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Durrance Approach
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bowling alley- aka durrance approach route 
Direct Southwest 
Durrance 
Fritz's Fantasy 
interesting problem below, The 
Late for Dinner 
Liken Lichen 
Lovely Liana 
Manifest Destiny 
P.O.T.C. 
Pseudo- Wiessner 
Rangers Are People Too 
Sundance 
Wiessner 

Direct Southwest 

5.11b

   

FA: FFA: H. Barber, A. Greene, '78
Type: Trad
Consensus: 5.11b [details]
Length: 3 pitches, 300 feet, Grade II
Views: 779 page views

Submitted By: Tony Bubb on Jul 5, 2001


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BETA PHOTO: Taken June, 2000


Description 

Approach Via the Durrance approach and head left at the cliff base to reach the SW corner. At the SW corner there are a number of shorter colunms that reach a height of perhaps 100'.

The dihedral at the right hand edge of the right-most of these colums, beginning as a ever-steepening slab is "Rangers Are People Too." The next crack left of this, on the left side of the right-most short column, is the fist pitch of Driect SouthWest.

P1: (5.7, 80')Climb the crack described above for 80' to a ledge with a fixed belay.

P2: (5.11b, 100')This is the route 6 pillars to the right of the dark, left-facing dihedral at the right hand side of the attached photo.Step right on the ledge and get into a left-facing corner with an off-fingers to fingers in the corner, the crux is 25' fromt he top or so- more sustained than it is technically difficult. Belay from the fixed anchors. A single 60M or 70M rope should get you down in 2 raps from here.

P3: (5.9, 150')You need 2 ropes to continue... I have not done the 3rd pitch, but reportedly the climb continues up a crack on the left for a short while before traversing right, to keep the difficulty at 5.9... then continues up for 150' total. From there you can climb one of a few easier systems to reach the top (5.7, 70')


Protection 

A good set of nuts and cams, with a few extra cams, particulatly in the .75" to 1.5" range, which is the crux size as well.



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The Stellar "Direct Southwest"...

BETA PHOTO: The Stellar "Direct Southwest"...

First pitch of Direct Southwest is easy and a lot of fun.  2 rope rappell.

First pitch of Direct Southwest is easy and a lot ...


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By Joe Collins
Sep 8, 2003

Regarding the gear beta above for pitch 2, the size range is more .75" to 1". Anything larger than a red alien is pretty much useless. Awesome crack climbing!

By Jim McGuire
Dec 24, 2003

It is interesting that the first pitch is described in the guidebook as bing 75ft and Rangers..APT right next to it is described as being 120ft. They are both in fact 120 ft and a 60M rope for descent needs a little downclimbing. This climb is nice for a quick, easier one pitch lead with a thin crux move low down that is similar to the first pitch of New Wave. There are not a few loose blocks near the top that warrant caution.

By TomKingsbury
Oct 16, 2007

possibly the pitch on the tower!
pk