A continuous, near-vertical, thin crack climb with thoughtful pro. I didn't think this was any better than Silent Partner, but the guidebook and my partner did, so bowing to peer pressure, I'll give it 4 stars.
Start at an obvious thin, straight up crack about 5M right of King of the Hangdogs, the obvious left facing corner.
The first 15', thin laybacking etc. on thin, left facing flakes, is the crux; decent pro is available for this section but it is tough to place. If you have a crashpad or springy legs, you might be better off bouldering this section as the landing is smooth. After you latch the key undercling, marking the end of the crux, there is a straightforward .4 Camalot (gray) placement. After this, pull up and over a bulge (good pro but strenuous to place) to a good rest. At the rest, place a nest of RP size nuts and wriggle past another tricky spot. The climb continues in this fashion, decent but not completely obvious pro with matching moves until another crux is encountered around 2/3 height. After this the climbing relents somewhat as does the gear. Note: my 2000 vintage guide gives both cruxes 10+; my partner and I both found the first considerably harder. The pitch ends at rap anchors.
Protection
Doubles from RPs up to red Alien with a couple of bigger pieces but nothing larger than a #1 Camalot.
There is now an extremely fixed offset nut around the "nest of RPs" spot. Very cool route. Maybe I was being irrational but I was fairly scared the whole time on lead. Continuously challenging with OK but not great gear (apparently with the exception of that nut placement...). I led this the same day as leading Crack of Doom and found this far more mentally taxing.
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