Rick Cashner at the crux, on the first free ascent...
Description
It was once said that this crack would never go free! In 1979, Rick Cashner and Angie Morales hiked up there to check it out. They climbed a crack, thinking it was "Space Walk". Rick thought "That wasn't that bad. What's the big deal?". He then walked a little farther and found "Space Walk" overhanging above him. He was blown away and knew that he had to have it!
When looking up at Eagle Lake Cliff, one will notice an obvious, detatched spire on the right. This is "Off The Wall".
"Space Walk" follows the overhanging crack on the, right facing wall to the left.
The flake, that Rick is on, in the photo is now gone. On the first free ascent, Rick said the flake was loose, so he nailed it in place with some pitons! The fake fell out in the 1980s. The climb is much safer without it.
IMHO this is the finest pitch of climbing in the Tahoe region. The rock quality, scenery, and amazing movement up a splitter slightly overhung finger crack earn Spacewalk status as an all-time classic. I have always found it more fun to climb the fingercrack straight on avoiding the grunty moves in the flair.
Kneescums really help in the flare....reach out right if you're finding it "impossible"...reserve some gas in the tank for the crux (last) move and think about Dan O free soloing this bad boy the day after he redpointed...
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