate (Again good gear at the crux) for the downtraverse (climbers right- pass [Xanadu] and keep going down) that felt [alpiney], despite the [Sunday] crowds. In my opinion, a fun 5.7 that reminded me of mountain climbing.

I climbed this on 9/20/03, prior to seeing any of the above beta. There were some fun moves, but... the first 80 feet has sketchy pro, the tall dead tree is listing and ready to fall on your belayer (I opted for the power lieback too), and the walk-off to the South is loose and dangerous.

I climbed this route today, and also found it fun. I stopped at the first good seat above the dead tree, and found an excellent tcu crack overhead for belay anchor. Since no pro on the bottom, my partner tried the 10 bit to the left, and soon weighted said anchor. He also reefed on the dead tree pretty good. It gasped, but held. I think a well placed karate kick will send it home. We found rappels up and left on trees.

I climbed this today and really enjoyed it. During the run out sections at the bottom, there were great hand holds and good foot placements .... the rock felt pretty solid to me. As the route got a little more difficult, I was able to find more and more pro. Bring a couple long slings for the traverse. When my partner got to the top, it was a full blown snow storm (yep today). It was not at all obvious to us that we could walk off to the South. We found a two bolt rap anchor just South East of the top of the climb. We had to down climb just 4-6 feet to get to it. The 60 meter rope just barely made it to the ground.It was too cold and wet to look for the walk off that was not so obvious to me....

Jup, my first toprope fall at Eldo, and onto a hip belay at that! I thought it was an OK warm-up for the area, a solid 1 star - glad we did it, might do it again as a warm-up. Maybe we will try to find the bolts to the South next time. Are these at the top of Xanadu? I didn't see anything (and was looking), but if they are easy to get to, I'd recommend that decent.

Didn't see the block at the belay to rap off, but we had initially thought of doing the walk-off. Instead we rapped with double ropes from a tree 50ft to the north.

Everyone in the immediate area of this climb should be wearing a helmet. The so called walk off ledge is completely choss and rocks tend to funnel down on top of Xanadu. We climbed it b/c it was the only thing open on a busy Sunday in the area, but next time I'll just wait in line for something worth doing,

There has also been some recent major rock fall/slide in this area. Use caution and be safe.

Some fun moves, especially in the upper corner.

The big dead tree is no more; little more than a push sent it to the bottom of the cliff today.

The easiest descent is the Xanadu rappel. Belay on the rotten ledge, bring up your partner, then traverse right and down about 20' to the bolted anchor atop Xanadu. From here, rappel 90' to the ground.

Do take care on the first 25 or so feet, as the protection is sparse...(does this deserve an "S" rating?)...and consider using passive protection behind the expanding horizontal crack, just before the first trend left.Also, at the top-sure, why not?-sling the cute little tree but back it up with a blue tricam in the wall to the right, then downclimb to belay at the 2 bolt anchor for Xanadu. The rope drag sucks, but it's the best idea.All in all, though, a good time. If you're up for it, start at the flake/thin crack immediately left of the start (As You Like It-10a). It's a short-but-cool variation...and there's pro!

Oh, and Holly--not to be rude, but---Everyone should ALWAYS wear a helmet in Eldo! :)

This was my first 5.7 lead a few years ago. It's probably not a good choice for someone new to that grade.

I thought this was a fun route with only one real move of 5.7, and although the bottom was a bit runout, I don't think it deserves an S. A good anchor can be had just above the last small dead tree stump in an overhang - just to climber's left and a little bit above the Xanadu anchors (easy to climb over and down to the anchors, just don't kick anything off).