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Spelunk Spire
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Old Dogs New Trick 

5.11 V2+

   

FA: Bob Scarpelli
Type: Trad, Boulder
Consensus: 5.11c/d V2-3 [details]
Length: 20 feet
Views: 745 page views

Submitted By: jammer on Apr 8, 2006


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Description 

Classic Sandbag. Overhanging, tough sizes, one hand jam 3/4 the way up. For feet rand smears in the crack are the way to go. Totally sweet. TR it if you want, but better yet, haul out a pad and boulder it. No, your fingers will not rip off and stay in the crack if you fall. Go for it! One of my favorite boulder problems EVER. Really, EVER.

About the name: Scarpelli was wandering around behind Reynolds Hill one day when he ran into a couple of climbers trying Soft Parade. They had a crack shoe on their right foot and a sport shoe on their left, and they couldn't get up the thing. Bob BS'd with them as if he was a dumb tourist, and after much apparent hangdogging said climbers finally got the rope up Soft Parade. These climbers then offered Bob a ride on their rope, probably to show him how strong they were, as I'm sure Bob wasn't acting all that impressed. They probably expected him to get shut down. Bob jumped on, and climbed up to the first good handjam, then looked down and pointed out that he had forgot to put on his climbing shoes, after which he fired the thing. When he was lowered to the ground, the climbers asked him if he was Bob Scarpelli, and he of course said yes. They were apparently surprised, as they claim to have thought that he had retired years ago. I bet this pissed Bob off, and later that day he found Old Dogs New Trick and sent it, hence the name and I'll bet the the grade as well.


Location 

Walk toward End of the Road Rock, as per the description for EOTRR and Spelunk Spire. Past Muscle and Fitness (the very overhung right leaning offwidth in the left side of the a-frame accross the stream to the right), after the trail begins bending around to the right (north of) of the formation containing MAF, locate a trail heading up a small sage brush covered hill to the left. It is very vague for the first ten yards or so, nearly non-existent some years, and marked by a short dead pine tree nearby. The trail soon becomes more distinct, and shortly thereafter dives down into an aspen grove. Once out of this aspen grove, head right toward the obvious rock formation (Spelunk Spire, named for the pointed summit at the western most end). At the formation head right until the very last boulders. Looking up to the left you will see a splitter finger crack so perfect it defies reality.


Protection 

Pad, TR, or skill



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Daaamn!  Said to be like a little Sphynx crack.  The difference is that this thing is more splitter, and move for move it is probably as hard.

BETA PHOTO: Daaamn! Said to be like a little Sphynx crack. T...


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By Jesse Ryan
May 25, 2006

Nice history lesson on this one. Scarpelli climbs hard on all sizes!