Loose Ends 

One of my favorite routes anywhere. Hard to imagine 3 better pitches of 5.9. There is a trick to starting P2 that will make it considerably easier than jamming the crack straight on...

The 5.9 first pitch is one of the best pitches on the Book. Sustained and steep!!!!!! It keeps you thinking all the way to the anchors.

Big fingers makes the 1st pitch feel stiff for 5.9. Still, a great climb!

If you are looking for a climb with a lot of liebacking this is the route for you! You'll love every pitch!

WOW! great route. continuous climbing the entire way on high quality stone. a must do for the grade!

This is one of the most fun climbs I've ever done. For a solid 5.9+ leader who can climb 5.10, it's perfect. The 5.10 crux pitch I thought was one move on bomber pro, sort of a boulder problem more than anything. Pitch one is tricky and difficult to do nicely especially first thing in the morning and is now my favorite warmup pitch on the wall. Bring lots of nuts and enjoy sinking them perfectly into good rock. I think Pitch 3 is the psychological crux simply because the big arching dihedral is intimidating, yet it protects well and the feature is beautiful on the walk down as well. Simply a must do in my book.

A variation to the third pitch is to go a bit less than halfway up the leaning dihedral, then traverse left across slab about 20-25 feet under a small overlap to a straight in, straight up crack. Then follow this crack (1 to 4 inch pro) back to the final few lieback moves in the leaning dihedral. Probably 5.9 also and good quality climbing.

Awesome route. I led the first, third, and fourth pitches and enjoyed them all. Not one bad pitch on 'Loose Ends'. The second pitch, however, was the best pitch of the climb. Fun finger jams with good gear.

This is a great route, that doesn't seem to get as much spray as J-crack and Femp. P1 has perfect finger locks and high friction for your feet. It was one of my first 5.9 leads and protects really well. It seems like the crack always tends to have about 2 pieces of fixed gear in it. A hint for P2 would be to think about your hand placements before slotting in gear. My partner made it much more difficult for himself than it needed to be by filling up his jams. Overall, every pitch is great fun. This route shouldn't be missed!

Wonderful route. Be sure to bring long runners.

If you want to finish the climb with some spice, the right facing dihedral that a few meters left of the cave entrance. Above the little roof (where the dihedral ends), there are three cracks. All are flaring, and the pro isn't inspiring. Maybe there's an easier way up one of these cracks, but the way I went was scary. Just so you know what you're getting into, my girlfriend and I guess the dihedral part was 10a and the upper part went at 11b.

Running pitch 4 and the exit together seems appropriate, ONLY IF you eliminate rope drag by doing the 'Cave proper' exit which is, by the way, really cool, powerful, easy to protect-incl. a pin-and easier than it looks.

Climbed this last year and again the other day. Awesome climb. However, since last year someone has put a nest of slings with a couple of rap rings at the top of the first section (50 or 60 feet up). What is up with this?? Is this now a Top-roping area? If someone had to bail and left them I understand, but if these are intended so groups can now camp out on the first half of the first pitch of a 5-pitch climb then that's B.S.

Every time I climb a new route at Lumpy, it becomes my new favorite of the area. “Loose Ends” is no exception. The first pitch would be a great first lead at the grade. It offers great protection and its sustained nature keeps your attention. No one move stood out to me as the crux move of the pitch.

I would not say the same for pitch two. I puzzled over the first couple of moves for a few long minutes. I worked my way through it, although I’m not sure how. I just remember that it felt very insecure for a 5.9. My feet tangled up and I felt like I could pop off at any second. The third pitch provides some killer lie backs in a cool left-leaning dihedral. It looks ominous at first, but the climbing is stellar.

Due to weather, my party and I decided to just do the first pitch of Loose Ends. It is one of my most favorite 5.9 leads ever. The pitch eats nuts- in fact, the whole pitch was lead with nuts. The cam placements just never felt good. Good thin finger placements the whole way with friction for feet. What a great climb! I enjoyed the slings at the top as it allowed us to do a single pitch and still enjoy Lumpy- weather and all.