Last pitch of Spring Fever 8(+). Notice the pack b...
Description
Pitch 1 Begins on Lunch ledge, 40' left of the S Direct. Stem up grooves for 20'. Traverse right to a shallow crack in a right facing corner. Climb straight up (poor pro) to a low angle slab below a wide roof. Belay at the left end of this roof, about 10 feet ABOVE the slab at 2 bolts (5.9 R not obvious). This dangerous pitch can be avoided by climbing the first pitch of the S direct and traversing left across the easy slab to the belay (5.6).
Pitch 2: Climb up and right along a ramp to a steep section. The airy belay is 20' higher (5.10).
Pitch 3: Move up & right to a beautiful flake, similar to the "Zion Curtain" in Bells. At the end of the flake move back left and up to a bolted belay - great pitch! (5.10a).
Pitch 4: Ascend the slab above to the chimney breaking the headwall above to the top (5.8).
This route has been recently re-bolted.
Location
Starts on Lunch Ledge, left of the S Direct.
Protection
Standard traditional rack. If you climb the first pitch you may want to bring a few large copperheads!
This is a lot of fun. You should know it is not as sustained as S-direct and the runnouts you do have are where its 5.6 or less. It definitely has harder moves than S-direct and they are for real but almost always within arms reach of a bolt or pro.
If you've done S-Direct and loved getting high on the Thumb this is a very worthy option. Do the alternate after the first pitch of S-direct as Brian recommended. That flake pitch is a lot like the Zion's Curtain on Arm and Hammer in Bell's and has cool entry and exit moves, making it worth the trip alone.
You can easily traverse to the top of S-direct from the anchor after the flake if you wanted to rap the whole thing with a 70m rope.
The last pitch is very good (5.8). Don't stop after the flake! This pitch will actually give u a workout (nice change from slabbing). Nothing bigger than a #4 Camalot. The rest of the climb below is super cool too. Climb Robbins Crack while u are up there.
Fun day out. I love getting high on the Thumb. I think the new hardware adds to the experience.The leader should know that the run-out on the 2 pitch is solid even with the new hardware. Still, I found the new bolt SO much nicer, I wasn't nearly as puckered as when i first did it!
Even if you traverse around the 5.8 gash it's still full value!
The flake pitch is really good and safe with the new beefy hardware. We rapped into it from the top of S-direct and it seems like a 70m rope would make it (we had 2). The moves off the belay are thin and the rock a bit flakey, I'd recommend lowering the belayer to the last bolt of the previous pitch to prevent a nasty fall on the anchor (1 new bolt - 2 button-heads). There's a bad piece in the roof between the belay and the 1st bolt but I'd expect it to blow. Reaching the flake requires a leap of faith or some serious levitation. After getting back into the corner above the flake, watch for a super-flexy tongue of granite that you'd pull straight on your belayer. The last pitch can be protected entirely with slung chickenheads until you reach the roof. I need to get back up there and do the first two pitches...
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