Africa Flake

This climb is essentially a clip up to an existing trad line. It was done to get to a feature on the left side of Aegir's "red wall" that I have always called the Africa Flake. The bottom left and entire right side of this hanging feature is an amazing layback crack. I have always wanted to climb the right side but with so many other options for new longer routes it has taken awhile to get after it. 

Don't Look a Gift Block starts to the right of this feature and climbs up and left over to the top right of the flake. It then moves up to an amazing hand crack and rail and traverses over it to the left. At the end of the crack, Gift Block continued upward and eventually did a 5.9 corner to exit. A committing endeavor by all accounts. I am sure Ray Ringle and John Steiger eyed the flake feature with desire when they did Gift Block, but at the time there was so much to do that they just moved on to the next adventure.

After putting up Skallywags and not being ready to begin cleaning the upper pitch to that route Mike, Greg, and I and set up a TR on the flake. We began the process of sorting out bolt placements, brushing, determining the soundness of the flake and trying to figure out how to do it without bolting over Gift Block. The flake itself is about 2/3 detached but is solid. Solid, as in, it could come down any time in the next thousand years or stay on for 10,000 more. We decided that climbing up it isn't going to pull it off but we didn't think we should be whipping on cams behind it, so we put two bolts in next to the layback section. There is a spot at the top of the layback section where you could put a 3 Camalot and it has been weighted but not fallen on.

This climb meanders a bit, and sorting it out on TR, the moves were tricky as a fall made some moves hard to get back on. The actual crux seemed very hard at first but with brushed off footholds and knowing where the tiny edges are it is a very cool section. Once you start it the moves stay on you pretty much to the end of the flake. At this point you join Gift Block and follow a super cool easier hand crack and rail left to anchors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afric…(orthographic_projection).svg

As you work down the approach gully you will be on the right. When the path brings you up against the wall the flake is above you. Start angles up a left angling fractured but solid corner/roof system.

Gear: 1 purple, 1 green, 2 reds, 2 yellows a 3 and a 4 Camalot, I also took a very large stopper(BD 9, 10 or 11?) which is bomber about a body length above the end of the flake. See photo of Greg Kay placing the stopper. 8 bolts and lower offs.