Hinterland Highway 

is it Niki's Crack or Nikki's Crack?

I don't know. There was a very cute girl there with her dad at the time of the FA. The name is a somewhat crude homage to the fact that all the guys there fell in love with her at first sight. I didn't get her to spell her name for me.

hm. i guess we will never know... thank you though!

and btw i spell it Nikki.

I had intended on putting a second pitch on this thing, up and left, but a piano sized rock needs to be dropped and a bunch of other heavy cleaning. Maybe someday..

The start of this is very commiting. Very scary actually, even for someone like myself who trad climbs on crappy rock at the Gunks. Next time I'm bringing a squido. No climb is worth decking for. If shitting your pants while hanging on the side of a rock wall is your idea of climbing then hop on this one. Heck, don't even use rope. lol It's a shame, the rest of the route looked promising from the ground. Is there really a reason so many of the cruxy starts at Rumney aren't bolted a little 'friendlier'? Aren't the reason for the bolts for safety?

lots of people bring stick clips or learn to use an actual stick to make the first clip... the latter is a trick all sport climbers should know, it gets you out of a lot of sticky situations...

I hear you Lee, duly noted! In hindsight, it's probably very tough for developers in Rumney to find a balance between under/over bolting. That's why I don't develop routes, all walls would be bolted in a 3' grid. haha Still learning the whole sport thing. Had a blast on the other climbs fwiw.

That's it, Kevin - stick clip. Using a stick clip for tough starts saves the bolter having to place very close bolts at the beginning of the route and is safer. I don't remember the first bolt on this route being particularly high (think if it was a boulder problem up to it), but the technical crux of the route is below it. Very close low bolts here would be unsightly, require clipping right in the middle of thin, insecure moves, cause more rope drag, and a fall onto a very low bolt would be harder since there would be very little rope to absorb the impact. That is why many routes are bolted with the expectation the leader will use a stick.