Fran Bagenal on Out of the Question. Fantastic pit...
Description
This route is just right of the Lowe Route. Climb a flake, heading right past a fixed pin and up a dihedral. The second pitch wanders past some fixed gear and ends at a two bolt anchor. The last pitch climbs through the '?' and is reminiscent of the Lowe Route's last pitch, except without the crack for gear. Take your time on this pitch, it's easy to get off route and the pro is spaced. Supposedly, there's a bolt somewhere, I never found it; it probably sucks anyway. There are some good patina horns to sling.
This is a fantastic route. The last pitch is incredible. Caution though: Protection on the first pitch is a bit sparse. The belay atop this pitch uses cams behind a big, detached rock...sporty belay!
The initial flake is enormously juggy and fun. You can back up the fixed pin at the top of the flake with a hand sized piece before you move back right. There is a belay with fixed pins in the dihedral that is comfortable but sketch. There is also a two bolt belay just to the right that is hanging and uncomfortable yet very bomber.
The second pitch is worth the patience. There is a bolt on the last pitch and its kind of where you want it because it turns 5.8 with some great exposure. I was glad to find it. In some ways, this isn't as spectacular as Vertical Overhangs but it is more fun.
What an AMAZING climb! Every pitch is awesome. The dihedral in the 1st pitch is sporty gear, and the wild horn moves up to the belay is mind-blowing. The belay is super sketchy and doesn't take extra gear very well - I slung a chockstone and backed it up to the pins. The 2nd pitch crux is really hard. As with Hyperform, if you can climb 10b in the cirque you're solid on 10b pretty much anywhere. I did not set any sort of speed record on the last pitch! There are cam placements to ease the mind, but very few and far between. There are some excellent chickenheads to sling. I had no idea where to go at the tippy top. The topo shows the line going straight up through the blanks overhanging last 20 feet. ????? huh? After much traversing left and right from my last bomber chickenhead, I went right where. Not such a good idea since I Z'd up the face and had to do some light footwork over some super sketchy blocks. My partner/girlfriend was not pleased.
Bring up to a 3" cam (which I used on the last pitch in a hole inside a chickenhead)
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