Short but sweet. A stick clip is helpful as the first bolt is quite a distance off the deck. Reach up in the overhang for your first hold and campus (or you can use your feet, seen it done different ways) the first few moves. Continue up strenuous moves to the anchors.
Also a V6 bouldering start variation, according to the guidebook.
Location
The steeply overhanging route on the front side, left of the densely gridded wall.
Let's be fair here. Gollum, while perhaps not the same caliber as some of the other more difficult routes on Frog Prince (can't comment, haven't been on them), is not a "10 foot boulder problem." For those not yet able to get on the neighboring 12s and 13s, this 30 foot boulder problem is pumpy and quite fun. Cruxy off the deck and pumpy to the anchors, it's a good route for the mid 5.11 grade.
Jason, you gave it three stars. If I had driven over there from Tucson or down from Colorado for a long weekend and jumped on that because I saw you gave it 3 stars I would feel cheated. Not trying to be a dick just trying to put the star thing in perspective. Relative to other 3 star routes at the tower I don't think it deserves them. It is a ten foot problem with 20 feet of hanging on to the anchors that is so much easier than the start. I would not do it until I had done almost every other route in the area, which is when I did that climb. Took longer to write this than do the route. Ha Ha.
Eric, Compared to routes like Grendel, Golden Stairs, and a whole host of other 5.11s on other walls, you're 100% correct that Gollum isn't as good. And certainly, I would feel cheated too if that were the only route that I had gotten on, but on Frog Prince, at the mid 11 grade, I think Gollum is a very fun route and a natural stepping stone for those progressing onto the more difficult Frog Prince routes. Put differently, I would have also felt cheated had I not gotten on the route based on the rating you gave it (shows why it's nice to see individual ratings for routes and not just the consensus grade). And you must be a stronger climber than me (or a slower typist) because I think by this time I was just getting to the 3rd bolt! =) Happy climbing!
This is one of my favorite routes at the tower! I personally think it goes around V1 or maybe 11b. It's a long boulder problem with fun movement.
I've heard so many negative comments about the problem and don't understand why! But then again I'm more of a boulderer than a sport climber so I'm more keen on that type of movement!
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