Laughing Man

This climb is a tough one. Hard to climb and harder to onsight. Be ready to do insecure moves or get pumped stupid trying to find "somethng good" and then do the hard crux insecure AND tired.

The access trail for Laughing Man is about an 8-min. walk from the Uberfall, and a 4-min. walk from where the East Trapps Connector Trail meets the carriage road. At the cliff, go right to find the route.

Just to the right of the more popular Welcome to the Gunks locate a decent-sized roof about 7-10 meters off the ground.

2011: A block has broken off at the top of the initial slab section for the right-hand start variation of Welcome to the Gunks, which is also the start of Laughing Man

P1: Climb up to and right through this roof (crux). I think I recall a good horizontal cam for pro, but falling might produce a nasty swing, so place this thoughtfully. Once above the roof and standing upright again, climb up and slightly left into a short left-facing corner. From there, climb mostly right (practically a traverse) along some decent holds, then up and left on a crack line toward some small trees. 5.11b PG, 80'.

Descent: use the Welcome to the Gunks double bolt anchor.

Some cams and nuts. As I recall it, the crux was off of a solid hand-sized cam in a horizontal, but also as I recall it, you could take a pretty good-sized fall on this, swinging and probably bending up the wires. Watch the sling or biners near the edge!