Crack of Heraclitus
5.12- YDS 7a+ French 25 Ewbanks VIII+ UIAA 25 ZA E5 6a British R
Type: | Trad, 250 ft (76 m), 3 pitches, Grade II |
FA: | Embick & Baltz, Spring 1977, FFA Baltz & Horak, July 1977 |
Page Views: | 2,467 total · 14/month |
Shared By: | David Baltz on Nov 9, 2009 |
Admins: | Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown |
Your To-Do List:
Add To-Do ·
Per the NPS Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations ("36 CFR"), section 1.5, ( nps.gov/elma/learn/manageme…) a permit is required for climbing within El Malpais National Monument:
Climbing is defined in 36 CFR as: "Ascending or descending rocks or boulders with or without the aid of equipment including, but not limited to, ropes, anchors, bolts, and picks, pitons, and related equipment."
Section 1.5 states:
"Rock Climbing: Climbing is prohibited anywhere within the monument, including caves and lava tubes, unless
otherwise authorized by a permit from the Superintendent.
Determination: The management of the Monument recognizes many of the areas where climbing could occur
have significant cultural value to neighboring Native American Tribes and climbing activities may conflict with
cultural activities and sacred sites which the Monument was, in part, established to protect. The cliff areas are
composed primarily of sandstone, which by its nature is extremely fragile, brittle, highly fractured, and is not
considered compatible with public climbing activities. Climbing activities would place those involved (as well as
those using the trails directly below the cliff faces) at high risk of personal injury or death since vertical surfaces of
sandstone could fail under the weight of a climber. Climbing will also damage the rock surfaces and potentially
threaten the irreplaceable cultural resources."
Climbing is defined in 36 CFR as: "Ascending or descending rocks or boulders with or without the aid of equipment including, but not limited to, ropes, anchors, bolts, and picks, pitons, and related equipment."
Section 1.5 states:
"Rock Climbing: Climbing is prohibited anywhere within the monument, including caves and lava tubes, unless
otherwise authorized by a permit from the Superintendent.
Determination: The management of the Monument recognizes many of the areas where climbing could occur
have significant cultural value to neighboring Native American Tribes and climbing activities may conflict with
cultural activities and sacred sites which the Monument was, in part, established to protect. The cliff areas are
composed primarily of sandstone, which by its nature is extremely fragile, brittle, highly fractured, and is not
considered compatible with public climbing activities. Climbing activities would place those involved (as well as
those using the trails directly below the cliff faces) at high risk of personal injury or death since vertical surfaces of
sandstone could fail under the weight of a climber. Climbing will also damage the rock surfaces and potentially
threaten the irreplaceable cultural resources."
Description
(1) Begin on the face to the right of the crack and traverse into the dihedral at the 6-ft level (5.12-). Once established in the dihedral, have the rack & rope thrown up to you. Sustained climbing leads up a hand crack to an alcove below a roof (5.10b). Belay off a 5" cam or tube chock. (2) Stem and jam out the roof and make hard moves to gain the dihedral above (5.10c) then continue up the moderate but large crack to the back of a cave and an uncomfortable belay below a huge roof. (3) Traverse left under the roof on a narrow ledge to the lip, then climb an unprotected dihedral (5.10c) to a point where a move right leads to jugs and the summit.
Pitches two and three can be combined if you're feeling fresh and don't mind a bit (a lot?) of rope drag on the crux.
Descent: walk off.
Pitches two and three can be combined if you're feeling fresh and don't mind a bit (a lot?) of rope drag on the crux.
Descent: walk off.
7 Comments