Huston Crack 

A #4 Camalot or equivalent is almost mandatory unless you run it out through the offwidth section. If you have two, you could really sew it up.

I made the mistake of assuming the crux was in the thin crack section near the bottom and foolishly decided to tackle the wide section with no pro. Needless to say things got a bit desperate when I reached the crux and my last piece was 25 feet below me (clearly in decking territory)

The crux comes about 40 feet off the ground where the wide crack narrows enough to force your leg out of the offwidth jam. As stated by Ben, to pro this correctly, 2 number 4 Camalots would be needed (unless you care to walk one of them up with you).

All this being said, this is a fun route, sustained and technical.

Yeah, this is a good route, fun and frustrating. From the ground the rock around the wide part of the crack looks like there might actually be some good holds but the rock was pretty polished. The leg jam was harsh. I got stuck!!!

This route makes for a great introduction to off-width cracks. It's a bit less than vertical and several hold outside and inside the crack make it a very worthwile TR.

Be careful on this climb! You need large pro for the top (i.e. BD #4). I saw a guy deck from the top yesterday as his pro zippered, then got hauled out on a litter.. Other than, that VERY cool climb..and the 10d is also way cool..

Ya, just to echo whats already been said. The crux on this one is high and you need a 4 or 4.5 BD size cam to protect it.

Learned this one the hard way, I grounded out when I slipped at the crux and my tapped out 3.5 pulled.

Definitely wide. It's possible to to get good fist jams through the wide section if you reach deep enough.

Fat cracks are Phat! this one is fun, bring a big cam and just walk it along as you climb, Jammin' man...

Good Clean Fun!!! First your jamming hands, then fists, then sideways fists, then arms and legs. Very nice crack clinic.

I thought that the crack was heinous, I got spanked tiring to go up this off width beast, my feet didn't fit in the crack, and I ended up jamming knees and arm bars, prying apart the crack up toward the top, then I ran out of big gear and had to lower and TR. But I tell you my arms feel great today, guide book calls it an 8, but I have to disagree, and would bump it to a 9... I really like most cracks (and usually breeze up them) but I guess I have to learn a better technique for these off widths, I really wanted to do a toe-heal, but I wasn’t finding the right place for that, and most of the way my hands just felt too small. I will probably do this again until I get up without much trouble.

I climbed this last month on a whim after getting done Empor. I didn't have the requisite big cams and I ran it out on lead to groundfall potential at my leading ability (not good). I walked a 3.5 Camalot up with me to about 1/2 way until it was too tipped out to function, then shot for the top. Well, I didn't actually shoot for the top, more like oozed up the crack to the top, sometimes gaining 6 inches then losing 2. At the crux I was fairly pumped, overgripping (oh feck, oh feck) and I ALMOST tried to face climb to the left to an inviting bolt I could fall from. I'm glad I didn't, I probably would have peeled. The moral of the story is to bring big cams.

This was also a whim climb for our group after Empor, so after flailing all over this thing I didn't go home thinking I was the king of the mountain. #2 moral is not to try this after Empor.

I recall back in the early '90s Scott Parazinski, aka the vampire to John Glenn & one of the two astronauts on the recent record setting space walk, jumping onto this route on lead with my meager rack at the time with a #4 Friend as the biggest piece. =[:~o

This is a classic, in part because of the great crack, but also because of the rating! If this were done today, it would be listed at 5.9. Back then, 5.10 was the hardest there was, so if you could climb it at all they gave it a 5.9, and if you did it first try it was listed at 5.8.

This is the quintessential wide crack primer. You can even get a couple of chicken wings in towards the top. Resist the urge to use facial features. I left the #4 Camalot in the car since I was just planning to do Empor. Luckily I had #3.5, #3, and #2 Camalots and a Trango MaxCam about the same size as the #3.5. The #2 worked well in a horizontal crack toward the top of the wide section and protected the weird mantel move getting out of the wide crack. Enjoy!

First time I did it I got a big old Chouinard hex (8 or 9) stuck in there, had to rap to get it out. Gave me a big cramp in my foot.

Sewn up? I'll tell you about sewn up! Take two #4 Camalots, and a #5! You could practically aid it. And if you accidentally kick the 5 on the way past, so it's tipped out and worthless, you'll still only be 6' or so above the top #4! Groveling in style!

I found the knee jams on this one to allow for some rest breaks. I walked a #4 Camalot up about 20 feet through the middle section of the crack. I found it rather strenuous and around the crux I tested a 3" cam by weighting it from a few feet above. Lieback the crux. After resting a moment, I tried this and cruised to the belay. This climb made a fun step up from 5.7 for me. Hard, but not unreadable, and in the solution there is great satisfaction.