Battle of the Bulge 

The last half of the route is not bad, nor is the start, however there is one showstopper move to link the two and get your feet above the roof.

all 3 of us thought the right version was significantly harder than the left version although none of us did either. close to linking left... holds are soooo sharp. better temps and i'll have in for sure. right version the juries still out on.

The issue with this line for me has been super sharp holds down low and insecure moves up high-- the holds up there are a bit licheny and sandy. It's a really cool looking line though, and hats off to whoever can pull off the beginning to above the roof.

i was very close on the left version but it was a rather warm day and i think it hurt my chances being as the holds are razerblades and the one good slopey edge was in the sun so it was a little hard to really purchase on. those holds are real sharp though. no lying about that. Whoever does it is gonna have to want it.

Dobbe came close to the send today, but our fingers got the best of us. Sharp holds for-sure. Next time it's going down!

sick. jealous for sure i should have come up today. let me know when yall are going next time. where yall on the right or left version?

We have been trying the left side. start hold is wet but the moves are super fun. day 3 and still no send.

The friction was good today, but the finger tips can handle only so much. Dobbe, your so close.

yeah for real. and someone also broke the small hold i was using to get to the watergroove. small little pointy chip before the really sharp small crimp. jerks. i tried it once and was like forget it. its to hot and this thing hurts. lol.

Some one must have broke it before I got on I don't think I ever saw a nice hold just sharp or not there at all. Keep trying someone needs to clean this one up.

anybody do this yet? heat to much? i bet we call send in cooler temps for sure, if it doesnt go this summer.

I don't think it is going to go with this heat. When we were there on Wednesday the first sloper that is one of the better holds felt super bad. This fall it should go.

i am in full agreement

Done!!!

Sweet!!! Congrats- give it a name! I would love to see how you pulled it sometime...

Yea Dobbe! Nice work!

killer bro! good shit. i knew you'd do it when you almost did at the bash. congrats. name and grade immediately :-)

Dobbe has the thing so dialed! He sent first go and made it look effortless. Good work Dobbes, stoked to be there when it happened, keep crankin' man!

Nice send bro, that problem looked sweet!

I hope this line still inspires someone out there to send it, I think it's a good hard line and hope that it was not just the lure of the FA that had people interested. I still get on it most every time I'm at the park.

Dobbe-- still inspiring to me. Runnells and I worked it last weekend and we each did all the moves but neither of us linked it. I am pretty sure Remo has done all the moves too. I really liked the line-- can't wait to get back on it. I thought I saw you driving into the park when I was leaving last Saturday. Chris

I'm psyched to try it again when I get out there next, dobbe. Repeats seem to go in waves at dodge. it's fun to watch. Sandstone Violence sat unrepeated for well over a year before anyone started working it again.

I'm guessing the next spell of moderate weather will allow a bunch of sends.

I also have not forgotten about it and fully plan to dispatch whenever I'm up there again. Hope you guys all had a great holiday! werd

I was surprised with how fun this problem was, giant bloody hole in my tip notwithstanding. It is very perplexing though. Basically no super hard pulling whatsoever but very difficult to link from the start for some reason. Something about the body position for the crux move is key. A body position that was relatively easy to find when starting mid-problem but difficult (impossible the day I tried it) to find from the start. Obviously it would be "nicer" if the holds weren't split-busting in their sharpness but you play the hand you're dealt. Despite that, this problem is a nice variation to all the (mostly) vertical problems on the backbone.

If anyone really wants the second ascent on this I suggest you get out there before Runnells does... He was dialed in and even the crux move looked pretty easy...

Anyway, speaking of this route, a while ago (spring sometime) I tried the top section and it was pretty scary up there if you try to just use the arete... However I think Remo said Dobbe used the Big Flake Of Death to top it out??? That would seem more reasonable and probably less scary...

It's that freaking left leg that gets stuck under the bulge. damn you excess limbs! Damn you!

It would appear as though I will have a hole in my tip for a couple more week as a result of last week's efforts. Have to make every try count on this one!

Rad to hear that there is more to climbing then FA's!!! I would love have someone else link it to see what they feel on the grade. It's hard to rate this type of problem where the moves are hard but all very doable the crux is just getting your body to press up for the crack. I think I got to the crux in a few try's and about a 100 time later linked.

Now Dobbe has the thing so dialed he just hikes it everytime. Sweaty is right, it's all about the left leg, your hip just gets stuck. Dobbe realized that you really have to drive hard with your right foot. I finally focused on that the other week and the move felt better, but damn it does not give itself up easy. Good work Dobbe- Always stoked!

Congrats to Chris Egg-face! Sent this (2nd ascent?), Highly E, and repeated S.V. today!!! Well done sir.

Thanks Sweaty, yeah finally, was waiting for a good day out there. Keeping in mind I really only have Sandstone, Highly, Illusions, and a couple others for context, I think the grade is accurate. I really like this problem but was ready to give up last time I was out there because the crux move is so elusive, esp. coming off the low start. Finally linked!

NICE work Chris. I'm glad to have some one else to give feed back on the grade it is hard to say because the link is the crux and when it goes it's not that bad, it just never wants to go. I did hear that a kid named Alex Johnson (not super woman Alex) but a young guy, sent this and sandstone in one day out. But he is the only person I have heard and I never got to hear what he thought. Congratulations!

Good work Chris, rampage dude! You gotta go get on Melin's Oral Over- super good.

Thanks guys. I was so amazingly frustrated with this problem. It's been nearly 2 years since I first touched the start hold. Yesterday I was like "one more final final final try and then I am done with you forever". Whew. When it's a good day with good friction out there, it's really a good day. It's Oral Over and Alpine Bouldering Club are next on the hit list, if I can find either of them with you guys' crappy directions... ;-) Plus do i hear whispers of another super hard line at the Dodge???

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