Working through the crux section of Finger Locking...
Description
As the name suggests, finger locks are crucial on this relentless, exhausting route. A three-star rating in the DCA.
A jagged finger crack with scant footholds leads up to a cave in the face. Continue up and left from the cave, pull a bulge and finish at the post-fire anchors at the top. In the past, some climbers simply finished the route at the cave, where there were fixed slings to rap from. The slings are gone, but a gear anchor can be built in the cave if you don't feel like finishing the route.
Location
Starts just left of Jay Walker.
Protection
Small-to-medium nuts and cams. Rap from new bolted anchors at the clifftop.
This pitch's popularity belies the 1-star rating as do the three stars (out of three) the guidebook gives it. It's not very long, but it is a sweet crack and for the TWall, a soft touch for the grade.
By saxfiend Administrator From: Atlanta, GA Dec 2, 2006
David G. is right, my personal star rating was unfairly skewed by the fact that my technique is just not up to this route! I've bumped it to two stars and also noted that the Cragger gives it a three-star rating.
If it were longer this route would be four stars. Perfect finger locks and great gear. I thought that there were good rests (for a 10b finger crack) for placing pro. I would suggest bringing some very small wires for the top section, the climbing eases but the pro gets thin.
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jan 1, 2007 rating: 5.10c
In 1992 I dislocated a finger on this route. Fingerlocking on good pods, I stepped up high and reached for the next lock. My foot cut from the smear and I was downward bound. Rather than pull my fingers and take a fall on my gear, I instinctively tried to hold on. Silly me. The finger-locks did hold, but when my center of gravity had dropped 3 feet onto two knuckles it was more than they could bear.
Ouch! That's one of my reals fears about crack climbing ( along with peeling with my foot stuck).
If someone were to cut those slings out of the cave, we'd have a real classic on our hands here. After all, how many other routes on 90' cliffs end arbitrarily just because someone found a thread?
By Nick Stayner From: Jackson, WY Mar 5, 2007 rating: 5.10b
Has anyone actually done the finish? The book says to stay on the face, but there's also a dihedral right above the crack...
T-Wall North
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