Wakanda Forever

Wakanda Forever is among the best pitches I've found undone anywhere in the desert. I hope that folks who appreciate amazing crack climbs will come to this incredible setting and enjoy it, as well as all the other great lines at what is now a pretty stacked wall.

As soon as I got back to the ground after the first ascent, I knew it would be a perfect present for my best friend and fat-finger crack master.....Troutman. A week later I handed him the rack and he sent it on-sight for the first free ascent. It was a heart-warming and liberating phenomenon to somehow know immediately that this was a gift I wanted to give away, rather than a prize I wanted to keep for myself. Coleman is the man, and the establishment of this route is a testament to our friendship.

I put the anchor on this and N'Jadaka the day after seeing the Black Panther movie on opening night, and knew straight away that both routes would have names of this theme. I'm a huge comic book fan, and poured over all of the Marvel characters as a kid. I loved the film interpretation of the Black Panther story, with it's amazing characters and inspiring themes, and the awesome, original soundtrack helped keep me psyched to send these routes.

This crack lives up to the proud slogan of it's namesake, metaphorically speaking of course, and it's history shares a similarity to that of Wakanda in the Marvel Universe. For years this crack has been right under the noses of great explorers and passers by, but somehow has remained undiscovered. It's a proud, sophisticated treasure hidden in plain sight. I wanted to name the route as a reference to the times, as an homage to the important and imaginative creation that is Wakanda, and in honor of crack warriors everywhere.

It starts with a crack boulder problem to a ledge. The initial right-facing corner is easy fingers at first, leading up to a column that is a little hollow, so take care here. The .5-sized crack above gets rowdy through the bulge and drops you onto a ledge. A stout few body lengths lead to a bulge into a pod. From here, launch sideways across the fingertip ledge and continue up more engaging climbing to the anchor. A truly spectacular pitch with Marvel-ous position.

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Right side of the crag, just left of Prickly Pear, which has a plaque. The crack faces down canyon and will be unmistakable when you see it.

Upwards of eight .5 BD Camalots, doubles of .4 and triples of .75, and a hand-sized piece or two. Some runners. Full 30m pitch