On the left side of Observatory Rock is an alcove with several lines, including the sport route, Killer Instinct on the far left. Skin Mechanic starts off right of KI on a bolt protected 5.10 slab/face and heads for a clean 5.9 crack. Belay above the crack on the left. Pitch 2 chases up the obvious corner to the tree above for a moderate trad pitch. We walked off since it looked most simple. This was a good clean line with a nice mix of climbing. The lower section of P1 seemed a bit runout before it was possible to get in some gear.
Protection
Bring several draws and a full rack of caming units. Wires for the short second pitch are useful. Walk off to the right is probably a better option than trying to rap since there may be problems in recovering the ropes.
The start was definitely a bit hairy. I placed a meduim cam before getting to the first bolt and was very careful getting to the second.
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jun 1, 2008 rating: 5.10 PG13
This was probably the best of 4 lines I've done at the crag.
I thought a green Alien was the best tool to protect the initial runout, which was 5.7-ish. That was followed by the horizontal with BOMBER gear in it, then to the first bolt. If you fell before the first bolt, the fall would be short, but there is a bit of a ledge. Be careful. The upper crack is no gimmie and protects on a few nuts, a 3" cam and a tiny cam or two.
Observatory Rock
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