Don's Crack
5.8+ YDS 5b French 16 Ewbanks VI- UIAA 15 ZA HVS 4c British Easy Snow
Avg: 2.7 from 3 votes
Type: | Trad, Snow, 900 ft (273 m), 7 pitches, Grade III |
FA: | Joanna McComb and Dan Jones, 1966 FFA Mike McEwan, Marti Woerner, Dave Baker 1971 |
Page Views: | 4,037 total · 28/month |
Shared By: | Charles Vernon on Mar 25, 2012 |
Admins: | adrian montaƱo, Greg Opland, Brian Boyd, JJ Schlick, Kemper Brightman, Luke Bertelsen |
Description
Sustained meat and potatoes crack climbing--with a couple of cruxy forays onto the face--up the most obvious line on Babo. The three-star rating is aspirational as the crack is very dirty (and when we did it, running with water the whole way). Nevertheless, as the guidebook says, there is a lot of fun climbing on this route and the rock, once unearthed, is good. If it got a lot of traffic, the route would be considered a backcountry classic, but I can't imagine that happening. Still, it's very enjoyable with the right mindset, and it does get better the higher you go. I would say you want to be at least a solid 5.9 climber to do this route.
I'm guessing the best time to do this route might be late fall before the first snow, as it is most likely to be dry at that time. Or perhaps late spring just before it gets too hot.
The easy snow rating is seasonal :)
Kerry's description is accurate, except that the route does join the SE Arete at the notch, so there's one more short fifth-class section before the summit ridge that he neglects to mention. If you make it there it will be obvious.
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