Perhaps one of the hardest offwidths in the world. This perfect splitter cracks the undulating underside of an immense boulder. The first bit isn't bad, and warms you up for the mean crux middle section which pinches to hands and then spits you up into another wide cruxy section. The crack just keeps switching between forty five and sixty degrees, and its offset keeps swithching back and forth from left to right. The start is a narrow tunnel, but the rock behind you is only problematic for one move, and there is another rock near the top but its really easy to get around. Where the block meets the slab, just step off. A topout was considered, but a snag would have had to have been pushed down in order to do it, and it looks inconsequential. When the snag falls down, a topout should be pushed. Nonetheless, this thing is spectacular. The last ten feet is a problem in it's own right put up by Josh Helke called Big Hands Little Stitches, which he rated V6. Though this thing doesn't sport any moves as hard as Eight Ounces to Freedom, endurance over the distance proves the overall crux.
Location
From the Heartbreak Hotel head down the slabs at it's easternmost end and continue another couple hundred yards along the cliff line and you will run straight into this thing. Entrance to it is guarded by a complexity of mostly dead trees.
Alternately, you can walk along the turtle rock trail from it's eastern side and head up to the heartbreak hotel wherever you deem appropriate. If you go the wrong way up the hill, the going is slow.
Protection
A pad or two. The landing isn't the best in a couple places, but never too dangerous.
Awesome work Justin! This is the latest in a long string of great boulder problems you've discovered and completed. What's the total length of this problem?
Total length is about 40 feet. The crux is probably just shy of twenty feet, and is the middle section, and the last bit can be a heartbreaker if your pumped. Also, this thing is uncharacteristically splitter for Vedauwoo, and the width is fairly consistent. The rock is really compact and the inside of the crack is flat and smooth, no crystals poking out anywhere. Everyone who adores offwidths needs to go get on this thing.
I used to walk around Vedauwoo looking at all the cracked boulders, wishing there was space underneath them to climb the cracks that must exist there. Then I found Desiderata, and thought it was the one I was always looking for. Then It, and now this. Vedauwoo just keeps giving. If you live in a place where boulders crack, go exploring.
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