Apogee Pending

Apogee Pending climbs the directissima up Shelf Road's most continuously steep panel of rock. Unfortunately, a no-hands rest at mid-height detracts from the continuity of the line, but the upper half features 25-30 moves of brutal cranks and sustained, pumpy climbing. The route offers a wee bit of techno-piss, wild dynos, leg threads, tweaky pockets, and a sting in the tail on outstanding cream, pink, & black stone. This wall faces north and receives no sun whatsoever.

Stick clip the first bolt and climb a short, technical wall of petrified mud to a good shake near the arete. Big moves lead over the bulge to a pair of big pockets at the second bolt. A pair of thin crimps and a huge, three-points-off huck gain a series of mini-ledges just below the hanging flake. Cruise up the easy flake to a no-hands rest. Enjoy whatever reading material is at hand. The crux begins off the flake, with a long reach to a half-pad two-finger pocket, then a precise deadpoint to the next pocket, and finally a long move to the horizontal break. Get a quick shake then tackle the next crux; a huge move to a 1/4" crimp followed by desperate stabs to get established above the break. Pumpy slopers lead to the last bolt and one final, pumpy shake before the last crux, a big reach to a crescent-shaped crimp just below the anchor.

A certain amount of contrivance is needed to earn the grade: the arete on the left is off, and the vertical crack that propagates from the top of the flake is off (this sounds worse than it is, as the route climbs very naturally without these features).

Apogee Pending climbs the obvious, overhanging north wall of the big dihedral.

6 bolts to 2 BA. A stick clip is recommended.