Bernd Schiffer

guiding; Steve's 2nd trad route on lead Really nice climb! Amazing jugs all the way up.

guiding; Steve's 1st trad route on lead—wooooooot!

Damn how frustrating. Was really tricky to protect the start in the first place (one cam in the roof of the cave, next one in the bottom of the crack by pulling on the rope). And then I simply failed to reach the bottom of the crack. We then set up a top rope and I still couldn't do the move. No idea how to go from top of cave to bottom of crack. Have to double down on this and figure it out on top rope next time.

What a struggle. Did rest on previous attempt. I'm glad that I did it clean now. But lots of struggle in the middle section. In addition, the cave at the bottom and the widening of the crack in the middle is full of bird poo.

Warm-up

Pretty good. Route can be cut into four pieces: a) scrambling up to the start of the crack; b) the hand crack; c) the overhang bit; d) up top. a and d are not worth mentioning, but b and c are lots of fun. b could be really tricky if you didn't know anything about hand jamming. Layback seems hard, because the rock is so slick here due to being a famous route for 40 or so years. -- spoiler alert -- d was a surprise, because it kept going and going. Normally, after climbing a roof, you can rest on top. Not so here, because its overhang for another 3 meter or so until there's a good resting spot. Good jugs all the way, though, just mentally challenging. Fun!

What an epic adventure! Really good and sustained climb, almost all pitches. I led p2-5, Michael led p1. When I seconded p1, I thought pulling through the crux was way harder than a 15. I'd grade that a hard 16 or even a 17. P2 is just fun, cruising up the crack at solid grade 17. P3 is the money pitch. Getting up the flake is already bold, but the crux is the corner, where I pulled on good hand and awful feet. Lost my footing once and then pulled through, ending head-first in a bush. I think I got lost on p4, ending too much on the left. Had to traverse right back to the corner. P6 is a tough 16, but so much fun to climb. Highly recommend this route!