Power Failure 

Climbed this route 5/03/04. Bring plenty of small pieces (to 2") for pitch 3 as it is sustained. What an awesome way to end our day!

For pictures, trip report and other beta about this route, check out our web site at www.ericandlucie.com

there are bolts on this puppy, but not enough to make it friendly in a black velvet kind of way. bring lots of slings and consider a #4 for the top. its a teeny bit runout on easier (5.8ish?) friction, but when the water is really running it can be wet/slimy. the big cam looked like it would be the only pro up there.

super fun route. although the new guidebook is a little off. anyone know what route is off to the right? its a super thin left facing dihedral that angles up and right in to a belay a station then continues up to an offwidth to another rap station? both pitches are pretty short. first one was kind of challenging.

Great route, but definitely soft for the grade. The climbing is just plain fun! Also recommend the dihedral to the right, it's not in the book but probably in the 5.10 range.

re: john doe's neighbor route question: that route sounds like 'all you can eat'. i think its in the new guidebook. the first two pitches are fun, if you can stand the hard start (one move wonder- protects with tiny nuts or ballnuts above a bolt), and the second pitch is absolutely classic. splitter lieback to widening crack and eventually to a station. from there it follows a wandering bolt line through untraveled (ugly) rock and tops out on the buttress.

Does anyone know if a variation exists on pitch 1 that continues up the crack where the bolts head right? I tried this, and led it to the point where the crack thins out, 5.10+? I was aiming for the bolted rap station about 30 feet higher and to the left in the water groove but could not find a way to link it on the face and had to down climb. Looks like a great line if a bolt or two was added on the run out face portion.

I removed a bolt from the second anchor yesterday with my nut tool. There are still two good bolts there and a nice clean 3/8inch hole where the other bolt was.

Ghet-to! Wow, those are the good bolts, I bet!

Really fun route. The first pitch 5.8 is nothing special, but the two 5.10 pitches after that are great. I found the hardest part to be on the second pitch in the middle where the crack peters out and you are climbing a fairly blank white face with very few holds but are protected by bolts. I did't really see the need for anything bigger than a #2 Camalot. The top of pitch 3 where the crack gets a little wider is pretty easy and you can also get small gear there inside the large crack if you need it. I would also echo the previous sentiments that there is allot of loose rock on top. This is more of an issue for those coming down from Ginger Crack or Unimpeachable Groping to rap. You never really get into that loose stuff when you get to last anchor on the route unless you go above the anchor for some reason. Also that loose stuff coming down does not really effect the climbing on the route as it falls straight down and the route comes in from the climbers right. I thought the grade was pretty accurate, but I'm also not used to that type of climbing being a visiting climber. Being a gunks climber I thought the "roof" on Y2K to be 5.8, so grade perceptions has allot to do with the type of climbing that you are used to.

I'd also like to echo sentiments about loose rock from anyone scrambling down in the bowl above Power Failure, coming down from Ginger Cracks and Unimpeachable Groping.

I just climbed Ginger Cracks November 24th and it is very difficult NOT to send rocks over the edge down through the raps of Power Failure.

I was considering Power Failure, but won't go anywhere near it until I know conditions have changed above.

Good luck

The line on the Handren topo is off, the first pitch curves to the right along the line of 4 bolts - that is, don't continue up the crack (Oct 2012)