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Flight of the Manatee

5.10c, Sport, 180 ft (55 m), 2 pitches,  Avg: 3.2 from 26 votes
FA: Travis Peckham, Kristofer Fiore (May 5, 2017)
Vermont > 1. Northern Ver… > Smugglers' Notch > Quartz Crack Face
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Description

A climb that many saw for years but nobody felt like drawing the stares enough to bolt it. Well, we did and it was worth it! Pitch 2 was previously toproped by Nate Vince and Hope Chipman.

P1: Pad up the easy slab without gear for 30 or so feet to a grassy ledge. Step left and up on quartz to a bolt and good edges. Once under the small roof, traverse right and up to a wild move left above the void and pull up to a stance below the second roof. Gain the edge under the roof and make a second wild traverse to the right before clipping one final bolt and up to a ring-bolt anchor. (5.10a)

P2: Clip a bolt and rock up and right to the slab. Work up the slab to the steep face with great jugs above. Navigate a tricku crux sequence to a decent shake and a second puzzling crux then continue up to a ring-bolt anchor. (5.10b/c)

*New beta on P2 seems to have brought the grade down to 10b but we'll see what repeat attempts think*

Location

150 feet right of Quartz Crack. Same start as the winter route Pub Crawl and the lesser-known summer route Pube Crawl. The excellent light-colored slab is your indicator.

Protection

Well-spaced bolts for just the right amount of spice. Bring a few runners for rope drag in the roof section of P1.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Green: Quartz Crack (5.9)
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Blue: The Diagonal (5.8+)
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Purple: The Diagonal: Right Finish (5.9+)
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Red: Flight of the Manatee (10c)
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Pink: Trail
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Yellow: Rappel Route
[Hide Photo] Green: Quartz Crack (5.9) Blue: The Diagonal (5.8+) Purple: The Diagonal: Right Finish (5.9+) Red: Flight of the Manatee (10c) Pink: Trail Yellow: Rappel Route
Hope Chipman climbing the Flight of the Manatee just two days after it was bolted.
[Hide Photo] Hope Chipman climbing the Flight of the Manatee just two days after it was bolted.
Travis rapping off P1 of Flight of the Manatee.
[Hide Photo] Travis rapping off P1 of Flight of the Manatee.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Luca Keushguerian
Yerevan, AM
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] Climbed it on the 17th with Jon Page. Once the 1st pitch gets a little cleaner it should become a classic for the Notch! A super quality route! Also I found the bolting to be appropriate, the top of p2 was exciting, but not run-out. If you're familiar to Notch climbing it should be a breeze! May 19, 2017
Kristen Fiore
Burlington, VT
  5.10b/c
[Hide Comment] Thanks Luca! We definitely wanted to bolt it similar to other notch routes with just enough space to make it exciting but not dangerous. Glad to hear you liked it. May 22, 2017
[Hide Comment] Hmmm. Cool position, but the actual movement just seemed like a stacked collection of awkward traverses and mantles to me. It does weave a fairly moderate way through some deceptively steep terrain though, and is worthwhile for that reason alone. P1 feels reminiscent of a Gunks route as it swerves around the looming bulges and roofs without ever actually pulling any of them. I didn’t find any spice. It seemed very reasonably bolted. Jun 16, 2018
Greg Kuchyt
Richmond, VT
  5.10
[Hide Comment] If one wishes to solo the 4th class slab, a #2 and/or #3 can be used to setup an anchor on the ledge for the belayer via a clove hitch to set them back from the vegetation. It's easy to grab packs on the way back to the ground. Jun 16, 2018
Christian Skalka
Burlington, VT
  5.10c
[Hide Comment] I really enjoyed this route! I think it is one of my favorites in the notch and that the movement and positions are great. I am certainly not as strong/experienced as Derek but personally I found it to be an exciting and high quality route. Aug 6, 2019
june m
elmore, vt
 
[Hide Comment] One of the better notch routes I have done, reasonably bolted, decent quality rock, and reasonable approach. Jul 25, 2020