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Just layback it! Yes, but then it's hard to get ge...
Description
A great finger crack on par with J-Crack or Loose Ends. It starts left of the Cave and makes a great finish to climbs on the right side of the Book. If linked with Fat City Crack, it makes arguably the best 5.10 climb at Lumpy Ridge. The wall left of the Cave contains several crack lines. Cheap Date is the left-leaning, left fork of a prominent thin system.
Start about twenty feet below the Cave, and climb up and slightly left on steep flakes and cracks to a stance at the fork (5.9). Take the left branch (crux) with perfect gear which must be placed from poor stances (the right fork is 5.11 and requires multiple RP placements). Belay on a sloping ledge, then scramble off or hand traverse left to the overhanging crack of Outlander, which is 5.10d.
Protection
Rack up to a #2 Friend with doubles on medium TCUs; bring a #3 Friend to finish on Outlander.
By Charles Vernon From: I'm in transition right now Jan 1, 2001
A further note on the pro: you could probably get by pretty well without double medium TCUs--or really, without any TCUs at all--but due to the nature of the climb (the somewhat blind placements--if you climb it like most people do, i.e., the easier way...hell, you'll see what I mean-- from very tenuous stances), it is much easier to plug in the TCUs rapidly than to fiddle around with the nut placements, which are pretty tricky by themselves without all that other jazz. I placed a couple of nuts, but near the top I gave up these old-school shenanigans, shoved in a TCU or two, and went for broke...
It's no gimme getting to the left leaning crux crack. A couple extra TCUs are nice - double or triple up on the yellow. The crack does widen up in a few spots, but it's mostly awesome finger locks.
Hard climb on lead! Difficult to place good gear since the upper section requires a sort of lay backing technique. The crack in undulating and flaring, hence good placements require a good look, and free hand, good balance, and staying power. This is an excellent test of your ability to manage you head ( small cams keep my attention), gear, and climbing skills . Unfortunately I failed at the upper section but am looking forward to take the test again. An excelent finsh to Fat City for a free climbing masterpiece.
Very cool crack. I would emphasize what people said above about the difficulty of placing gear on lead for this crack. It climbs easier on TR for the LB/ramp walk technique. I would say the more critical cam size is blue TCU or green Alien (bring at least two in this range... 3 would have been nice)... yellow TCUs are too big for the cruxy part. Nuts work OK in a few places, but they are a lot more work to place.
I did this w/o any blind placements staying under the crack w/ good locks and toe cams and it didn't seem that hard. I'm sure I was smearing a lot with my left foot but there was also plenty of holds for it. An excellent route to send after getting beat down on Fat City.
5 stars if I could, one of the best pitches I've ever had the pleasure of on-siting at Lumpy. There are many routes here that get my hackles up but this one was a pleasure to be on, the climbing was so damn superb the gear was a mild afterthought, but I found all of it to be great.I laid the entire thing back in a strong Lumpy breeze and had nothing but a big grin on my face the whole time.No need ever to do the Cave Exit with this gem right there.
Right on Jimbo. This is indeed one a the best on Lumpy. Great climb, great gear, excellent position. Climbs really well. Didn't feel too difficult and if you can keep your balance you can avoid the pump. Good lead for the aspiring .10 leader. 5 stars!
The Book
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