Bloody Mary 

LOVED THIS CLIMB!!! Did it twice cuz we left our anchor at the top of P2. I got to lead P1 and P2.

Ok, the Gray Dick upgraded this climb to a 5.7 for P1. I agree, there is a 7ish crux. Although P1 is a great pitch, P2 is the money pitch.

Beta alert: Don't read if you don't want beta.

P2; Start off by traversing left on easy ground, don't place gear, you will have rope drag. Start placing when you start up towards the roof and extend (long runners) every piece until you turn the 2nd roof. Climb up to the first roof, pull it, use the little tree with rings/slings for a piece. Traverse right (it's all there, really!) and pull the second roof. Just reach up, over the roof and you will find a really sweet lip. Pull it and enjoy the crusier up to the GT ledge.

I think this is a 3 star climb. Where can you get two fun, exposed roofs at such a soft rating? Awesome climb.

The 5.8+ variation of the first pitch is a lot of fun, protects well, and is - I felt - not very hard for the grade.

I disagree with Pitch 2 being money pitch. It's not really that hard. A bit run out, but the face is a little dirty. New 5.7 leader will have rope drag because the leader needs to protected the traverse. Pitch 1 is 5.7, only for a couple of moves. A good lead for 5.7.

I have no idea why two folks rate this PG-13 ... anyone care to comment?

JSH,

The first part of the first pitch could be experienced as awkward and off balance if you don't hit the sequences right. Someone who found themselves in this situation and decided to keep forging ahead, hoping that the next hold is a big flat jug, could end up too far past his/her last piece and in an unstable position, unable to comfortably and quickly place gear. Doesn't have to be that way though.

That may be true, but it would turn Ken's into PG13! :-)

My understanding has always been that protection ratings apply to what the rock offers you (which, for Bloody Mary, is good gear every 2 feet), not what you bring to the rock. It's worthwhile to note that pro may be difficult to place - and that's true for many, many routes - but you're not in PG13 danger due to a lack of opportunity for pro.

Yes, the last sentence of my previous post basically stated the same thing. Bloody Mary is well protected, but given the nature of the route, it is easy to see how some people may mistakenly find this climb a bit sketchy. But it doesn't have to be that way.

I don't think the PG13 is for the first pitch. I haven't done P2 in awhile, but I vaguely remember some run out on pitch 2 right after the roof.

There's no way to indicate PG or G for a climb. There was a thread a little while back where Administrators seemed to indicate that they didn't intend for PG-13 to indicate anything more than PG. I just don't specify a gear rating for anything easier/better than R. I did Bloody Mary on Saturday. The gear is great the whole way up--including the 5.3 walk up above the P2 roof. I do know that there was a severe spinal injury that took place on this route last autumn. Someone fell while clipping their 3rd piece and their second piece came unclipped some how. I can't see how this is a function of the route however.

We all agree that Bloody Mary is well protected. But the nature of the climbing in the first 30 feet (?) or so, regardless of whether it is or isn't challenging for you, could easily be experienced as a bit awkward and insecure; personally, I never felt that way when I've lead it. But I can recognize that fact, just as I can see that some routes require a lot of endurance even though I'm not pumped when I'm doing them, just as I can recognize that placing gear in certain situations is difficult and challenging, even if I don't find it difficult or I'm not challenged at those spots. And on some climbs, getting in over your head is not so easily corrected; you just can't start simply hauling your way out of trouble. That's just the way the climb is.