Cracking the Code 

I did all 3 pitches and liked the whole route. It is appt'ly named, as the crux is complex, but not so physically hard. I didn't high-step either. The first pitch was 5.11b or 5.11c and the second was 5.10. The third felt like 5.10 as well, but maybe that was the pump factor. I lead the first two pitches as one for sure, and if I remember correctly, I lead the entire thing as a single pitch on a 70M rope. Sorry, but I don't recall how much rope was left at the end. I did skip some clips and use some 2' long slings along the way to avoid drag. We walked off of the top.

The first pitch is a little ugly compared to the other routes nearby. The upper pitches look good, but I didn't do them. I'll be back for those pitches.

The first pitch seemed easier than two 11a's I did the same day, Led Astray and Cold Shot. One hard move between good stances. If it were trad, I'd call the first pitch 10b/c. I say that, because I more often than not cannot onsight 10c trad clean (I know that's redundant) yet I onsighted this quite easily. The rating of this may be consistent with modern sport climbing standards, but I can't say, being new to sport climbing after 30+ years trad.

I also believe that 11b is on par with other sport routes in Boulder Canyon. The climbing is not powerful, but good use of your feet is key.

If you don't do the 2nd pitch, then you're missing out. The first pitch, in of itself, is probably not two-star quality. I thought the better climbing was on the 2nd pitch. The position is also excellent, though there is a bit of looseness. Climbing all the way to the top from the anchors at the top of pitch 1 is about 90 feet of climbing and one 60m rope easily gets you back down to that anchor.

Thank you Joe, P2 & P3 combined offers great position with 3 mid 5.10 cruxes the 3rd. and highest on loose/friable flakes.

The first pitch is indeed cryptic and on the first attempt I was perplexed. Aided by beta, the second attempt went much better. The second pitch is pretty good but is still somewhat dirty, unless I was way off-route. I'm pretty certain you can rappel from the 2nd-pitch anchors with a 60m rope.

We thought this route kind of sucked. Awkward first pitch but pretty well protected. My partner had a little bit of trouble clipping the bolt before the crux but managed.

Second pitch completely blows. Wanders all over the place trying to find the hardest climbing. Bolts are poorly located resulting in biners loading over edges, rope running over edges, etc. The anchor is kind of a botched job as well as it isn't well equalized.

Not really worth doing.