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Hidden Surprise

5.10a/b, Trad, 115 ft (35 m),  Avg: 2.6 from 17 votes
FA: Darren Knezek
Utah > S Central Utah > San Rafael Swell > San Rafael Swel… > Buckhorn Wash > Lower Buckhorn > Pine Canyon

Description

A real gem of a pitch with varied and interesting movement throughout.

Make easy moves past one bolt and continue up through a mellow chimney. Then, shift gears as the chimney narrows to a shallow slot with thin, parallel cracks on either side. Make unique movements through this section, pull over a thin bulge, and finish by wiggling up a very casual off-width section to the chains.

Note: be careful pulling your rope - recommended to lower/rap on the face to climber's left of the pitch and pull from there.

Location

Around the corner to the west (climber's left) of KRGA.

Protection

Doubles: .5-#3.
Singles: .2-.4, #4, & #5.
Handful of runners to extend some pieces.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The route
[Hide Photo] The route
Looking up the start of the route. Rock cleans up above the initial chimney - trust me, it's a helluva lot more fun than it looks.
[Hide Photo] Looking up the start of the route. Rock cleans up above the initial chimney - trust me, it's a helluva lot more fun than it looks.
The route.
[Hide Photo] The route.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Alec L
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] Fun! Nice and steep and sustained but with ample features throughout to keep it quite moderate. Make sure to put long runners on the pieces right below the final bulge, we had some nasty rope drag while following as a cam walked a bit while lowering. Aug 23, 2021
Thomas G.
SLC, UT
  5.10
[Hide Comment] A great addition to the wall. Like others have mentioned, the rope drag can be heinous - the crack is the perfect rope-eating size right at the first bulge, and it made getting off of this pitch somewhat of a hassle.

Overall, tons of fun, with super unique movement, great gear, and awesome exposure when working up the double cracks. Felt like a slightly harder version of the eponymous Double Cracks at city of rocks. Nov 22, 2021