Alien Hot Rod  5.11b

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Type:  Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet Consensus:  5.11c [details] FA:  Huggins, Hudgel Season:  spring to fall, careful crossing creek in summer. Submitted By:  slim on Sep 13, 2011 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (3) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: Use gear, not bolts....

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Description 

Alien Hot Rod is a nice crack/seam/flake sort of line that splits the left side of a nice granite face on the west side of Area 51. There is a little bit of small vegetation here and there, but it didn't seem to interfere with the climbing. Climb the crack using a variety of techniques. At the top of the crack, bump to the right (feels kind of contrived here) towards the top, and roll over onto an easy slab up to the anchor.

3 star climbing but total bomb for bolting a perfectly protectable crack (and ironically producing a route that isn't as well protected).

Location 

Alien Hot Rod is on the far right side (west face) of Area 51. Just after you round the northwest corner, there is a thin crack up a vertical face with bolts on the right side of the crack. This is Alien Hot Rod.

Protection 

The crack is bolted, but be cautious getting to the 2nd bolt. It is a big reach to clip it, and if you blow it, you (and/or your belayer) might be in trouble. Near the top there is a bolt that sticks out about 1/2" or so. It is not exactly high quality craftmanship here.

Better yet just do it on gear. Bring a standard rack to #1 Camalot. I used a gold Ballnut at the crux and the piece looked good.

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BETA PHOTO: Gear.

BETA PHOTO: More gear than bolts around these parts.