BETA PHOTO: Tony Bubb leads 'Anasazi (11a)', to just below the...
Description
At the far right side of Supercrack buttress, you will find this left-facing dihedral. [Just to the right of the large leaning block/cave with the Anasazi handprints on the inside]. The dihedral is not too cruxy, but it is long, so it will get hard. The route is 120', not 140' as suggested, and such was evidenced by my ability to lower off on a single 70M rope, with spare at the base.
The rock quality here is not quite as good as most of the area routes, particularly at the top, where the soft yellow stone can be eroded away by rubbing with the hands. As stated in the guide book, the route SHOULD have ended 20' sooner. But it didn't... So it gets only 2 stars.
In any case, the route is reasonably safe, and just a little less perfect for the fact of climbing into the poor stuff (larger gear up there too).
Climb up the dihedral using little dishes and smears on the left hand face for about 35 feet until a wall comes in behind you to create an inset, upon which you can rest your rear-end or back. This rest will get you off of your fingers.
The addition of the wall behind you makes the rest of the route an exercize in stemming, smearing, lie-backs and the occasional jam to reach the top.
The junk at the top actually looked pretty dangerous so we lowered off before it on a nut and couple tricams - which I'm sure disappeared on the next ascent. The rest of the route is great though. Perhaps someone knows who put it up and could get permission to lower the anchor?!
The "white" section at the top is not the best, but is not too dangerous. I remember a key blue tcu placement in a horizontal pod which made me breathe alittle easier.
This route is characterized by a stembox ~30 feet up, which, like Tony mentions, provides a rest from the fingers / lieback start. The stembox is fairly unique for Indian Creek and provides a bit of rest prior to what I belive is the crux of the route; a section of thin hands through a few bulges.
Sure the rock is a little sandy and not that high quality toward the anchor, but that is part of the adventure that is "Anasazi".
I recommend this route based on my own experience leading it years ago.
An absolutely fantastic route. The anchor should certainly not be lowered, as the climbing on soft rock is easy and protectable, and actually quite fun. I placed a green alien in the horizontal. This piece is suspect in the soft rock, but even if it pulls your next cam is not far below and there is nothing to hit if you fall. I lowered off on a 70 meter rope.
Supercrack Buttress
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