Ascensiones de Salty The Seal

A gem! Starts on some average holds but as soon as you get to the quartz veins, the fun starts. I traversed the upper veins, under the little roof, using the bolt on the nearby 'Crystalline'. The traverse is cool on radical quartz holds, but the pro is non-trivial. Ended up placing pro at the ledge and went back to unclip the bolt, as the drag was heinous. But got to do the juggy traverse thrice, yay! After that, the line follows the weakness and goes through interesting terrain, with a cruxy move or two. Overall, full value adventure.

Most routes were pretty wet but the arete here catches summer morning sunshine. Great climbing but the starting traverse is very tricky to protect. There's a high option right under the rooflet, but it's too bunched up for tall folks. I preferred the lower traverse but it's pretty reachy if you're short. Couple of well-protected moves up and exiting a finger crack at half height are the technical crux and took a bit of working out. Invasion Day through to Barnacle Breath all have carrots for anchors (you'll need at least 10 m static for top-roping).