I yarded off a huge "timebomb" flake that, for years, was used as a killer rest stance just before the crux. The flake was easily removed with a light pull while being lowered. I felt it move substantialy when I first stood on it. Without the flake, the route felt more sustained on toprope...So, if you want to "feel" like you're doing a "first" get after it. Bring a drill and update the anchor while you're at it.
An awesome line but not the best rock Vedauwoo has to offer. Hollow rock still exists just before the anchor. Rumor has it that it is possible to continue past the anchor at 80'. Beware of Swifts within...
Protection
.4"-3" cams, wired nuts work best through the crux
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The rock quality is marginal on parts of this route, but the climbing is excellent. The crux bulge is difficult and rather continuous, and placing gear is challenging. Desperately lunging for the anchor slings with a full pump is not uncommon. A noble community service would be for someone to replace this anchor with a modern arrangement (sans wad-o-slings), but if you drill be particularly wary of the rock quality. The original line did not stop at the present-day anchors but was purported to traverse left from the anchors, at .12c, to safer ground. This was done perhaps only once, and may have reflected a hesitation on the part of the first ascent party to stop mid-way up a wall at an "artificial anchor" location (the FA was done before the advent of sport climbing). The first ascentionist, Kevin Bein, was a longtime Gunks climber (known to many as the "Mayor of the Gunks"), a gregarious, highly talented, and wonderful human being. He helped initiate many young "Gunkies" (myself included) into the world of hard climbing from his infectious positive energy and considerable climbing abilities. His motto was "you can do it!", which he truly believed, and it would make you believe it too- even if you were on a Gunks 5.10+ and your previous best was 5.9. He and his wife Barabara Devine lived in the Black HIlls of South Dakota for a few years in the early 1980s, and put up many fine routes there. They were some of the first "Needles" climbers to look for interesting new lines on obscure walls, away from the lure of the spire summits- kind of a modern (at least in 1980) version of the Conns. Barbara was a very talented climber in her own right, and was one of the first women in the US to climb 5.11. Kevin tragically perished on the Matterhorn in the mid-80s when his rap anchors failed.