This arete is simply, well not simply, but amazing. I recall Mark Wilford telling me about some routes that he and Steve Mammen had sent here in the late '70s, '80s. When I arrived to see the River Wall, as we ended up calling it, my jaw dropped. I saw the New Horizon arete, as I later named it, and began working on it that day. At that point, there were only a few routes established on this awesome cliff rising above the water. It took me several days to free the moves, I returned and hand drilled the bolts. My first red-point attempt ended up with a 25 foot fall, after I hauled up slack to clip the upper bolt and missed the clip. This is possibly, in my opinion, one of the nicest small pieces of granite, for single pitch climbing anywhere.

So when BH sent this route, was stick-clipping as in vogue as spandex? I'd like to do this route without fear of having my ankles shoved up my spine but was scared that having the first three bolts would be invalid salad.