First ascent of Zesty 5.8+ After a lot of cleaning...
Description
This route starts 30 feet left of Squeeze My Lemon. It goes up a patina face to a crack that joins SML 10 feet from the old belay tree. Face climb up to a right leaning crack. The crack starts off fingers and goes into a beautiful hand crack that you have to climb to believe. Was full of scrub oak until it was cleaned out. Really fun route that adds to the area. Watch your rappel/lower I use a 70M rope. Some who have climbed say a 60M works.
Location
30 feet left of the start of Squeeze My Lemon on a cool patina face
Protection
2 bolts and gear from small nuts to #4 BD cam(optional). Bolt and chain anchor at the top
This crack is really fantastic. There is a nice green varnish inside that treats your hands nicely. Dallen worked long hours to clean the trees out of that crack. You can also traverse in from SML to the bottom of this crack for a nice way to finish that climb.
By S. Gileadi From: Salt Lake City Jul 4, 2008 rating: 5.8+
I thought this route was a lot of fun.
Pick your line through some great patina edges at the bottom with a gear placement or two for pro, fun friction moves past the two bolts, and then the sweet sweet crack that can be climbed a couple different ways.
This is a good climb. Grades are difficult and so relative for each and every climber, but given that Satans Corner seems to be 5.8 standard for LCC, it puts the 5.8 grade into a proper perspective. Maybe most of you disagree, but Satans Corner is certainly a harder climb for me than Zesty...I just don't see where the "+" comes into the picture for the latter. I mean, Satans Corner may just be a whole number grade harder than Zesty....maybe all pedantics in the final analysis, but I am happy Zesty is here to stay and open to the public for many to enjoy. Consider it a soft or unhomogenous 5.8. With that said, I have certainly over and under rated a lot of climbs throughout the years
Agreed. Best to start in the SML crack and traverse over. I thought it was 5.8. Harder than Bushwhack or Callitwhatyouplease and easier than Satan's. Whatever the grade, its another one of those cracks in LCC that you wish was 100 ft. longer.
By S. Gileadi From: Salt Lake City Sep 20, 2008 rating: 5.8+
I like the original line best, it's a nice change of pace from the patina to the friction (crux for me) to the crack. Unless of course all you want to climb is just crack and not slab, which is understandable.
Excellent route. Starting from the lowest point of the face has some fun face moves, the mantle halfway through is really exciting, and the crack is amazing. Can be liebacked easily if you're sketched, or jammed for maximum fun. A micro protects the slab moves at the bottom, then double #1 and #2 make the crack feel really safe. Maybe a #.5 and #.75 for the bottom of the crack and the pinched section. Definitely 8+, can't compare it with Satan's but it's tougher than Bushwack and not much harder than something like the Coffin. Great work on cleaning this one!!