John Ciccone following the first pitch of Freudian...
Description
This is the best slab climb I've ever done and I only got to do the first pitch due to darkness and rain. The climbing is exposed, very thoughtful, delicate and footwork intensive. In late summer the slab is covered with a colorful canvas of lichen (but not slippery) which really makes you search for "holds".
When my partner and I approached the base I called it a "pussy route" and offered to lead in my approach shoes. I must've been delirious because I was hungover, fatigued, dehydrated and had the worst case of ball chafing ever. Good thing he convinced me otherwise. I had never felt my facial muscles spasm while clipping a bolt..something just short of a religious experience..
Location
Keep walking along the base of the slab until you see bolts. Freudian Slip is just to the left of Slide Rules 5.7 which only has 2 bolts per pitch.
Protection
The route is completely bolted, but some bolts are 15-20ft apart. If I had known this before hand, I might've thought twice about leading it..but I'm glad I did lead it. Just do it.
At the end of the first pitch I didn't have much of my 50m left. Bring 2X 60m
No offense but I don't see how this route is 4 stars. Most of the climbing uses exfoliating flakes that you just have to hope won't break when you stand up on them. In addition the climb follows no real line, I know that slab climbs can be a little vague in this regard. But it seems you could go up anywhere on the face at about the same grade. Not worth the hike with two ropes though the hike without the ropes might be worth. We didn't finish the route either because we didn't think it was worth it...
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