BETA PHOTO: Rasmussen Crack is the thin line that starts behin...
Description
Rasmussen Crack is located between Hummingbird Crack and Turkey's Delight on an inset wall on the left side of the Turkey Tail. A pine tree stands at the base of the route, access the climb from the left side of this tree.
Pull up and right through a blocky section and into the thin crack above. This continues straight up and then arches left. Follow the crack until it is possible to hand traverse left along a rail reaching a hand sized crack (#2 Camalot), climb this for a couple moves and move left onto a ledge with a fixed anchor. This climb is thin and sustained and excellent. It ends up being more of a face climb than a crack as the crack gets pretty small and there are some great edges on the face.
Two stars for rock and moves and pro, but it's short and the crack dies before becoming a classic. 70 ft. is a guess. A 60 meter rope easily made the rappel from the anchor, a 50 probably would as well. Watch the dead tree when tossing your rope, it's a potential snag.
Protection
This is a thin crack that protects well with TCUs and RPs. Bring a few medium-sized cams for the first 20 feet.
After climbing Rasmussen's, you can TR the excellent face left of the start. It joins the crack after the arc near the top. I call it Rasmussen's face. The face felt like 10/10+.
I'm embarrassed to admit I don't recall the name of the first ascentionist, but I do remember a story of that FA. It may be apocryphal, but even if it is, it's pretty cool. Supposedly the climb was first done without RPs (because they hadn't been invented yet) let alone TCUs, and in hiking boots (maybe EBs?) a couple of sizes too large. Impressive. Neat climb, too. Thanks, whoever you are!Verification and/or clarification are welcome.
His first name was Kurt and it was led pre-rp's and such. The crack looks much harder than it climbs and takes small stopper very well. There used to be a couple of fixed pins on the routes. More of a face than crack climb.
I'd love to know if Robbie Baker named this route, as he was one of the original South Platte guys, and I went to high school with him (sort of!) and we knew a gal named Nancy R. Anyway, I would say that all the routes on Turkey Tail are under-rated by modern standards, including this one. The crux of this is harder than any 10b I've ever done. But whatever - you certainly get your money's worth. Word to those who want to rap after pitch 1 - look hard to the left of the corner you join. The rap anchors are hidden now by some vegetation, so we missed it. They are just left and below the large block with the bush under it.
Turkey Tail
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