Ralph's Leisure Suit  5.12a

446 page views Good page? (1 like)

Type:  Sport, 1 pitch, 50 feet Consensus:  5.12a [details] FA:  Cam Burns, Jean Delataillade, 1990 Submitted By:  Monomaniac on Apr 16, 2007 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (6) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

Add Photo  Add Comment    Printer View

Description 

Another fine 12a on the left end of BTONP. There are 5 5.12a's within 15 feet of each other--a true sport climber's paradise! This one begins in the large dihedral before breaking out left onto the slabby face, with a long runout to the first bolt. Good crimping and sweet pockets lead up the narrowing wall to the crux section at the 4th bolt (and a difficult clip).

At this point the devil on your shoulder will try to lure you out left to the splitter hand crack and an eternity of 5.11c regret. If the angel prevails, head right and up via some thin, rounded crimps and sequential pockets, eventually heading back left to a large, heavily chalked crimp (visible from the ground). Clip the last bolt then head back right using a difficult-to-see crimp and a highly polished crimp on the arete. Some awkward footwork and perhaps an undercling lead to a horrible sidepull immediately next to the left anchor chain. From here I suppose most folks grab the chains in desperation, and some use the hard-to-ignore crack on the right, while the few purists will execute one more hard move to a large hidden hold in the roof crack.

Location 

The 5th bolted route from the left; ends below a large roof.

Protection 

5 Bolts, 2 BA