[Hide Comment] This route starts about 100 yds to the left of the Friday the 13th Buttress and is apparent by the gaping start of the off width about 30' up (the so-called Knothole). Start in a left leaning chimney that will probably go at about 5.4. Follow this for about 30' to a ledge. Notice the gaping maw of the crack above that you will be struggling to jam your tired body into. This thing definitely deserves a picture. The crack here is wide and deep, tapering down into pure offwidth misery. Here is where the climbing begins. And it is wide here - I was able to stuff a wobble-y #4 tied to a #3.5 before starting. Shimmy your way up using your offwidth arsenal honed on lesser cracks. After some effort, the angle begins to ease and it would take a missile to knock you out of the crack. Belay at the top. I am not sure what rap anchors are referred to here, but there is a walk off to the southwest that will get you back to the base quickly and easily.

I am not sure what to rate this really. This route spit off two that were following me (one couldn't make it past the bulge and the other had to pull on gear) and both made it up Lower Slot Right (also an offwidth) with little difficulty. This route was strenuous which made it difficult to assess the actual technical aspect of it. That being said, Kelman has it down as 8 in his Heel Toe guide.

Big gear does well for much of the route. I had singles to a #5 C4 and I used all of the big stuff. Aug 19, 2009

[Hide Comment] A #5 can be placed from standing on top of a pointed block just before the difficulties. Then grunt up toward the horizontal on the left that will take gear since the crack is now too big for a # 6. This felt no harder than Handjacker. May 23, 2013

[Hide Comment] I was able to place a great #2 before starting the crux. Both my partner and I were surprised at the quality of this climb. Get on it!! Jun 7, 2018

[Hide Comment] I found this route incredibly hard. Granted I’m no offwidth climber (being only my third time climbing In Vedauwoo). It took me 2 hrs of suffering to finish leading the pitch. So much hanging, resting, trying again. I struggled for so long trying to get through the awkwardly narrow chimney. I was literally grinding my knees against razor sharp crystals to move up. It’s not possible to pull on gear. You just have to figure it out. BRING kneepads. I eventually pulled my leggings up over my knees and put my arm bands on my knees to get some relief to make it through, but by then energy was shot and everything afterwards, that should have been easier, feels just as hard.

As miserably hard as this climb was, I recommend it, because if you can suffer through this, I think you’ll learn a lot. For non-Vedauwoo climbers like me, I’d rate it a 5.10, but by Vedauwoo standards, I can see it being a hard 5.8. I still very much enjoyed this climb, and it’s well-protected. Sep 24, 2019

[Hide Comment] Definitely get on this, fun movement through the crux and the best opportunity to comfortably use stacks on a moderate climb I've found after that. Climbed like a step up from Mother 1 but less sustained.

This climbed easier than I expected, but that's probably dependent on body dimensions. I was able to comfortably hand jam the back of the crack through the bulge, but a climber with shorter arms or a wider torso would have difficulty with this. I'm also good at hand jams.

Don't worry if you have minimal wide gear, there's no need to place it until after the crux and at this point the grade drops to 5.6 or less. Do bring a number 4. Oct 12, 2021