Shades  5.12d

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Type:  Sport, 1 pitch Consensus:  5.12d [details] FA:  Marty Alfred Submitted By:  Pinklebear on Dec 1, 2001 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (3) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

Shades is the rightmost route in the Wicked Cave proper and the easiest line in the cave. Despite all this, it never sees any traffic and has long since been reclaimed by spiders and silt.

Were this route to receive a proper cleaning it would actually be pretty fun -- fun, that is, until the top bit, which involves doing your best not to stem out to a semi-detached flake the size of a volkswagen bus just five feet to your right.

Some choss is simply too big to even think of trundling; maybe the flake will just fall off itself. Or maybe the bolts could be moved a bit further left.

Anyway, start low in the chossy band, move through porous rock on sharp pockets, then punch up the sustained, bulgy face above. When the angle eases so does the difficulty -- just don't stem out to that block!

Protection 

14 draws and a 60 meter rope.