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The Dancing Outlaw

5.10c/d, Trad, Sport, 400 ft (121 m), 3 pitches,  Avg: 3.6 from 16 votes
FA: Joe Lackey, Ron Dawson, Zach Lesch-Huie
N Carolina > 2. Northern Mou… > Linville Gorge > Shortoff Mountain
Warning Access Issue: 2023 seasonal raptor closure (January 15th-August 15th) DetailsDrop down
Warning Access Issue: Shortoff Mountain South - Falcon Closure Lifted for 2021 DetailsDrop down

Description

A stimulating climb that has a little bit of everything (except splitter crack climbing, of course). Save this one for cold temps, as it bakes in the sun most of the day and crimping the thin, glassy quartz edges may not feel so nice!
P1- Look for the tiny edges and crimp up the slabby face, passing a line of bolts (book says 5, I only remember 4). Take care between the first and second, as you will be in groundfall terrain for a minute from a ways up. Keep your eyes open at the third bolt and find a way to move up AND reach the next clip. After the bolts end, follow a short right-facing corner with marginal gear. Pull onto the face to the left and into a left-facing corner, eventually moving back right again onto the face. Locate a small stance with a horizontal that will eat .75-1" gear and belay. NOTE: In the opinion of me (and everyone else I know who's climbed the route), the crux is a scorchin' sandbag! More like 11a/b. Still intriguing though. 5.10c, 120'.
P2- Continue straight up the middle of the face in a finger crack/water groove. Locate a rusty piton about 10' beneath the large roof, clip it, and climb up. Pull the roof at the obvious horizontal. Great moves! Continue up easier terrain to a roomy belay ledge. 5.9+, 180'.
P3- Climb a short headwall right off the belay, and continue up easy terrain to the top of the cliff. 5.7, 100'.

Location

Shortoff South. The route is located just left of the Little Corner/Julia corner system. Look for a slabby face sporting bolts.

Protection

Set of stoppers, double set of cams from 00 TCU-#1 camalot, 1 #2 camalot.
First pitch has a few bolts.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Coz Teplitz
Watertown, MA
 
[Hide Comment] Nick, thanks for calling P1 a sandbag - I've always thought it was damn hard for 5.10c. Nice to know others agree!

I've also never thought of it as worth a PG-13 rating - as I remember, gear is easily available almost anywhere except below the P2 roof, but gear can be found there with a little work (I've always wanted to back up the pin). On P1, there is a slot for a yellow TCU/Alien between bolts 1 and 2, and after the last bolt the climbing eases considerably - from 5.10 (or 11!) to 5.6. I never recall feeling like I wanted gear but couldn't get it... but maybe I was just psyched to be done with the crux!

I've wandered around looking for the P1 belay stance before. There are several ledges and stances. As I recall, if you find a ledge with enough gear for an anchor, just stop and belay - the higher ledges are a little sparse when it comes to gear (I remember downclimbing).

The roof on P2 is wild and awesome - everyone I've climbed the route with has pulled over with a huge grin! Go enjoy! Dec 6, 2007
[Hide Comment] I'm contributing to this discussion a bit late, but I thought I'd confirm the beta offered by the entry above and maybe offer an interesting first ascent tidbit.

The space between the first and second bolts is filled by a bomber yellow Metolius cam. There's a nice slot that fits a cam pretty nicely, so be sure to bring that cam along.

The first bolt was actually drilled by hanging on this cam (you can 5th class to the placement from the gulley on the right). Joe hand-drilled the rest of the bolts from hooks.

I don't know about the .10c being sandbag...

Cheers! May 18, 2008
Nick Stayner
Wymont Kingdom
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] Well I tried it twice, both times in the blazing hot sun... I dunno. It felt hard to me. 10+ for sure! Nice route. May 18, 2008
Tom Caldwell
Clemson, S.C.
 
[Hide Comment] I thought 10c was pretty accurate. It does take a bit of figuring out in one short section, and may be more difficult if you are short. I felt like you could down climb out of the crux as many times as you wanted to figure it out. I placed a .4 camalot between bolts 1 and 2 in the same horizontal. It fit nicely and would hold a fall for sure. I would not call the gear above the crux marginal, there is some good key-holed nut placements and tri-cam placements above the bolts. You can definitely back the P2 pin up with a red C3 and as soon as you step up there is gear below the roof. The only part I thought was questionable about the route was some loose rock, but that should be expected with a low traveled route. Pulled a phone book sized block off at the crux and there is a bunch of choss around and below the P2 roof (right side of crack below roof and far left side of roof). Make sure your knocking before weighting some of that stuff. There is a really nice P1 belay if you step left into the Bush Babies alcove right after you get above the moss pad above the corner but below the crack of P2. Oct 5, 2011
[Hide Comment] This line should see more traffic. Gear's all there, and called out in other comments. The .10c rating felt right, and the crux does take some figuring out, but those moves are fun, and pretty novel for Linville. The roof protects well with some small stuff and is a blast to pull over. May 21, 2012
J2Y
 
[Hide Comment] So after several attempts at first pitch I'm confident the first pitch is 11a ... Just is what it is. But I love climbing it as the reward is the fantastic second pitch where the roof, IMO, is soft 5.9. Oct 7, 2013
Mike Nevko
Currently Charlotte
 
[Hide Comment] Recommend doing it at 2 pitches (we had 70m). P1 from ground to broken crack system 20ft below the P2 Roof. P2 pull the roof and run it the whole way to the top and belay at large pine tree. Scrambled last step up to ridge.

Fun route, P1 very safe. Pulling on some crimps until you get established below the crux. I second the statement to use your head and eyes to find the way to make it to the last bolt. P2, gear before and right beside the old pin below the roof(I forgot to backup the pin). Glory holds to the top. Apr 10, 2017
Michael Atlas
Charlotte, NC
  5.10c/d
[Hide Comment] Agree that this route deserves more traffic. With a trad rack, I would argue that P1 is probably 10c/d. If you are carrying doubles of most gear and plan to link the entire route in two pitches, I would argue that it trends more into the 10d range. We found that following P1 was pretty tough due to the angle of the rope over a semi ledge, which makes it tough for the belayer to keep the rope taught. As noted above, the crux definitely takes some figuring out, but once you dial in the beta, it goes. The grade may be 11a for shorter folks as the crimp moves are all rather reachy. May 17, 2019