Oz - (AKA The Road To Emerald City) 

FA:  FA (2 Pitch, A4) Kolath & Pagel - FFA (one 170' pitch) James Loveridge (detailed FA history below) New Route:  Yes Type:  Trad Consensus:  5.12b [details] Length:  1 pitch, 175 feet Views: 821 page views Submitted By: James Loveridge on Sep 5, 2007 Add Photo  Add Comment

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James Loveridge leading Oz. September '07. Photo: ...

History 

HISTORY: "Oz" is the cleaned-up free version of "The Road to Emerald City". Mike Dahlberg worked the botom pitch (on TR) and did the FFA of the 2nd pitch (on TR). Dave Groth did the first Lead (on-sight I might add) of the of what used to be the second pitch. J.Lo cleaned-up the first section/pitch (The first 80' before the crack starts) removed the old belay (it was unnecessary, an ancient time bomb and extremely awkward to get to anyway) and did the FFA (Lead) of the whole thing in one go.

Location 

Oz is located about 30' climbers left (south) of Danger High Voltage. Look for a large tree growing about 10 feet down a Dihedral with a big ledge 30' below (there's a obvious crack in the ledge). It's best to set-up an anchor on the slight promontory to the climbers left of the tree Dihedral. NOTE: You need 2 Ropes tied together to get to the belay rock at the base! That, or fix a single line to the anchor and take your lead rope with you.

Description 

Rap in (fixed single or 2 ropes tied together as it's about 55M to the base ). Set up belay on sloping rock at base (about 30feet from the water). Use single camo GI on the face above block and a #4 Camalot to set up belay for lead. From belay, move right to short chunky buttress and up through bulge passing 2 camo GI's. Continue with the line of least resistance placing good gear in slots and funky pods as you go. When yu gain the juggy, left trending block feature, look for one last camo GI on the left. A few more slots and edges get you to the base of the crack proper. Climb Stunning crack for 65 feet or so to the big ledge. Head up corner (kinda tricky to get off the ledge...) to the top of the cliff. The route has no super hard moves but it's an enduro pump-fest for sure! Plumb line, incredible position, amazing rock (especialy on the 70' crack section!) IMHO, this is one of the best routes at the Head.

Protection 

Bring a set of Stoppers , a double set of cams from BD #.3 (or other 1/2") to BD #.75 (1.25"). Plus a coupple other small C3/TCU/Alien up to 1/2" (A single BD #3 is helpful for one short section where the crack widens. Some draws and a couple shoulder length (24") runners. NOTE: For the first half of the route (before the crack starts) the gear takes some skill-planning-thoughtfulness to place. Also: The gear on the start is more than adequate, if a wee bit run out (you have to go 8-10 feet or so between a couple placements). There is NO chance of hitting anything if you do fall so just give'er and climb to the gear.

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James Loveridge on Oz. September '07. Photo: darin...