Carpet Bombing

Carpet Bombing... If you know what this is, then you will understand the comparison to what it was like to be on the ground during the FA. No place was safe... the belayer went uphill and stood behind a large tree while the leader chucked off rocks from nickel to fist sized the whole way up. In retrospect, this route should have never been climbed, but it was, and this is printed more for info and a warning than as an encouragement to climb it. Some very large rocks remain on route with many small ones, and climbing this X-rated route is bold, despite it's benign grade. We considered naming it "the worst route in eldo" but thought that the route Cardinal Richileu superseded it for that title...

Head up the hill perhaps 30 meters from "Throwing The Baby..." until you see a distinguished bright yellow section of the wall up above, perhaps a 10-15 meter area, 20 meters up. You will see signs of the recent exfoliation of large flakes near the ground on this route, as well as a tiny pine tree hanging upside down by it's roots where one had been. For the record, the FA party did not shed any of these large flakes or damage the tree- they were as such when we arrived. Climb up and right toward the Yellow spot on the cliff, running it out quite considerably. The first crux is encountered below the yellow spot, just right of a right facing dihedral. The runout here is severe and the climbing a little insecure- you can step left the the dirty dihedral and set pro with a long runner and then come back right if desired (cams). The comes the first crux (fun moves). Climb up and right toward what appears to be a set of cracks and big gold flakes. You will realize later that these flakes are a potential house of cards waiting for collapse. Tread lightly, picking and choosing which to grab while running it out some more. Top out at a ledge with a good tree with one good tied sling, and no rap ring or quicklink. The anchor should be back up and quicklink added. (Sorry, I was out.) This is the shared anchor for the routes "Carpet Bombing" and "B-52."

Rap from this anchor.

This climb was cleaned only somewhat by the FA party and will be dangerous for future ascents as well. It was never meant to be done as it was, but it was a "retreat line" from the gold colored headwall, which was too dirty and insecure to yield a better line. The given grade is not certain, as it reflects some difficulty in avoiding loose rocks, some effort in cleaning, the heady nature of the climb, and some "fudge factor" to account for these. Please give thought to that fact- that this route may be harder or easier than described depending on what you are willing to trust for holds. This is a moderate climb that is totally inappropriate for beginners or people unfamiliar with Eldo.

This route is severly runout and has a good amount (bad amount?)... LARGE amount of suspect rock. Take a standard light rack and protect where possible with nuts and cams to 3".