Now or Never 

I think Jeremy's comment on the main page refers to this climb as "Now or Never". I tried it once last year and thought it was really fun.

That's a negatory on the cost a this here a FA...

I've always had a hard time on this thing. I think a few holds have broken since first FA. Maybe harder now? Resist going for the left arete.

Now or Never can be viewed as two separate routes that share the same bolt line: Line 1 (the intended line) is definitely harder and shares the same terrain up to the 3rd bolt as Line 2, and then charges directly up the face past two nasty (un-chalked) crimpers steadfastly avoiding the arete. Line 1 could arguably go 5.12a or even12b; Line 2 moves left from the third bolt branching to a jug on the arete and then a huge flake which makes for a secure fourth clip hold. After reaching the arete you are in worry-free sub-5.9 city.

The shared lower face, though it looks harder, is maybe 5.11b.

Both lines are super fun, but it appears that the easier Line 2 gets all the traffic - evidenced by the chalk trail leading to the arete versus a chalk-less face directly above that third bolt into the harder Line 1. The bump in difficulty at this juncture is enough to steer most climbers to comforts of the arete.

A short ways into the direct line (Line 1) was a chunky undercling. It broke off (9/6/09). The piece was soft, rotted, and apparently unused for a long time -- suggesting that the direct line gets little or no traffic. Despite the now-missing chunk the direct line still goes nicely -- into a nice V5 boulder section just before the chains. Highly recommended!

A hard time no more!

On the double under-cling you can make a crimp move or two for a left hand jug, then another jug to make the clip for a 5.11c effort OR after the double under-cling go right on to the face for a 5.12a effort.

Another possible variation is avoiding the left hand jugs altogether for a hard 5.12+.

Super fun route! Bummer it's so short.

I was a bit skeptical about a straight up variation. But it is pretty fun with a nice bouldery section and goes at 12- or so. Climb straight up from the third bolt avoiding the double undercling and juggy arete.

Hey Chris,

I bolted this thing with the intention of staying on the face. The straight up "variation" you talk of is the line, not a variation.

Unfortunately the intentions of the bolter do not always pan out The bolts gives us a road to travel on and after enough ascents it evolves into the route. I am sure that you have seen this happen many many times. Better beta is discovered, holds break, new holds are found, etc etc. Check out the picture with 'Vinny shaking on the double undercling'. It would be a super contrived eliminate to call that hold off. Same thing above, one casually reaches over and clips the bolt from a shake out stance. The path of least resistance, (i.e. what one typically thinks of as the route) climbs to the left of the bolt line after the third bolt. The climber is never out of reach of the bolt line and it feels very natural. I only thought about going straight up, throwing in a v4- boulder problem, after reading the comments online. A fun little problem, but the route is better to the left. Currently, this is a very nice 11c route with a 12a eliminate variation. It sounds like you are trying to relive the glory days - props on the bolting and climbing the harder line (many of us will climb it both ways and ave fun doing so!).

With over 100 years of beautiful tradition from OG Jones to Yvon Chouinard, YOU ARE DAMN RIGHT I'm LIVING IN THE PAST!!!

No Chris, I'm not trying to relive anything, living plenty as it is. The evolution of a route after it's established is a process unto it's own. And although I feel attached to these lines, their is certainly no feeling of ownership on my part. However, that certainly doesn't mean we can't establish a few facts, and get the history straight. If folks know that the FA of this line was done straight up, without moving to soft stone on the arete, maybe they would be a little more interested in doing it that way. Style is a personal matter, while the FA is history. And it will be a sad day when climbers don't care about how the route was done.

JJ- Happy to hear you be livin. I agree 100% with your last comment and enjoy hearing the historical perspective. However, going straight up and avoiding the obvious jugs is not the route. It is an "eliminate", "variation", whatever you want to call it. Either way is fun, but let's be honest, calling the double undercling to the left of the third bolt and the jugs higher up off is extremely contrived. Not trying to be contentious, just my honest opinion.