Super Slab Direct aid variation 

Went back today, the day after doing this the first time, to get photos. In better weather and knowing that it's not S, our party agreed this is easier than 10c--10b or maybe even 10a. You can also get by with less gear than I listed. Thinking it was going to become S at any moment, yesterday I put in multiple pieces at every stance.

I noticed today that you can go left at the top rather than exiting right to the top of Suparete. You can either step right and then easily step left, or go left as you come over the bulge above the shallow right-facing corner. I scoped it out, but didn't lead it. There is good gear and a hand jam (#2 Camalot), maybe 10 more feet of hard climbing, making this a completely independent line.

Did this recently and was pleasantly surprised to find such a nice pitch that I didn't even know existed before. It's much better than it looks. I concur with Ivan's 10a or 10b rating for the lower part of the route, but if you take the left overhanging crack finish it's solid 10d. This left finish is wild and highly recommended.

I could have sworn that SS Direct started on the trail, with an 11+ move past a pin. . . ? The pin is solid but you can back it up with a small'n in a scar right above it. If you are shorter, it's more like an opening move(s) of 5.12. A great start indeed with 5.4 to 5.10 pitch to the base of Super Slab.

Yes, Super Slab Direct starts left of th route described here. This is the variation to SSD as listed in Rossiter. I've described it here with a separate start that is more consistent with the grade of the upper face. Feel free to do the 11+ SSD start and continue with the route described here.

This is a great pitch! Truly a hidden gem!

I was a little freaked out on this pitch. I had read a post about rabid bats being found in Eldo earlier in the morning. When I reached the key undercling near the traverse to Superarete, a bat started going crazy from the undercling. I quickly moved past the undercling to the key jug before the traverse. I soon noticed yellow jackets streaming out of the crack around my hand. Luckily, they were still a little cold and not too feisty. An exciting lead....

This is definitely not the route Chris and I did! We were well right of this, and there were no similar cracks. I may have been causing some confusion with comments on Super Arete and the route Chris and I did, which I have submitted as Quantum Mechanics. That's because I now think Super Arete starts on the talus? If so, it also has no relation to the route I lead.

There is confusion in past guidebook descriptions for the three possible lines in this vicinity. Here is how I have pieced together the available information, and how I describe them in the new Eldorado guide (should hit the shelves in October). Please email with corrections if they apply.

The first route documented here is what I call "Kor Direct to Super Slab", FA Kor and partner early-1960s. This route was mentioned in passing in High Over Boulder 1967, but has never been given a discrete route title in any guidebook (until now). It starts on the left side of the buttress, close to Mr. Natural, at the same point as the 1970's route Blow Hard. It follows an easy corner, traverses right to belay on a broken ledge, then climbs up and left in a steep black groove/crack system to the top of the Lower Ramp, passing some large blocks near the top. This route is 5.8-.

In 1963, Dalke and Ament aided the clean dihedral to the right of this: the "Direct Start to Super Slab". Their ascent was a 2-pitch line; they belayed on the broken ledge at the same place as the Kor Direct, then traversed right to a thin crack and nailed this, freeclimbing the last part to the Ramp. (This second pitch is what is described here, on MtnProj, as "Super Slab Direct aid variation"-- more on this below.)

Erickson, in Rocky Heights, describes the original free version of Direct Start to Super Slab as climbing the initial crux dihedral, then finishing up the black groove described above. He gives as a 5.10- "variation" the thin crack to the right, crediting Larry M. and Chris R. with the FFA, and also noting this was the original 2nd pitch that Dalke/Ament climbed.

In 1986, Gary Bratton and Jim Stuberg did what they called "Eat or Be Eaten" (previously unreported), which is the route described on this MtnProj page as "Super Slab Direct aid variation". This starts to the right of the Dalke/Ament direct, at the left edge of an obvious shelf about 15 feet above the trail. It climbs a runout 5.6 corner, jogs right around a rotten roof band, then left and climbs the excellent thin crack/face of the Dalke/Ament direct. This is 5.10b climbing, reasonably-well protected with small wires--i.e. the 5.10- "variation" in Rocky Heights.

In 1988, Anne Marie and Mark Tarrant toproped what is now Suparete. This does NOT start in the talus, but rather on the shelf just described. Mark returned with Dan Hare and added the bolts.

The route described on MtnProj as "Quantum Mechanics" is news to me. In view of the grade (5.11a/b X) and that it is well to the right, the only explanation appears to be that QM climbed all or part of what is now Suparete, but without the bolts. (Another possibility is that QM climbed the improbable feature between the black groove and the thin crack on pitch 2 of the Dalke/Ament line..but prob. not.)

I include a photo of the wall in the new Eldo guide, with route lines drawn in as described above. The best way to resolve these questions is looking at a photo--too bad the older guidebooks were just text or topos!