Broken Broom
5.10a,
Trad, 70 ft (21 m),
Avg: 3.4 from 23
votes
FA: Summer 2011
New York
> Adirondacks
> G: Indian Lake…
> Crane Mountain
> Black Arches Wall
Description
Well-protected (i.e. plenty of bolts) face climbing and consistently challenging, this line is a more comfortable and more sustained twin of its neighbor, Pinch an Inch.
There are 2 cruxes, getting past the 1st and 2nd bolts. A few sloper moves round out the challenge before reaching the anchors.
Climb the leftmost of a series of short, vertical crack/corners right of Amphitheatre Crack, up right past the first bolt to a slanting, rounded ledge. Ride this up left to its tippy-top, clip another bolt, and make a hard move to a horizontal crack. Climb the face above this on rounded holds, passing two more bolts along the way, to join Amphitheatre Crack inches from the anchor ledge.
NOTE: A lot of ice forms over the lip of the Birthday Corner early in the season. It falls from >30m up, landing among the base of all the Amphitheatre area routes. Even after the main winter's accumulation has fallen, nightly formations continue to bombard the area. Be watchful, wear a helmet, and if big ice is looming above on that crystalline spring morning, maybe climb somewhere else.
Location
15' right of Amphitheatre Crack, 20' left of the right-facing corner of Dexter's Dugout, at the leftmost series of small corners in the steep face.
Protection
Bring a standard rack of cams and 4 QDs for the 4 bolts enroute.
Anchors at 70'.
[Hide Photo] Jay H. leads Broken Broom in Roctober.
[Hide Photo] Kai Beattie crazy heel hook clip on Broken Broom. Also pictured is Phillip W. climbing Amphitheater Crack. 9.30.23
Orford, NH
Note that there is another route "Pinch an Inch" close next to it on climber's Right (with a harder low crux sequence, but easier climbing higher up). And higher up it's possible to wander left onto the (easier) top section of "Amphitheater Crack". So to find the harder more interesting climbing above the low crux stay reasonably close to the line of bolts (and away from less-cleaned lichen). Aug 7, 2012