BETA PHOTO: Anyone know what route I'm on here? I began think...
Description
Hike north past New Era and around the corner. Bob's is the slightly overhanging finger to thin hands crack going straight up to a two-pin anchor with a mess of slings. Fun and sustained.
Protection
Standard rack, making sure your "standard rack" includes some smaller cams. Nothing larger than a #2 Camalot/#3 Friend is needed.
The slings are gone, and even though this is a short route, this is a Garden classic. The crux is a slight overhang about half way up that requires a big step or some fancy stemming. The hand and finger jams are soid all the way up along with plenty of places to place gear which makes this a fun route for people learning gear placements.
I would add one piece of big protection to your rack, as there is a solid placement for a #4 camalot toward the top of the climb, a few feet below the only fixed pin on the route. The crux move over the bulge isn't so bad - I tried jamming it, found I wasn't strong enough and made it by with a lieback. There are a couple of finger locks outside of the crack itself that offer decent resting spots.
I'd have to disagree that this is a good first trad lead. A little too sustained, I think. Cowboy Boot Crack or even New Era's first pitch might be a friendlier first run at placing gear, I'd say.
Sustained would be a very accurate route description - this made it seem harder in my mind. Not for the new trad leader - I ended up making it some kind of weenie aid climb after running out of strength. Also managed to give my #6 fat cam a good lead fall - my first woo hoo! This climb furthers my opinion that I am a wuss. Just the same worth doing if you are ok with trad & have the stamina - I'll be back eventually to do it the right way.
This thing sucks up pro..easy climbing on the bottom to an weird bulge with good jams to an easier top. Would be a good lead for a solid .8 trad leader.
Great climb, but I'm glad others felt it was sustained! A few years ago when I climbed 3 days a week, this route was no problem. Now after a 3 year hiatus from climbing, I struggled for the majority of the climb. My recomendation is not to waste energy over protecting. 4 pieces of GOOD protection plus the pin will suffice, and you'll have plenty of energy. My mistake was making 10 crappy placements because I never had the strength to get a GOOD piece of pro in the rock and I wasted a lot of stamina.
By Jeremy Hakes From: Golden, Colorado Jun 7, 2008 rating: 5.9-