Ape Walk

This short pitch is on the opposite side of the Rat Brain from the popular and easily located routes Kim and Fantasia. It is one of the few routes in the shade until late in the day, so it is a good choice while you wait for the other routes at Poland Hill to cool off.

Start in an alcove with an OW crack forming the left side and bulge on the right that has a thin crack starting about 15' up. For the OW fiends, this route could probably be done by only climbing the wide crack. Most of us will probably do a combination of some wild stemming moves, a bit of off-width, and some standard jamming higher up as the crack narrows.

I belayed on the large flat ledge at the end of the difficulties. Two options exist from here. Apparently you can walk off to the South from here. Or, as we did, you can follow the crack you just climbed through the narrow chimney, and hang a right to get to the base of "Boulder Hopper", another fun (yet short) 5.9 crack that gets you to the top of the Rat Brain, and the rap anchor at the top of Fantasia.

This route is very short (40') but I still give it 2 stars because of how cool the moves were. Anywhere else I would probably consider this a 1 star route because of its length, but for some reason at Vedauwoo these short routes still seem worthwhile.

This route could probably be done with a standard rack and no big gear as there is a small crack alongside the main crack. I found it useful to have 2-3 #3 Camalots and was very happy with the #5 Camalot I had near the start.