Olaf the Stout

Olaf, or Olaf the Stout is the crack system immediately right of Lost Vikings and shares the final 30’. Beginning from the Lost Vikings ledge, step into a flared chimney, and climb solid 5.10 immediately using a variety of chimney and jamming techniques. Pull into a #6-sized offwidth (crux?) for a few moves before the wideness eases into stemming and a sneaky finger crack that goes slightly left. Stem through some more wideness (be careful of loose blocks on the right), and then commit to excellent, steep double hand cracks. Join Lost Vikings at the top for the final splitter.

It’s possible to fix a 70m rope from the LV anchor and rap all the way to a stance above the big roof. This gives you a very full TRS pitch of mostly wide climbing and makes for a very satisfying lap and excellent warm-up for the rest of Massey’s mega pitches.

Many a climber has no doubt wondered about this crack while rapping into LV, and yes, it goes, and yes it’s been led. I’ve probably done about 20 laps on it, cleaned out most of the choss and lichen, and I finally got around to redpointing it (from the LV ledge) last summer. It is totally worth doing while on the Massey Circuit!

Similar in difficulty, style, and quality to Moon Shadow, the wide climbing is constantly varied and interesting, and the double hand crack finish is classic! The lower pitch is still a bit lichenous in spots and could also use a little pruning but adds some great 5.10 sections!

Locate the Lost Vikings anchor. This is the crack system about 10’ to the right in an obvious, big chimney system.

A standard rack plus a 5 & 6. A second 5 is not a bad idea.

There are no lower anchor bolts on either the ledge or the lower stance, so bring extra gear if anchoring in your belayer.