Try Again 

Very fond of this pitch. First 5.10 lead, mid-October '77. Late afternoon, windy and faint rain. Crux corner works up nicely 5.8, 5.9 a few moves each; good stance for pro. Then two quick hard moves past the roof. Flashed it. Smug satisfaction as my two companions--both considerably better climbers--grunted ponderously through the crux.

I'll note here that a large block fell off this climb, high up and right below the crux. I think this happened a year or two ago. In any case, it's been pointed out to me on two separate occasions and I believe it's true (I'd never been up the route before this happened).

I would also add that a small brassie and a .75 protect the flexing pin at the crux. However, these two peices are well below the pin and would, no doubt, provide for a nice ride if/when the pin fails. Above the pin, the moves are pretty "heads-up", until you get to the crack below the small overlap about 7-8 feet up. To me, this route's crux felt pretty brutal (read: hard) compared to climbs of similar difficulty.

A stout 5.10b. Note, after climbing to the large ledge 15 feet up place a piece in the shoulder high flake before moving up the face on good holds to the crack above. It will be awhile until you get another piece of pro and although the flake piece won’t protect you from crashing into the ledge if you fall, it will keep you from tumbling and hitting the deck below.

Crux is strenuous and bouldery, protected by a flexy pin. Also ledge-fall potential lower down with tricky gear, but relatively easy climbing. Overall I was a little dissapointed by this climb......but maybe that's because I don't really love strenuous and bouldery moves above a flexy pin. Call me a wimp.

My least favorite of the Mac Wall "tens," very ledgy and broken up. Crux feels a lot harder since the block fell off because the stance below it is not as secure any more. Good luck onsighting the cryptic roof, if not "try again."

I fell on the pin today. This route is hard to onsight because some of the holds near the crux are not well chalked and are pretty camouflaged against the orange patina. I pulled right past a nice crimpy rail above the roof that is key to the crux sequence. After the fall I finished up, but as Chris said there are still a few heady moves above the pin. I think the pin is ok for falls but you never know with older pins.

One other thing worth mentioning is that there are some technical moves right above the first ledge. Keep your eyes peeled out left for a small slotted-nut placement. This is the only thing I could find to protect that section, which felt about 5.9 (this is right before going into the right facing dihedral).