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Lost in Space

5.10b, Trad, 170 ft (52 m), 3 pitches,  Avg: 3.8 from 86 votes
FA: Tom Howard, Jim Downs (1978-79)
N Carolina > 2. Northern Mou… > Linville Gorge > Hawksbill Mtn > Main Wall
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Description

Pitch 1: Trend up the face, pull the right facing corner, belay.

Pitch 2: Pull the large roof right of the belay (crux); traverse up and right to a small ledge and belay.

Pitch 3: Continue up and right to the top.

Walk off

Location

Starts under a right-facing corner, right of Star Trekin'.

Protection

Well protected:

"Protection: This route takes a wide variety of gear.
First Pitch: nuts and small to medium cams
Second Pitch: long sling for the roof, blue tcu,
double BD #.75
Third Pitch: larger cams up to BD #2

Take some long extendable slings.

Due to the nature of the roof move a backpack is not ideal."

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Lost in Space
[Hide Photo] Lost in Space
Pulling the roof.
[Hide Photo] Pulling the roof.
Lost in Space, taken by Joe
[Hide Photo] Lost in Space, taken by Joe
Lost In Space from the ground
[Hide Photo] Lost In Space from the ground
Unseasonably warm weather made for a perfect Linville day.
[Hide Photo] Unseasonably warm weather made for a perfect Linville day.
Lost in Korea...
[Hide Photo] Lost in Korea...
Don Garner getting ready for the crux.
[Hide Photo] Don Garner getting ready for the crux.
done in one
[Hide Photo] done in one
Contemplating
[Hide Photo] Contemplating
Exiting the pitch three crack! Photo: Jason Schmaltz.
[Hide Photo] Exiting the pitch three crack! Photo: Jason Schmaltz.
Following P1.  Photo: Tyler Warwick
[Hide Photo] Following P1. Photo: Tyler Warwick
The anchor tree about 15 feet after the topout
[Hide Photo] The anchor tree about 15 feet after the topout

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Stephen Felker
Boulder, CO
5.10b
[Hide Comment] Beware of the potential for a rope slicing pendulum if the second falls in the crux. Dec 1, 2009
Keith Leary
Paris, FR
 
[Hide Comment] Awesome. It is a three move wonder, but lovely rock and a wonderful location. Great photo op. Feb 22, 2010
Tom Caldwell
Clemson, S.C.
 
[Hide Comment] To prevent the pendulum, stand up above the crux, place gear (small) out left directly over the crux piece. Jul 3, 2010
csproul
Pittsboro...sort of, NC
[Hide Comment] Can be done as one pitch. Jul 20, 2010
[Hide Comment] Many years ago (1996?) Greg Martin and myself climbed the last pitch straight up from the belay after the roof move rather than following the right angling crack. We called it the "Danger Will Robinson" pitch. Not sure if we did it 1st or not.

The climbing was like 5.9 or 5.10 and an excellent finish for Lost in Space. Steep and pumpy, good gear but maybe a little spaced out. I thought this was way better and longer than the regular finish. Aug 22, 2010
Mike Holley
Boone, NC
 
[Hide Comment] Most Radical!! Every pitch is quality climbing with fun moves on quality stone! The second pitch crux (the Roof) is fit for its name, it will have you boggled and lost in space for sure, protects below (decent) and during the middle of the sequence (well, .5-.75BD) so make sure to prepare yourself if you want to stitch it! Last pitch is super fun and exposed as well, easy climbing though. A Must do for the Area! The exposure is Gnarly!!!! Mar 14, 2012
Neil Rankin
Winston-Salem, NC
  5.10
[Hide Comment] If you are worried about the follower it's a good idea to set a belay about 30' past the crux. There's a good stance, and it allows for better communication and visibility, as well as less rope stretch. Aug 17, 2014
Anne McLaughlin
Raleigh, NC
 
[Hide Comment] We started on the cleaner crack system of Star Trekkin' and then moved right to the P1 corner system. Looked more fun (albeit with a real "move") than the unprotectable slab of Lost in Space P1. Apr 30, 2016
Russ Keane
Salt Lake
[Hide Comment] I see no need to break this into three. After pulling the roof, run it to the top. If the leader plugs the .5 midway thru the crux pull, the follower will be protected. The follower would simply refrain from pulling said piece until he/she was stood up and holding the mega jug up high. Reach down to the knee area and remove the crux pro. Continue up the easy 5.7/5.8 (super fun) ramp finish. May 4, 2018
[Hide Comment] Some descent beta below:

Once you belay from the tree at the top of p3 you'll get to a large area where there is a faint trail running down to climber's right. Don't follow this. You need to go to the actual summit (easy 5th class moves the way we went) then follow the extremely obvious hiking trail down. "walk off" in the description led us to some confused bushwhacking Apr 8, 2021
Tom Drewes
Raleigh, NC
 
[Hide Comment] While continuing to the actual summit is a possible means for the walk off, I believe the more standard descent involves third class scrambling up from the tree belay at P3 to the large flat area mentioned in the other descent beta comment above. From here, walk climbers left until you see a slabby boulder near the edge. A third class move or two takes you across this short slab under an overhanging boulder - not particularly exposed, but move with care. Continue boulder hopping, contouring around the summit wall, eventually downclimbing more third class between a boulder and the summit wall end. There is an obvious climbers trail here that heads pretty much straight down, eventually taking a left when you rejoin the approach trail. Apr 12, 2021
Nathan Devan
Huntsville, AL
[Hide Comment] Both the descent comments from Circle and from Tom were great.

POV climbing and gear:
youtu.be/7ENyK2z-jXo Oct 18, 2022