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Unnamed climber from Greeley crusing Pitch 1.
Description
I've only done the first pitch of this route. If you feel solid on 5.9 and have never climbed at Lumpy, this is a good route to do, it is your standard Lumpy weirdness.
P1. This pitch begins 100 feet or so to the left of Fat City. It is a clean, low-angle, flared crack in a blank slab, just right of an area of many pronounced grooves. It leads to a two bolt anchor less than half a rope-length up feet up (and continues above). This crack appears easy from down below, but it is probably one of the hardest 5.9 pitches you will ever do. The crack is flared, insecure, and sustained the whole way to the anchor. There is also an awesome .12a face climb 20 feet to the right of it of that can be toproped from the anchors on George's Tree. The crux is 20 feet up, but the face remains solid 5.10 and 5.11 the whole way up. These two routes are great for developing slab technique. ~140'.
Addendum:
On the first pitch above the 2 bolt anchor, it gets steeper.
P2. leads up more cracks. ~60'.
Var. A note on the variation on the 2nd pitch (5.10c). This line goes up and to the right at the top of the P1, up a right-facing, thin corner and heads back left after the crux slabby bulge, joining the original line above. Take a good handful of micronuts to protect this one. Very thin and balancy.
P3. another pitch up good cracks leads to the ledge 2/3s up the wall. ~130'.
P4. follow the most obvious cracks to the top. This was probably the crux. ~ 160'.
Protection
Standard rack to a #3.5 Friend. Other recommendations: doubles of #6-10 stoppers I had on every pitch. The first pitch eats them. Doubles on stopper from #4 on up, maybe some mid-sized hexes. Bring lots of Aliens.
Bring a double set of small cams for this route. Then a standard rack up to a #3 Friend. A single larger piece will be nice for pitches 3 and 4. On the first pitch above the 2 bolt anchor, it gets steeper. But good footwork will keep it in the 5.9 range. I had one foot wedged in the flaring crack and the other further out using heel - toe techinque. Pitch 4 was probably the crux.
I only did the climb to the 2 bolt anchor at about 70 feet up. The flaring crack had really thin fingers but great feet. Also found a few face holds for rest. Just remember that the tree is off limits.
Do the whole route! The best part of the first pitch is past the bolts, as mentioned, and will spank you if you can't jam well. The second pitch leads up more cracks, and another pitch up good cracks leads to the ledge 2/3s up the wall. From there, follow the most obvious cracks to the top. Route finding on the upper pitches isn't as bad as it might appear, the cracks are continuous and the easy way is generally obvious. The whole route protects very well. I used the doubles of 6-10 stoppers I had on every pitch. The first pitch eats them. I would say doubles on stopper from 4 on up, a single set of cams from .5-3.5 Friend, and maybe some mid-sized hexes.
To descend, stay close and walk along the east edge on down. By downclimbing some gullies and chimneys in the big slab that is the edge of the cliff you make the descent shorter.
While it is true that this route has good pro, Pat and I watched a guy take a 50-60 footer on the first pitch (a nice, continuous crack) last weekend. He pulled out several pieces of gear and nearly hit the ground. Be warned that Lumpy is often not a good place to lead climb if you are not adept at tricky gear placements in flaring, bottoming cracks which abound on many routes--George's Tree P1 being one of the best examples. Be careful out there!!
Since I have no crack technique and virtually no physical ability, this was a tough, tough lead. It was definitely the toughest 5.9 I've ever done. Be glad that we live in a time where cams exist. Roger Weigand told me yesterday while I was starting up the route that Pat Ament backed off of this route when he tried it due to his fear of the poor protection.
This crack is long, sustained, and flared. Definitely, one of the hardest 5.9s that I have led. Small cams and stoppers work good here. (number one Metolius TCU and FCU are useful).
Wow, this thing reminded me that I'm only a wee 5.7 struggler. I guess my head had swelled after doing a few 5.9s lately, and this thing put me back into the right place. It's great though, a classic grovel. And with a little effort, I found I had more gear in the crack than I could believe, and most of it seemed half good too! Bring lots of Aliens, offset cams were made for this thing. I had a couple HP offset small/mid sized nuts that worked great, too. Fun to get worked sometimes!!
A note on the variation on the 2nd pitch (5.10c). This line goes up and to the right at the top of the first pitch, up a right-facing, thin corner and heads back left after the crux slabby bulge, joining the original line above. Take a good handful of micronuts to protect this one. I placed about three before the crux in hopes that at least one might hold. Luckily I didn't have test them. Very thin and balancy.
I concur that the whole route is worthwhile, one of my favorites on the Book.
By Ben Mottinger Founding Father May 9, 2004 rating: 5.9
Bring stiff shoes for this route--the jams are painful. Nice line and continous climbing--I thought the crack was a little gritty and painful for a 3 star. Maybe I'm just a wimp.
It is possible to do this route in three pitches with a 60M rope. From the ground, continue up then right to the large tree (shared with Osiris) almost 200 feet. Second pitch, work up and right about 165 feet to a sloping ledge. Then top out by working straight up through the upper headwall just under 200 feet. Makes for a long and efficient route.
I placed about 10 pieces of gear on P1, only feeling 100% solid on the first. That said, you can get a decent piece in nearly every body length. Stoppers and TCUs.
Climbed P1--thought I was just being a whiner when I had difficulty leading this, but partner A. Wiedmann took a lap on lead and also pronounced it to be pretty stout. Footjams are fairly painful and the pro is not optimal. Extra small cams are advisable, and offsets would go a long way to making the pro reasonable. I would recommend sewing this one up, despite the painful stances--much of the pro would not take a long fall.
Climbed the whole route in 3 pitches today with a 70. I'll go out on a limb and suggest 10a for this route. Some spots were very insecure, but it did protect well. Each pitch seemed to have a move which I would rate 10-. My fiance didn't think it was so hard. Maybe we were off route, maybe I'm just a weenie.
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