BETA PHOTO: Desperate (left exit) 5.8, Potrillo Cliffs, White ...
Description
This is the first listed variant of route #12 in the online guide. Start up a broken crack system to a bulging block. Go around the block (1st crux, right side is easier), then aim left to gain a stance below a pair of converging cracks. Follow the flaring crack/seam on the right (2nd crux) to the top.
Desperate Left is indicated as an option in the online guide, and by Beverly (2006:208) and Jackson (2006:189-190). It's not clear from the guide books if the hand crack immediately to the left (the route named Kor's Dog) is on or off. The online guide describes Desperate Left as following the "left-trending crack system to the top" (italics added), so I'd argue that both cracks are on-route, since they're only ~14 inches apart at the top. (But, then where does that leave Kor's Dog? Beverly does not mention KDog; Jackson's topo seems to merge KDog and Desperate)
Location
On the west-facing cliff. Start on the cracked face left of Gymnast/Upper Kor's.
Protection
Standard trad rack to 2.5"; thin nuts useful if you choose not to protect the Kor's Dog crack. Gear anchor on top.
At the top, the hand crack just to the left is apparently the 5.8 route "Kor's Dog." These cracks converge at the top, where they're only ~14 inches apart, so calling them separate routes seems contrived, if by that you mean that one crack is off-limits while you're climbing the other one. Plus, at the top of Desperate Left, the seam pinches in and is difficult to protect, not to mention climb. Meanwhile, only inches away, there's a perfectly useable hand crack to climb and protect. I stuck with the Desperate crack until the last 3 feet, when I had to submit to the urge to jam a cam in Kor's Dog and yard up on the hand jams offered by that crack. Plus, all the while, I had been stemming off the wall farther left of Kor's Dog, so..... Was that wrong, should I not have done that? Can any knowledgeable Potrillo climbers offer opinions as to the origin and/or intent of identifying these routes as separate entities? Or am I misunderstanding, and the whole crack system should really be called Kor's dog instead of Desperate Left, or vice-versa?
By George Perkins Administrator From: Los Alamos, NM Mar 17, 2009 rating: 5.8
Chris Wenker wrote:
I stuck with the Desperate crack until the last 3 feet, when I had to submit to the urge to jam a cam in Kor's Dog and yard up on the hand jams offered by that crack. Plus, all the while, I had been stemming off the wall farther left of Kor's Dog, so..... Was that wrong, should I not have done that?
Chris I wouldn't beat yourself up over this. I'd guess that all features and nearby cracks are considered "on" on any 5.8 trad climbs at Potrillo; in fact contrived avoidance of them sets a bad example for the many new climbers frequently seen at Potrillo who might be struggling on a route like this. It's hardly a gym with taped holds, or a sport/face climb with well-defined "don't use the crack" instructions.
Count it as a "SEND"! No Asterisk necessary. (We'll see what the rest of the MountainProject jury has to say though.)
I agree completely. This isn't a gym. If it is within my reach, I will use it (a 6'8" wingspan allows me to reach many things that some probably consider "off-route" - but I don't care, I need all the help I can get). ;)
I would agree for any area, you are outside everything is on. If a previous party did not use it that is their problem not yours and they were trying to force something that is not there or did a poor job of forcing it.
@ Devin, you make it sound as though a 6'8" wingspan is a disadvantage with your wording. I would tend to say that most people would disagree with that. Though when trying to do a tight cross or something it really is a disadvantage.
Thanks guys. My George Castanza quote aside, I'm not too terribly worried about my choice to use both cracks. As long as the moves are 5.8 or harder.....
I'm guessing that Kor's Dog is the 'contrived' route in this case. My hypothesis is: a person cannot climb the flaring seam of Desperate Left (and keep it at 5.8) without resorting to using the left hand crack. However, it appears that a person could climb just the left hand crack, without touching the right flaring seam, and also keep it at 5.8, and call it 'Kor's Dog.' At least that's what I can deduce from the topos. Seems kinda silly. I'll test that theory next time I'm there.
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