Flake Route 

the first lead of the "FLAKE ROUTE" was by Steve Sangdahl 1979. I do not know who originally top-roped it. I named the route "Flakes!Flakes!" after the song by Frank Zappa (Sheik Yer Bouti /album.

Steve, There used to be a picture in the old Silverdale of someone on Flakes holding an oil can of Fosters while on lead (or was he aiding? I don't remember). Was that you? Do you know the pic I am talking about?

Jay,I remember leading flake route with a couple of beers clipped on to my rack, but idoubt if it was fosters .it was probably some hedious cheap swill such as BLATZ, etc. I also remember that the flake that we thought we were so clever tying off was easily kicked off at a later date.

the photo is of steve sangdahl on the first lead in 1979. note the 2"swami webbing(no harness)

Jay - the photo you asked about of flake route is of a guy I know as 'Cheeze'who moved to CO a few years back. He was aiding the route and Tom Colemann lowered him the fosters for the picture. Then as the story goes he started throwing snowballs at Cheeze.

Have not led and never will. None the less this is a stellar route even
if TR'd.

Let the DL purists flay me alive, I led the start of Upper Diagonal into Flake Route instead of doing the real start over the dead tree (AKA the huge spike). Since Upper-D trends left and the Flake crux traverses right, I used double ropes. This perfectly eliminated the rope drag and, as a bonus, made me feel extra cool on the airy upper crux.

It was a quintessentially Devil's Lake experience. I had a half-moon at my back for most of the climb, with the lake and talus below glowing in the sunset. A sizable group of hikers at the top were singing about getting home before dark. A guy climbing beside me on Birch Tree acknowledged a "bit of help" from the top-rope, but explained that it was not a true "girlfriend take". He then asked me if Flakes was my first ever lead. It was perfect.

I thought that was the proper way to lead "Flake Route"....(not the double ropes part).
So did the group singing up above you suck or did they sound good? This would make all the difference to me....

Interesting. I wonder which start is more standard -- the "right" start by DL standards. I know routes are often strictly defined here. I definitely enjoyed starting on Upper-D though.

The singing as a whole was pretty chaotic, but one of them at least had a real set of pipes.

Nice work Kayte.

Whoops- re-read your post Kayte.... I guess the proper route according to DL "holders of the way" is to lead (or climb) straight up from the tree..... but who cares.. doesn't diminish the ascent one bit.... nor the "girl friend take" comment either... was the guys girl friend belaying... hee hee I woulda dropped him a few feet.

Devils Lake crimpin'! A #000 C3 helped kill the runout after the flake. The other cams buried well in the seams.
I don't think the alternative start on Upper D would make a difference to the grade, just make it easier to protect the bottom. But, I do really like straight lines.
I should have used runners on the upper pieces, that would have eliminated rope drag but it wasn't too bad.

Direct start is the way to go. Though slightly less protected than the start on Upper D, the moves are pretty cool and get you psyched to launch into the upper crux which is fantastic. Also, this line will reduce rope drag if you use long runners. The gear is BOMBER.

To clarify Andy, the gear on the direct start is bomber or the whole route? If you say the whole route, you're a sand-bagger ;)

Well, there's a touch of spice on this route to say the least. Ideally the crux piece would be a red BD Junior (4 lobes) for optimal surface contact... the purple C3 didn't quite cut it for me but I climbed above it anyways. There are a few spots where you really wouldn't want to fall I guess.

Sandbagger.

Killer Route! Great moves, fantastic position, a little heady, perfection!

I would agree with Hansen the Direct start is the way to go. I got my first piece in at about the 10' mark followed by another 10' of climbing placing a piece just below the piton in the alcove. The real run out on the route comes moving through the alcove and gaining the first good hold just above the horizontal pods. From that good hold I placed what I thought were two bomber pieces. I opted not to place gear in upper d past the alcove.

Route of the year! Any year!