Proud Mary may or may not be a work in progress. In its present form, it consists of three pitches, but two more await above. A final pitch would take a terrific position on the final dominant feature of MB. The linking pitch (P4), however, looks like it would require extensive cleaning and this may be enough to halt progress at three pitches.
In the current form, P1 is a very well protected slab, 100ft, 5.9, on quite good stone. Double bolt anchor and chains get you to the ground.
P2 pulls a burly 5.11d right off the belay and remains hard for 30ft. The midsection is a romp that leads to a devious rib that climbs more like an arete with micro-crimpers on both sides. The crimpers have seemed brutally hard so far, hence the A0. It is not clear how difficult this will be completely free, time will tell.
P3 moves right on easy ground for 20ft and fires up a lay-away seam that gets progressively more difficult. Probably 5.11+, but in the last trip through some alternatives started to emerge from the polished face on the right, so 11+ is certainly tentative.
Overall, PM climbs on stone typical of the BTC. It can be sharp in places, but is largely as solid as stone can get. I found myself still brushing off lichen in some spots. PM does differ from the routes on right side of the crag by getting good sun for most of the day.
Location
Proud Mary begins on the far left of MB just where the trail turns sharply uphill.
Protection
15 draws and a 60 meter rope. NB: it is now possible to rap straight down from the top of P3 in three steps of 100ft, 90ft, and 85ft. The rap stations are 20ft right of the climbing.
Decided to give Proud Mary a try today. Hadn't read the description in a while so was bummed at having to aid the rib - was releived that it was originally rated AO. There was chalk all the way so has it gone free? Initial bulge is pumpy and technical and clipping second bolt was desperate for me. had to hang to clip. Great rock and the third pitch looks interesting. Thanks again to developers. Nice to run out for a couple of hours and get completely thrashed!
Someone, not myself yet, may have done the rib free. Frankly, it's not really all that difficult. It's just tricky enough and continuous enough that it is easy to grab a hang and high clip. Stringing it together may simply be a matter of a little practice. I have not had a chance to return since my hip surgery. However, rehab is progressing fast enough that I was able to get out climbing for the last couple of weekends with only minor limitation. If weather holds, I may get back before the snow flies, if not, then by next spring.
We jumped on PM again on May 11. While the arete on P2 proved a bit elusive, Mark did put it together on a second burn figuring it to come in at 5.12a/b. This seems about correct to me as well. The real problem with P2 of PM is linking the arete without a hang. The climbing is very tenuous and it is possible to come off at a moment's notice. It's not pumpy or powerful in any way, but the arete wants to spit you off just when you think you have it all sussed. Clipping is really dicey everywhere on the arete and probably adds a letter grade. Also, we found it difficult to communicate from the top of P1 to the climber above, they are out of sight after 40ft. A good solution for anyone else contemplating the route would be to set up a belay below the top of the pinacle preceeding the arete. This can be done by clipping a pair of bolts and possibly running a sling around the top of the pinacle for back up. It breaks P2 into two small pitches, but this might be useful for solving the arete. A bolt may be added for this purpose.
Mary's Bust
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