Working the toprope on the lower part of the face ...
Description
Totally rad climb. It follows a thin seam up a smooth slabby face for the first half, and then continues up a vertical to overhanging jug haul for the second half. The crux is a techinical move on the lower slab. The route lies just to the left of a gully that leads to the top of the cliffs.
Eds. According to richard berk, this was once known as Dead Moonies Don't Sell Flowers.
Protection
It's a sport route with 5 bolts and a 2 bolt anchor. A medium sized stopper is nice if you are squeamish about the runout in the middle. It is very easy to hike to the top to set up a toprope.
An extra bolt was added on the lower slab (a stopper was helpful in the past), so that there are now 6 bolts, plus the anchor. One of the best routes at Table.The bottom is technical, the upper section very pumpy. Though I have never led it, I have now followed it several times over the years and still think it is 11c, though slightly easier than Forgotten Names, just to the right.
I have always wondered where the alternative name that Richard Berk notes came from. Dave Fields put the bolts in back during the initial frenzy, Tod got the first send. I remember seeing the "moonies" name in an early guide and wondering "WTF?"
Nothing very exciting. At the time we were naming climbs for things that had happened the previous evening. Thus when we named "Flight 67 to Stockholm" it was for a Swedish girl I had met the night before (combined with the 67 painted on the rock). We decided to just stick with the airport theme for "Dead Moonies". Moonies is a not so nice term for followers of Sun Myung Moon. They prefer to be called "Unification Church members". They used to sell flowers at airports. And we had probably seen "Airport" recently. I personally have no problem with the Unification Church or Sun Myung Moon - at least no more than I do with any religion.
At the time were convinced we could lead the climb without bolts, but it never happened.
Impressive climb, especially for this area. I really enjoyed all the moves. The crux for me was the moves between the second and third bolt. The overhang is strenuous, but straight-forward. This one is definitely now in the top 5 climbs in this area for me.