Pumpline

For years, this has been one of the Icicle’s trad testpieces at the grade. Thin climbing up a thin corner with some thin gear leads to a brief but burly off-fingers crux pulling a bulge. Hope you can make the exit look elegant. I couldn't.

This climb was written up in a 1988 Rock & Ice article by Alison Osius, who'd once spent a summer guiding for Leavenworth Alpine Guides (LAG) and had come back to revisit old friends:

"For my last day, Katie [Kemble] trudged me up a loose hillside to a "wild crack" she promised no one had ever done. A steep corner up thin edges led to push-palming and bridging up the seam. At the roof that caps the pitch, I ran into trouble: I sunk awkward thumbs-down hand jams, moved my torso up with hands still low, and frogged my feet high. Caving in my ribs, I half-cornered the arête to get a foot up onto a shelf. Then I couldn't pull either hand out. I pumped out and rattled down to the rest. Repeating the process again and again and again, every time I panted "Sorry" one more time, Katie would sing out cheerily, "Oh, no problem." So I ventured and retreated at least eight times. A gouge began to trench into one hand. But I really wanted to finish the climb, and to name it the LAG Roof for Katie, [Jim] Donini, Karl [Schneider] and Dave [Stutzman]. Then came the magic moment when the jam felt just that tiny bit better. Visions of glory trumpeted; a great new route—maybe some copy so I could write the trip off! Then I was up, belly-flopping over the top.

That night something woke me at 3:00 AM: electric pain in my elbows. In the morning, I tried to tell myself I'd been dreaming. But, I thought, at least if I'd hurt myself, it was on something emotionally satisfying, that tied the climbs and people of Leavenworth together. An epiphany, come to think of it. Then, the more I thought about it, the harder the route got. Pretty soon my internal dialogue declared "11d, fer sure."

I called Yoder, and asked him about that crack. He listened to my description, asked a question or two. "Yeah, Pumpline. 11a. I did it three years ago.'"

("Penned in Leavenworth," Rock & Ice No. 25, May/June 1988)

Uphill past the Regular Route, look for the thin crack through an angled roof to the right of a prominent bolted arete (MJB Arete).

To 2", include thin wireds/TCUs. Save some gear for an anchor.