Belaying the 2nd on Apache Line. The 11d start is...
Description
Vaguely reminiscent of, but IMO, much better than Levitation 29. If off-vertical technical climbing heavy on the edges is your bag, you'll be close to heaven on the upper half. Excellent rock: solid and crisp w/out being too sharp.
P1: We started with Apache Line (11b) which is excellent, steep and a stout warmup, but still probably easier than the 11d guidebook option. ~40m
P2: 4th class, possible batmaning a fixed rope.
P3-5: Varieties of 5.10 slabbing on smooth rock with somewhat sparse bolting. This section gives some people the willies.
P6-9: 11b, 11d, 11b, 11c. One intricate, stellar face pitch after another. P6 is about 110'.
P10: 12b. We didn't climb this pitch. It appeared to be bulgy and wandering. Supposed to be solid at the grade and tricky.
Descent: rap the route. we had two 60M ropes. A 70M would probably work for every rap except for the last one. Most pitches were about 30m except where noted. I've provided the guidebook ratings which are fairly solid but by no means sandbaggy by Portrero standards, or at least compared to the Mota.
Location
Roughly 50-75 M left of Sendero. If you have a rest day to burn, it's worth scoping out the approach and deciding which 1st pitch option looks most appealing to you.
Protection
Sorry to say I don't remember how many quickdraws are need. I probably took 16 and a couple of long slings. We took a few nuts and some Tricams for the 5.10 slabs but I don't recall placing anything.
El Toro (The Bull)
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