Spring Chicken

There are several excellent cracks in the lower Matrix, but this one is the longest, the hardest, and the scariest. I am not sure what you call a sit start below ground level in a cave, but suffice it to say you start quite low. Jam your way up to where it gets wide and you can jam no more; them layback the offwidth until you can top out through the hole in the roof. The jammy part is pretty casual because the ground follows you up as you climb out of the hole so the fall isn't much of a concern; the layback however has the potential to dissect you in half should you peel off. It is suggested that a pad be used to cover the obvious giant axe feature. The rating is debatable, a crack climber would probably call it 5.11. A visiting climber from the Czech Republic for example flashed it and said it was the funnest thing he had climbed in Pennsylvania, while local bouldering mutants were unable to get off the ground.

In the deepest bowls of the Matrix. Get down into the caves and at the bottom of the deepest hole is an overhanging hand crack which comes up into an offwidth that climbs up through an opening to the daylight above.

Taping of hands is advised, its a bit course. Spotter holding a pad above the sharp rock.