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Caffeine Club

5.12d, Sport, 45 ft (14 m),  Avg: 3.5 from 2 votes
FA: Don Welsh, 1990
California > Lake Tahoe > I-80 Corridor > Donner Summit > Gemstone Wall

Description

Climbs up the steep white face of gemstone wall. Very sustained, using a mix of long moves from good crimps and tough pulls (or potentially some gnarly finger locks) on the broken crack. The crux comes midway from bolts three to four when the feet run out and the holds are small. Finish by going right to the arête after the last bolt and coming back in on good edges to the anchor.

Location

The only line on the overhanging, white face to the right of Fire Opal and left of Diamond in the Rough.

Protection

6 bolts to cold shuts

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Route topo. More overhanging than it looks!
[Hide Photo] Route topo. More overhanging than it looks!

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Don Welsh
5.12+
[Hide Comment] New crux bolt and anchor bolt Summer of 2020 Dec 6, 2020
Trevor Livingston
Reno, NV
  5.12d
[Hide Comment] This thing is sweet, a bit surprised it hasn't seen more traffic. Classic technical Donner crimping... and a little bit of thin crack funk for good measure. The obvious comparison is Brain Child: a similar style and about the same length, but I think Caffeine Club packs a bit more of a punch. Clipping the chains might feel heady, but it's all there. Climb higher if they feel out of reach.

It is easy to set up a top rope by climbing the first three bolts of Fire Opal then traversing right across the horizontal and finishing on the upper part of Caffeine Club at 5.11. Aug 25, 2023