This is a combination of the first two pitches of Super Slab, and the second two of Art's Spar. The first pitch is a .10c undercling flake with decent holds, yet still pumpy climbing. Above the pitch traverses left along a line of pins over nebulous terrain. The second and third pitches can be combined with a two hundred foot rope to a belay at the base of a famous offwidth called Grand Giraffe. The last pitch is the crux, it is rated .10c in most guidebooks, but it is possibly a full grade harder now. A local climber informed me a hold has broken in the crack that now makes the move much harder than .10c. The line is obvious, jam out a completely horizontal 6' roof. This is a very intimidating and exposed crux. The hardest part is making a long move to the lip will completely horizontal. This section really surprised me (it spit me off), make no mistake it is solid 5.11, I thought it was a full grade harder than Tagger (.10c) which is a similar climb. There is an easier option to the left called Electric Aunt Jemima that goes at .10c, although the pro looks a little friable (#0 TCUs?). The roof on Super Spar is well protected at least.
Protection
Bring a standard rack. A bunch of pins protect the first pitch.
A bit more descriptive description: The route starts from the same ledge as Ruper, off of the lower ramp. Walk about 20 or so ft. NW from Ruper to where the ledge is about to die out. The first pitch crux is the first 30 or so ft., identified by a shallow corner with several old pins to its right. The first pitch pin traverse, which goes left another 30 ft. up, takes you a large left-facing corner. That is the second pitch; the third angles up and right--aim for a belay just right of the start of the obvious Grand Giraffe OW, at the left end of a long, arching roof band. The crux climbs up a flake up and right of the belay then takes the body-length hand/finger crack through the roof. Very exciting.
Wow. .11b? Just your basic handcrack- out-a-roof/bomber-jug-over-the-lip type of thing. Pumpy, but still think its a .10c... but again, I am tall. All the 'short' people seem to have a right to rate things harder to compensate...
Fact is, it's just NOT a basic "hand-crack-out-the-roof-thingy", and I suppose some of these very good climbers (I know Pat leads up to .11+ trad and I've seen Alan's name on an awful lot of hard FAs in various guides) find that a rather insulting thing to say. The crack is not an ideal size at all and the roof is big, ~6 feet. Practically everyone I've talked to who has done it agrees with me about that. Any of the other roof or overhang .10c routes I've done in Eldo (e.g. Tagger, Grandmother's Challenge, etc.) are much, much easier. The Edge is hard, proabably a little easier, though totally different. Maybe you did Superspar before the rockfall changed it??
For me, the Art's Spar roof is about 10c. Solid, straightforward jams, obvious moves, gear overhead. The crux for me was pulling over the lip - too many options, and I initially made the wrong choice. Over the last 2 years I have consistently failed to onsight anything over 10b in Eldo - I've tainted all of the good 10cs - yet I onsighted this. It's way easier for me than Grand Giraffe (supposedly 10a). The following day I followed the Le Toit roof (10b/c) and had much more trouble following that than leading the Art's Spar roof.
Resting from the lip with a right heel hook reminded me of the story back in the Gunks when Henry Barber did the first free ascent with John Stannard in 1973 of Crack of Bizarre Delights (11b) at Skytop (now closed to climbing). The crux is a short overhanging dihedral above a ceiling leading to a roof. The crux move is reaching the lip. You pull over the lip and roll onto the top of the cliff at a large flat lookout area. Henry got the lip, hooked his heel in a notch formed by a crack, and let go with both hands. He let out his famous laugh and said, "I think I'll hook me foot and rest me arms." Henry had recently returned from England and had adopted a heavy British accent. Since then, whenever I have a heel hook on a roof Henry's words run through my head.
I know some of you ex-Gunks climbers now living in the Boulder area are misty-eyed now, thinking back to those great days in the Gunks.
Many people say a block fell out, so that must be true. Maybe harder now, but what does that tell you? Easier before, harder now. For me and some others 10c now, for others apparently 11a/b. Somewhat easier before. Maybe the block was more helpful for shorter climbers?
Super Spar Direct, a one pitch approach to the roof. Instead making the traverse left to the 1st belay on Super Slab climb straight up a shallow corner, a little 9+, and then lichenous but solid, easy moves up to the big alcove on Grand Giraffe. Follow that pitch all the way to the belay below the offwidth. 60M rope leaves about 10 feet of spare rope. Save a blue Camalot for the belay.
Redgarden - Tower One
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