A fun two-pitch route that looks like a complete slab from the ground - be prepared for a surprisingly steep crux.
Pitch 1 starts with a 10+ move right off the deck over a boulder. You get a clip before you start, but make sure your belayer is paying close attention.Twenty feet of easy climbing leads to a headwall that is not slabby, but may even be overhanging by a degree or two. Work up a technical diagonal undercling to a long reach and a clip - followed by another long reach, all with horrid feet. This is the crux (11d). Then you finish with an 11a slab.
Pitch 2 is the rightmost of the two lines that leave from the ledge. This pitch has excellent stone and nice continuity (11c).
Le Stat is the rightmost of all the lines on Vampire. After you come up the trail, go right about 30 feet to find it.
The crux on P1 seemed hard for the grade, but it also appeared as though there were two ways to do it: going straight up from the finger ledge and then traversing left or traversing left on the finger ledge and chucking for the horn on very bad feet (this seemed pretty hard). Good stone despite the whipping.
First pitch is very hard for the grade. Not what you would expect for a Boulder Canyon 11d.This would be a hard on sight on less you were prepared or told what to expect. After failing first time up trying to move statically thru the crux. I moved left on the finger tip crack and dynoed for the horn with bad feet. Once executed it seemed not bad. Kind of a quick boulder problem move. Seems hard at first but once you do it in retrospect it seems not so bad. Perhaps that is the reason for the 11d rating. I am not sure what I would rate it.
I worked on P1 and was alarmed to find that it's rated 11a in Rolofson's book, so I'm glad to see it's 11d here. I saw some chalk to the right of the bolt line at the crux, but was unable to send the move over there. Eventually I got the crux along the bolt line: using the decent right hand and a very high left foot, I quasi-deadpointed to the ledge above with the left hand. At this point there is nothing at all for the right foot. I'm pretty tall, and was just barely able to reach a sloper ledge with the left tips. Then I worked my fingers up a centimeter to a better grip and could then stand and get the poor horn with my right. It's definitely at least 11d and seems like a tall person's move.
RSS Feed
