An offwidth gangster keeping a low profile...
One project is an amazing offwidth roof at a terrible angle that I found last season hidden deep in the woods and brought Pamela to on Saturday. The pysche was high and she managed to TR it cleanly on her second go, crazy! I couldn't touch this thing last season on mini trax, but made much better progress this round with good beta and encouragement from below, though still have quite a ways to go. Its a crazy hard inversion and shuffle at a 60 degree angle and should be the hardest wide thing in the voo. The lead will be quite sketchy though, as the angle will almost certainly secure a head banger if you blow the crux. Head bangin' heavy metal!!!!!
The next project is a huge finger crack roof that i also scoped last season and is beyond my capacity. (5.14?) I think if Pee-Wee comes back through he's gotta check it, but for now, Im gonna keep it DL and flop around it a few more times before writting it off. Its amazing though, and probably one of the most spectacular lines in all the Voo.
The project that I am most psyched on (read doable .12ish). Is a flared seam to offwidth and squeeze, that is kinda steep and very asthetic. Its on a somewhat obscure crag and is a very obvious line. There is another cool undone steep hand crack right next to it. Its crazy how much potential is available at Vedauwoo. And there's more....
So besides a fair amount of hiking and scoping new stuff, I also got to check out Andy Johnson's masterpiece, Iron Maiden, (5.11) that has only had one previous repeat (Pamela) since the first ascent that I or Pamela know of. It's touted as more difficult than Lucile, with a very similar crux lip and flared finish. Its an amazing route, that is flared, sharp and steep; its certainly a classic and deserves more action.
http://mountainproject.com/v/iron-maiden-aka-blood-drive/106164072 link to the beta on the proj, and the video of the onsight below.
All in all a very great weekend, with many things on the list both thin and wide.
Cheers,
Patrick
Hey Patrick,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are getting out and staying psyched. I am just writing you about your new OW project you talk about in this post. If this is the one between Spectreman and Behind Blue Eyes, on a little formation of it's own off in the woods, then that has been done. The one I am talking about is a left facing dihedral OW roof that would be a super proud boulder problem if the ledge it started on extended past the lip of the roof. It has a set of TR bolts on the top, and is quite pretty and obvious for a short little OW in that it has that nice aesthetic of dominating the formation that it is on. This is an old Scarpelli problem that he established onsight BITD and called 5.11. Given the nature of the climb, Bob left it as a TR, so the first lead is certainly up for grabs for the Lil OW Gangsta. Let me know how that goes, or just post up on MP. If it is a completely different route then FUCK YEA! ESPECIALLY keep us all posted! Keep cranking and staying psyched. Love the cover pic on your blog BTW. Take care,
Justin