Getting a little pro on 'Petit Arbre', the 'little...
Description
This route is the right-most route on the Northwest face of Blair I. Take the Blair trail and cut in between Blair III from the west through a nice aspen grove. Follow the wall until the obvious hand crack comes into view.
Pitch 1 might be the best moderate hand crack (5.6) in all of Vedauwoo. Follow perfect hands to the shelf and belay. Pitch 2 has a move or two of 5.9 upon entering the crack over a wild rasberry bush. Follow the pleasant crack with the little tree (hence the name) to the top and belay.
Descent involves either downclimbing a chimney or rapping from anchors across the top of the chimney.
By Matt Richardson Administrator From: Fort Collins, CO Jul 3, 2006 rating: 5.8
The first pitch is definitely sweet. You couldn't ask for a nicer intro to hand jamming. The second pitch is very nice - and doable. Relative to other climbs in the 5.9 area at Vedauwoo (such as Lower Progressive), this feels soft for the grade.
The first pitch was super easy and fun. I would definately agree that this is one of the nicest moderate cracks in the area.
The second pitch is no way comprable to lower progressive which is rated 9+, this route is 8+. I would think the second pitch goes at an easy 8+ and a great route for someone aspiring to be doing a harder 5.8. This thing was a classic vedauwoo pitch of a moderately no feet start in a beautiful hand crack. One can get a good spot from a belayer before getting established in the crack, at which point you can set good gear- hand sized to keep you off the deck.
Great handcrack, the second pitch seemed easier than the first. I used a solid fist to start the second pitch.
By Brian Scoggins From: Laramie, WY Oct 19, 2009 rating: 5.8
First, this route is not in Zach's book, which is inexplicible considering that the route went up shortly after the first Harper/Kellman book was published and has been on Skip Harper's page for nearly as long. The remainder of the rant is better posted elsewhere, but the short version is "write down the directions before you go out there".
Second, this thing should be benchmark for 5.8. The first pitch was harder than I expected since it was a lot of big hands, but still. I carried a double set from .5 to 4 c4 + some nuts and used every cam somewhere on the climb.
Third, some bolts have been placed right at the lip at the top of the first pitch. If doing the entire climb, these bolts are of dubious utility, since it forces you into an almost hanging stance 18 inches below a ledge large enough to park a semi trailer. Belay next to the beginning of the second pitch, and use a long tether instead. However, with a single 60m rope, you can rap down the nearby Nick's Flake (not actually certain on the name of that route, but the bolts are bloody obvious about 30 feet left of the top of the second pitch), then do a second rappel down the first pitch. Might be doable with a 50m rope, I haven't tried.
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