Does anyone have any good beta on Edwards Crack in Vedauwoo?

I've climbed it twice, but the one time I tried to lead it, I got slapped down by the opening moves.

Any Suggestions??

Jason

Place a big piece as high as you can (the opening wide section is short if I remember correctly) and heel toe for a few moves...

It's a rite of passage.

Figure it out yourself, there's lots of ways to do it.

Not trying to sound like a dick (especially according to your screen name we might have grown up together) but some of these things shouldn't be taught, only learned.

Climb the crack. Place a piece. Climb the crack. Place a piece. Climb the crack. Place a piece. Rest. Climb the crack. Place a piece. Climb the crack. Place a piece. Climb the crack. Place a piece. Belay.

Like John said, there's lots of ways to do it. Get creative, and don't get tunnel vision. The start isn't as hard as the finish.

do mother 1 first, if you can do it then the start to eds crack is no problem

RUN IT OUT!

I found the start to be physically harder than the finish; I found the finish to be only technically harder to figure out than the start.

I don't know how big you are compared to me (I'm 5'6" female), but I remember going right side in. This required weird body tension/body gaston/modified chimney movement (don't know what to call it exactly). Basically I think I got up by pressing my feet on the slab and walking them up while also pushing with my left hand against the slab and thrutching my right shoulder against the crack wall behind me. I am not sure if I moved my feet and upper body in a one-moves-then-the-other sequence or if I moved my whole body simultaneously in some coordinated way. It made for a pretty sore/somewhat bruised right shoulder blade, however. Also, anytime you stop to rest or place pro (which I did not do frequently, I tried to move fairly quickly), I remember using a lot of opposing "pressing" tension to keep myself from falling out.

If you are much larger than I, this may not work.

I think I placed a cam as high as I could reach once I was 2-4 feet off the ground (have your belayer spot you), then maybe I only placed one more piece up higher before being able to exit the grand struggle.

Wedge in, inch up, and bring a 70m rope so you can do it in one pitch.

good lord with this thread -- just use the heel toe.

Well, if we're gonna offer specific beta, fine.

There's two cracks in the starting crack. One's straight in, the other (the crack that splits the face above) is at right angles to the first. Jam/lay back the latter with your hands. Jam your feet straight into the former. There's jugs in the straight in crack where it pinches down a couple of times, but that's above the hard part.

Everybody uses different beta for that section though. I never felt solid smearing to the left. YMMV

I found the first 20' to be the crux of the route for me as well. The inner crack mentioned above takes gear nicely. I remember placing two #2 Camalots in there and feeling (marginally) more secure. After that, it's a piece of cake until the final OW chimney thrash-fest.