Sweet if you like torturous Vedauwoo routes. Located near the center of the crag, an obvious small left facing dihedral split by two shelfs. Just right of Slot-a-saurus and left of Mud in Your Eye.
Stiff right off of the ground through a series of thin and somewhat slick hand jams. A deceptively tough entry into a shoulder width slot is likely to leave you gasping. Once inside the slot, recover a bit, stand on the shelf and tackle the next little puzzle, a seemingly holdless entry into another bodysized slot. The slot shortly dumps you onto another ledge with one final (but easier) puzzling body sized slot to enter.
Horizontal cracks on the left at the top provide a good place to set up an top rope anchor (cordellete is nice), or set up anchor from various cracks and blocks further back to bring up the second. Very close to three stars, the only reason I could find to justify it's omission from that category is the duration of the crux(s) and length of the climb. Still a must do route, and a tough and committing lead (partner said that it's higher rated neighbor to the right would be an easier lead).
Protection
Cams from micro to #3 Camalot. Doubles in thin hands / hands wold be nice. If a toprope is to be set a few medium to large pieces will suffice.
This is a really good route that is extremely short, but stout. Fire up to the slot fast to avoid the pump. Once you're there, its over. Probably harder than Mud in Your Eye.
I agree with Joe, Mud in your eye and Lichen Lung should have their ratings reversed! Both are excellent routes and should not be missed if your in the area.
I climbed both Lichen Lung and Mud in Your Eye last weekend, and thought that the guidebook ratings (5.10D and 5.11A) were correct. The nature of the climbing is quite different on the two routes, making a comparison more subjective than normal. If you're not used to chimneys, the entry move into the first slot on Lichen Lung could seem harder than 5.10D. Both climbs were high quality routes.
As for 8/16/09 there is only one quick link attached to the bolts at the top. They are bomber bolts, so we just rapped off of the one that had a quick link. It would be great of someone brought up three more to outfit these bolts for a more safe rappel.
RSS Feed
Slideshow
