BETA PHOTO: 4. New River Gorge Homesick Blues, 9+ 5. The Virus...
Description
Climb the crack up the dihedral with the clean right side face and large horizontal slash 2/3 of the way up. Solid finger and hand jams with some nice jugs as a break are throughout the climb. The layback move above the slash is the crux move.
It is #8 in the photo to the right =>
Protection
Some slings for the TR is nice, otherwise mid size cams for trad lead.
For a N Table climb (i.e. short), I really like this one. A nice break from the face climbs. I found one section above the slash both trickier and more difficult to protect than I anticipated from the ground and ended up using a small Alien in a crack on the left face. A small nut would also work.
This route is a good fun though short. The pro is fairly straightforward (it is) and you can make it nice and easy if you use the crack and stem/use the face.
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Sep 3, 2003
One of the best 5.8s at Golden Cliffs. An excellent, well-protected lead; bring your trad rack!
Definitely fun, but sadly, very short. I carried #0.5 - #2 Camalots with a double #1 and up to a #8 stopper, and it protected very well. Bring some webbing and gear for a couple 1" cracks at the top.
Whoever put the two anchor bolts in, thanks. This is a fun climb at an established toprope crag, so it should definitely have a solid anchor. This makes it much safer for the newbies who don't have the experience/gear. I may despise bolts near perfectly protectable cracks, but I never shun a solid set of belay/rap anchors. . .
I wish there were a lot more routes like this one at Table. It's a fun little crack climb with some pretty good stemming rests / gear stances if you look for them.
By Mike Mullen From: Littleton Aug 13, 2004 rating: 5.8
Love this climb. Just wanted to let people know that anchors were added to this climb. We lead it but it would be easy to set-up a TR on this climb now.
By Mark Nelson From: Coniferous, CO Jan 19, 2006 rating: 5.8
Fun line, a pink tri-cam can protect after the small overhang, red-tri cam looks like a good placement but is too big. See Matt's comment above for pro.
By Jeremy Hakes From: Golden, Colorado Apr 25, 2006
We set up a TR after climbing Lemons Limes and Tangerines. This is a fun crack climb! The crux, IMO, is when the crack constricts about 1/2 way up.
The TR anchors are in a completely disconnected block about twice the size of a microwave sitting on and slighly overhanging the rim. It looks like someone could crow-bar the thing off without too much difficulty.
By Matt Gates From: Longmont, CO Mar 19, 2007 rating: 5.8+
Great climb, but I second the comment about the anchors in the detached block. I appreciate the anchors, but shouldn't they be on the opposite face which appears to be solid rock?
By rena brand From: Littleton, CO Nov 2, 2007 rating: 5.8+ PG13
This is my favorite climb at Golden Cliffs. Gives just enough of a challenge but fun. Lots of ways to test your technique on this climb. You could try to jam the crack or stem. I do it different every time.
This is the most memorable trad climb at the cliffs. I thought it was just strenuous enough, but took gear well. Set an anchor with gear up top. Don't use the anchors on the detached block. We see people using those anchors when we go up there, but it is a bad idea...