Just above the West Ridge Amphitheater (as for Allosaur) and just below

The Unsaid

area there lies a set of less-often-climbed routes. This is the

High Anxiety

area.

High Anxiety

and Varieties Of Religious Experience are two of the better routes here. Most of the routes here are 5.10 to 5.11 and almost all of them are runout at least a little.

To find Varieties Of Religious Experience, first locate the big clean slab 100' down and 30' left of the hanging slab of

Verschneidung

, where a lone pine tree holds a rap station. A right-facing, right-leaning corner borders the edge of this lower slab, which is Verschneidung Indirect Start. About 40 feet left of this, start climbing.

P1 (5.10d, S). Pick and choose your way up the slab/face climbing a short distance left of an obvious roof which is about 80' overhead. The difficulty will be from 5.9 to 5.10 depending upon your exact line. The protection available will also vary according to your position, but it is never great. As the slab disappears, cut over to the right on an undercling to just below the extreme left-hand side of the roof and go up through a short, right-facing feature (crux). Run it out to a large pine tree from there and belay in a stance below the tree.

P2 (5.11b). This is the good pitch! Move out and left from the pine tree on jams and underclings below a roof, which is rising up and left. There are a few loose holds in the area, but they can easily be avoided. After 10' of climbing (5.10), you will tackle the roof at a small crack, and continue up the face for the first bolt. If this runout is not to your liking, you can place a few pieces including a hand-sized cam in the cracks below the roof before pulling over it. From the first bolt, climb up and left to a second bolt. From there, climb straight up (thin crux) to the top of a ledge at a 3rd bolt. Continue up another 35 feet on thin cracks with slightly sharp rock to the top of the buttress (5.8).

I toyed with the idea of giving this route 3 stars, as it is a very good route, but it just can't compete with the 'true Eldo classics.'

To descend, scramble NW up the back side of the West Ridge, and descend as for

Verschneidung

.

Varieties Of Religious Experience

Think Quickly

Uranus

The Unsaid

Pluto

Ein Kluck

Break On Through to Chianti

Toothsheaf Transfusion

Long John Direct (Original Aid Start)

Sunshine Wall

Washington Irving

Cruisin' for Burgers

Shock Of the New

White Rabbit

The Gibbet

The Unlead

Clear-a-Sill

Next to Nearly

Break on Through

Ghetto Blaster

Long John Wall

Knife, The

Strawberry Shortcut

Next to Irving

Atom Smasher

Rock For Climbing Routes To

Baby Sitter

Aftershock

Rictus

Incarnation

Quick Silver

Thin Ice

Chianti

A nice route with two good pitches. Start directly below the belay tree of

Verschneidung

at a wide crack. This is maybe 20 feet left of the upper

Verschneidung

dihedral. Up the wide crack using various holds (no offwidth required) to an easy low angle area. Aim straight up for a crease at the left edge of an overhanging headwall. Get gear at the base of the crease -- cam straight up, small wire in the crease -- and move left onto the steep wall. Get a cam above in an undercling. You can escape further left for a rest, but if you can, continue straight up on good face holds--it gets easy quickly. Continue to the belay tree. This pitch felt contrived, since at the crux headwall you can go just a few feet left to easier climbing.

Pitch 2 climbs a bit right of the tree with decent gear to the base of an overhanging buttress. Move left, then up a crack with good gear in the crack and out right (crux). Another easier but tricky bulge leads to a low angle slab and the

Verschneidung

rappel tree.

As of 2/16/03 the slings on this tree were crap. One ancient sling and one newer but partially cut. We traversed left on the east side of the ridge to the cable anchor that leads down to the bolts above

Washington Irving

.

Think Quickly is a great line with 2 distinct cruxes, one physical and one mental. After a bulging start on thin hands and off-fingers, the line soars up to a clean arete and climbs thin moves above sparse gear.

The bottom looks a little junky but is mostly cleaned and climbs well, the middle slab is mellow and gorgeous but runout (5.6?) with no need to venture left into the inset. The final arete is the business, so load up the slashes, and go, go, go. Once established on it, the climbing is easier.

To get down, traverse to climber's left for 50' past the top of

Long John Wall

, and descend as for that route.

This route is an alternative to the last pitch of

Long John Wall

. Get yourself to the start of the last pitch of that route to set yourself up for this one. About ten feet to the right, you'll see an alcove with a small tree. This route takes the wide crack up the right side of the alcove. Even though the crack is quite wide in places, there are spots for regular size gear. There are a couple of pins right before the wide section. They both look dubious and there is better gear nearby.

This one pitch climb is about 50 feet below the

Long John Wall

route. It follows a thin crack in a dihedral past two small roofs and out onto a face. Rossiter describes it as classic, but that depends on your definition. As opposed to most Eldo routes, which tend to be sustained, this pitch is a one move wonder as    far as difficulty is concerned. Still, if you are in the area it is well worth doing and is quite fun.

Addendum:

The right finish has a fixed hex at the top.

Pluto starts off the crumbly red ledge just right of

Think Quickly

.  Start where the red ledge starts to drop steeply downward.  Make cautious moves up and right on loose rock until you reach some good holds that you can use to pull up through a bulge on the skyline.  Above the bulge is a really nice dihedral.  Continue upward and turn a roof on the left with good holds, and then proceed to the top. Once at the top, traverse climber's left along the ridge until you get to the easy downclimb that takes you to the

Sooperb

rappels. Aside from the crumbly start, this route is really good and would be even better if it saw a bit more traffic to wear down the lichen.

This is a little pitch that was kind of fun.  If you've done most of the classic moderates, can tolerate a bit of runout, you might like this one.  Best to choose a dry day, since the lichen still absorbs water.

Okay, should you decide to try this line go up and right into the scooped out area.  Note Tim, that low horizontal crack on the right might hold a green Alien, but it fell out on me.  Move up to the left to another horizontal.  Opposed #4 BD wires & a blue Alien fit.  Move up to the next horizontal crack and slot some iffy wires and a good green Alien.  Do a lieback/high step and get your feet established above the crack.  Now, from here you can go right or up to the twig.  Once there, you can get an orange Alien or two and a #3.5 Camalot in easy huecos and cruise to the tree above.

Downclimb up and left as for

Washington Irving

.

Sorry, old age & I've forgotten a camera at least twice.

Mixing the amazing first pitch of

Break on Through

with the second pitch of

Chianti

makes an awesome 5.8+ link while avoiding the 10c difficulties of

Break on Through

.

Though just a linkup of popular climbs, this is so good it is worthy of a separate entry, and provides a good opportunity to get on

Break on Through

for those not up for the second pitch.

See each route for the pitch descriptions.  This is suitable for 5.8/9 leaders, the pro is great, and there are many rests between short (but very steep) cruxes.

This route is difficult and cruxy, but fun!  Leading this route would demand confidence, as the body position at the crux moves would leave a falling leader extremely vulnerable to head or spinal injuries.  I did this route on toprope, looking for protection opportunity for a future red-point along the way.  After seeing the lack of protection and taking a few falls at the crux, I decided not to lead the pitch at all.

To approach Toothsheaf Transfusion, go uphill on the West Ridge just past the V-slot of

Verschneidung

.  Climb

Clear-a-Sill

or

Verschneidung

to the strange looking pine tree.  From there, either climb Toothsheaf (wandering up the overhanging face above, between the V-slot and

Ghetto Blaster

/

White Rabbit

(the dihedrals to the left) or climb one of the other routes to set a toprope.

The crux of this route comes after a section of large moves between large holds and consists of moving to the right from slopers under an overhang, onto slopers above the overhang.  A fall from this position would likely result in a significant injury.  Continue up and left to the rap above

Ghetto Blaster

.

To descend, rap

Ghetto Blaster

to the tree, then from the tree down to the first ledge, then scramble off.

This is the direct start to

Long John Wall

. It is more aesthetic and much better protected than the P1 slot/runout traverse option to the left.

Start as for

Long John Wall

. At the roof on pitch 1, do not go left into the slot. Instead, go past underclings, and move straight up into the left-facing corner. Continue to the top of

Long John Wall

.

The route is in the popular Unsaid area of the West Ridge.  Use the directions from

The Unsaid

,

Washington Irving

, or

Cruising for Burgers

to locate this area. Once the area is located, find the climb

Washington Irving

.  To locate Sunshine Wall, look at the top of

Washington Irving

and follow a ramp down and to the left.  The "ramp" is very small and is sloping down outwards, and on the right side, but is coming from the left of the top of the pitch.  The ramp is anywhere from a few inches wide at the top to huge at the botom (before disappearing [beneath] a large roof).  The smallness of the last bit of ramp makes the climb somewhat awkward.  Follow this line down until the ramp becomes much larger, below and left of a massive roof/ bulge.  That is the upper portion of Sunshine wall.  A few hand-sized [pieces] protect that section, if memory serves me correctly.  The crack system leading directly up to this ramp (a little chunky) is the first part of the climb.

Alternatively, to find the climb... scramble up some Class 4 rock to get to the good rock and then look just a few feet to the right of the line

Chianti

(left of

Washington Irving

).  Start up the chunky crack system near a small pine tree.  The crack system peters out a bit after a bulge, then go up a face/slab to the afforementioned roof, where you tend to the right to gain the small part of the sloping "ramp", which is followed up and right to the tree.

The climb is described as 2 pitches, but with some longer slings can easily be done as a single pitch.

Rap from the top of

Washington Irving

.

This is a one pitch route that climbs a good crack in the back of a low-angle dihedral. It is just to the left of

The Unsaid

and is a great warm-up for any climbs in the area. The climbing is fun on positive holds and is always well protected.

There is a second pitch.  Per

Dave Holliday

: Steve Levin describes a second pitch to this route (5.2). After getting to the anchor atop the first pitch, clamber over some choss to access a low-angle slab. Climb it with periodic gear placements in the corner to a cable anchor with rappel rings.

Located on the West Ridge near

The Unsaid

(two dihedrals to the right). Start from the ledge with the tree.  Climb through blocky terrain to an open corner with a detatched flake.  Much harder when the horizontal break near the top of the corner is wet.  Crux is last 15 feet. Rap off

Unsaid

anchors.

This route is near the obvious arete just to the right side of the famous route "The Unsaid." This is located in the "Unsaid Area" of the West Ridge of Eldorado Canyon. Hordes of climbers may be in this vicinity, climbing the more popular lines, including: The Unsaid, Crusing for Burgers, Break on Through, Strawberry Shortcut, Sunshine Wall, and Washington Irving.

After conferring with Chris Archer, Steve Levin, and Bob D'Antonio about this line, I am a little more clear on why it felt hard. As it turns out the route is not meant to be forced directly up the arete the whole way (refer to variation called AFTERSHOCK).  Rather, start just to the right of the arete on a flake system, then up it for a short while before crossing it to go SIGNIFICANTLY left of it to another "flake system" (The Unsaid), just below the small roof.  This is how it is drawn in Rositer's topo as well.  As Chris Archer put it "No, Sharp lead that thing, and he was pretty out there, but he wasn't an idiot."

Which sums up how I feel about the possibility of *ME* leading the arete either as originally done or direct. Even at it's difficulty, it is hard- there is almost nothing positive on it. By way of comparison, The Unlead (11b, S/VS) is both easier and better protected compared to either.  Bob D'Antonio (FA party) also stated that he believed that the original grade was a sandbag.  I had never seen another climber attempt Shock Of The New, although since the original posting here, both versions of the route have been getting some attention. I've now talked to people on it & now see lots of chalk on both versions)"

Refer to the directions to the route

Verchneidung

. This route climbs the dihedral system to the left of the left hand side of the last pitch of

Verschneidung

, and

Clear-A-Sill

.

From the belay tree at the top of the first pitch of

Verschneidung

or

Clear-A-Sill

, look up and left 20' to another evergreen. This tree has no fixed slings and is smaller but solid. Either move your belay to this tree, or clip it with an extension runner of at least 4'. Climb up and around to the right up a broken face into a corner system. There are 2 obvious dihedrals, and as the corner system becomes distinct, take the left of these two. This pitch is 30 meters long and leads to a crest in the rock where good gear (a red or pink tricam) can be placed prior to traversing over and down to a solid rappel station on a tree to the south on that same ridge. This is the same rap frequently used from the finish of

Verschneidung

.

Rap a single 60M rope stretching to the original belay station mentioned, and then to a walk of ledge. A single 70M rope will make the rap to the lower tree/station more comfortable, and then take you all the way to the ground from the tree.

Use 'Improve This Page' to add a description!

The route is a "squeeze in" and may originally have been a more well known and often climbed route, but for the fact that there are obvious lines almost within reach on either side of this relatively blank face.

Follow the directions to a climb called "

The Unsaid

."  Climb that rope and hang a TR above it (up and left are the rap anchors).

TR the face immediately left of

The Unsaid

, and without using the crack of

The Unsaid

or the crack to your left, toward

Washington Irving

.  Though the Rossiter book calls it an arete, it is a face.

The crux is a less-than-vertical face with crimper fingers and smears for feet.  It is a 3 move crux, with only one really hard move.  The crux sequence begins with a shallow (1/4 pad) finger pocket in the left hand and had some long reaches.

A second, easier, crux is getting past the roof at the top, which is done near the right hand side, but quite so far as to be reaching into the crack system of

The Unsaid

.

I've tried as have others to move through the roof via the seam on the left side, but as of yet this seems to be undone.

Climb the only crack between

The Unsaid

&

Washington Irving

.

What a neat route.  This starts left of

The Unsaid

,

Washington Irving

, and

Chianti

in a prominent, R-facing dihedral, just right of a large overhang.  The ...R-facing dihedral 10 feet right of Break On Through is

Chianti

.

P1: The first pitch is a nice length with varied climbing.  Some technical stemming and liebacking are the crux for this pitch (8).  After the first steep section, continue up a ramp, then up through another steep dihedral.  Belay at the tree off to the right.

P2: Climb easy ground across the rotten ledge to the base of the large right-facing dihedral.  The crux here is some difficult stemming on thin edges to reach great finger jams.  Several tough moves is all though.  The pro is good here and easy to place at a rest before the hard moves.  Descend around the back side then make a single 50m rap to the

Unsaid

anchors.  Rap with a single 50m to a ledge, then downclimb an easy crack back to the base.

Follow the directions as for

White Rabbit

and take the right-most, right facing dihedral, as opposed to the left-facing one.  This route is located just L of

Verschneidung

.  If you enjoy the head game, this route is for you.  The moves actually are fun, but potentially dangerous.

The crux move is a reachy mantle/flag from poor flakes to and though an overhang to pinch a horizontal arete-like feature above - matching on the sloping pinch and pulling up to a toe-hook is exciting above crappy small gear.  It felt like solid 5.10 to me.  The *very tall* folks might find it easier than I did.

Perhaps some holds broke between when the route was rated and now, which could have produced some spectacular falls.

Start to the left of a large overhang and just right of a large, right-facing dihedral. Watch out for poison ivy near the start.

P1. Start up the easy ramp, and grovel up left through an awkward slot. Climb a thin slab with marginal small pro, traverse back right, and continue up a crack to a decent ledge (7).

P1 variation 1 (5.8). Start on

Break on Through

, 20' to the right. Climb the layback corner, go up a ramp, turn the overhanging corner on the left, and traverse left to the first belay on Long John Wall. Recommended.

P1 variation 2 (5.7). Start on

Ignominity

, 20' to the left. Climb a right-facing corner, pass a bulge, and traverse right to the first belay on Long John Wall.

P2. Ascend the great finger crack (8) to a small roof; continue up to a large ledge, traverse left 15', and belay below a wide slot.

P3. Climb the slot, then continue up the brilliant dihedral to the crux--a finger/hand crack in a corner with excellent stemming. Belay on another large ledge by a tree.

P4. Finish the short and easy (5) dihedral to the summit, or if you're in a hurry, rap off a tree 10' to the left.

P4 variation (5.8). Traverse right about 20' and climb up a corner with some old pins. Then move right, and climb past a wide crack to the top.

You can do both P4 variations if you have the time, since the descent takes you back to the starting ledge for this pitch.

Descent: downclimb a gully to the north of the finish back to the same belay ledge for P3. Do 2 rappels from rings (the tree anchors have been removed) with a 60m rope down to a broken ledge, and then follow the ledge uphill to the trail. Angle the second rappel to the left and watch the ends of the rope.  Be VERY careful if you only have a 50m rope, but you can make it with some downclimbing.

The Knife refers to the feature on which we climbed. Some 15m to the SE (climber's right) of the crux roof pitch of

Sooberb

and 20' NW (climber's left) of the last pitch of

Long John Wall

is a sharp, knifeblade arete. This is the outside left edge of the left side of the final 'inset' pitch of

Long John Wall

, but it is climbed from the outside of the knife, not the inner side that is visible. The bottom overhang is split by a decent crack, but poor rock quality guards this from being lead without fear of life and limb. To the left side (facing N/NW) is a dark, shaded face. Up this face, starting 4m from the ground is a system of flakes and cracks. These run up and left of the face for perhaps 10-12m before running out, just below and left of a good ledge on the arete. Climb this system with surprisingly solid rock and good/available protection to its end. Pop out right by grabbing a few flakes and then the knife-blade arete and stepping up onto the shelf on it. A small seam is at chest level and provides placement opportunity for a few good small nuts- then run up the arete to the top.

Both I and my partner were very pleasantly surprised by the quality and fun nature of this pitch. Two-stars. This is a good alternate finish to

Sooberb

or

Long John Wall

if a queue of people develops or if you get spanked off.

The route did not look as good as it was, and is somewhat obscured by other wall features, as well as superseded by other nearby classic pitches. I feel that it is as likely as not that this particular pitch has not previously been climbed.

Start in between

The Unsaid

and

Cruisin' for Burgers

from a large ledge with a tree. Climb a right-facing dihedral with small gear (a little vegetated). Pull up left where it gets vertical, and step right above the roof (crux). Belay at the broken band, and rap from

The Unsaid

or

Washington Irving

anchor.

This pitch is worth doing if you're in the area and other routes are occupied. I wouldn't make an outing of it though.

This route is in the Eldorado Canyon 2nd edition guidebook by Steve Levin but wasn't here.

For a nice 5.6 pitch, bypass the crux of

Next to Nearly

by stepping left in

Washington Irving

.

This is a fun, technical pitch in great position! It begins on the ledge directly above the anchors of

The Unsaid

.

Start by climbing 15' of chossy rock with poor pro (5.8 R) until you can clip the first bolt. A medium-sized cam can protect the easier moves to the second bolt. Transition onto the face and make crux moves, featuring technical climbing on positive sidepulls with poor feet. From the final bolt, step left to the arete and pull exciting 5.11 moves to the obvious anchor.

Note: Several of the key holds on this climb are fragile. It may be best not to try it if there are parties on the popular routes below.

(Note: the person who orignally submitted this route only described the last pitch. Here is a complete description of the route.)

This is an entertaining route with a burly roof on the first pitch. I've never seen anyone climb the crux pitch or know anyone who has. When my partner was following the first pitch, some passersby asked me about the route. One said that it looked "rowdy"; I can't disagree.

The route starts just to the left of the dihedral on the first pitch of

Break on Through

. Scramble easily up to the dihedral, but veer left. The feature to climb will be obvious from the ground. When you're positioned under the roof, you'll realize that it's just as steep as it looks from the ground.

Pitch 1 (

11c

): climb the overhanging flake and hand crack out the roof to a welcome thank-the-diety-of-your-choice jug. Recover a little, move up on good sidepulls, and then carefully balance your way up to the slab. Breathe a sigh of relief and continue easily up and left to a belay just right of the second pitch of Long John Wall. The gear is good on this pitch, but after the initial handcrack is small (Aliens and small stoppers).

Pitch 2 (7): climb the seam about a body length to the right of the second pitch of Long John Wall. When you get to the roof, traverse easily to the right for about twenty feet or so and make a belay near the tree below the second pitch of

Break on Through

(be careful of loose rocks in that area).

Pitch 3 (10c): traverse right from the belay, climb carefully through the shattered band, and go up the crack a few feet to the right of the last pitch of

Chianti

to a good ledge, and make a belay there.

Once on top, one could traverse climber's right to the chain anchors atop

Atom Smasher

. I find it so awkward to set up that anchor for a rappel that my preference is to continue up and over, scramble down to a good ledge with a tree, traverse skier's right, and rappel from the cable anchor atop the second pitch of

Washington Irving

. I like to go to

The Unsaid

anchor from there.

(The route name and first ascent information were obtained from Steve Levin's excellent guidebook to the canyon.)

A short but clean panel of stone lies just right of the initial

Strawberry Shortcut

corner. This route climbs the right side of the wall then traverses left along the horizontal crack system twenty feet up eventually meeting and joining the right-facing corner of

Strawberry Shortcut

for a few final feet to the large ledge above.

Protection can be tricky and difficult to place, and it is required at short intervals to keep the leader off of the ground just below. Thin, knotted slings make work well stuffed into the obtuse, oblong pockets along the last half of the crack. Double rope technique is suggested for the safety of the follower.

While short, this route is sustained over the traverse and will get you pumped if you hang out too long fiddling with gear. This is not a route to seek out on its own, but it makes for a fun alternative start to

Strawberry Shortcut

or any of the routes off of the

Washington Irving

ledge.

This route is a variation of the route "

Shock of the New

" which climbs the obvious arete just to the right side of the famous route "

The Unsaid

." This is located in the "Unsaid Area" of the West Ridge of Eldorado Canyon.  The new route goes "super direct" up the arete, not deviating from the obvious prow.  The bottom is clean, but the upper part still has some fine lichen on it.

The original line, from which this name was derived is not quite as obvious or hard and started on the flake system to the right, eventually crossing over to the left and climbing there.  To do Aftershock, climb the direct arete until the broken ledge is reached, up above

Cruisin' For Burgers

and

The Unsaid

.  This is the arete about 8 feet to the climber's right, in the front page picture (attached below). The lower part of the arete is obscured by a tree in the photo. This variation climbs a little over 1/2 of its length on different rock than the original route.

The moves are good, and perhaps a little reachy. A partner of mine who had just lead several 11's and a 12, then made the comment that she could not even perceive a way to do the moves (height may be a factor). I am no giant (I'm 5'10"  but have long arms) and I found the moves to be spectacular, but difficult and insecure.

If you attempt to lead this route and are not injured, you will still probably wet the bed every night for a few weeks. TR it from the gear above

The Unsaid

.  The TR from

The Unsaid

anchors could produce a [violent] swing if you were to fall from the top of Aftershock, but if you executed the moves down low, I seriously doubt you will be falling up high.

Hordes of climbers may be in this vicinity, climbing the more popular lines, including:

Unsaid

,

Cruising for Burgers

,

Break on Through

,

Strawberry Shortcut

,

Sunshine Wall

, and

Washington Irving

. I have never seen another climber attempt Aftershock or

Shock Of The New

.

For now, this is essentially a toprope, and as such it may well have been done previously.  I TR'd it with Ridge Dorsey in November 2002 and then led it while placing gear that December but I took one panic hang after the crux. I've pretty much given up on leading it cleanly. I'm posting it for anyone who wants to try headpointing it, or just to make people more aware of a terrific toprope.

This is the blank-looking face and prow between the first pitches of

Break on Through

and

Chianti

. From the top of the pointy flake on the rotten band below the face, step onto the face, protect low and left, and balance up to a short, thin, right-flacing flake. Fill this with gear (5 pieces can be placed in all!), then do the crux face moves straight up. From a good handhold, move right a few feet to a stance on the prow, place gear at your feet (very balancey), then do 5.9 moves to the lip of the first wall. Place more gear in the bottoming crack in front of your face, being careful not to block the crucial pebble hold, and then do a 5.10 mantel up and left. (On my only lead attempt, I hung briefly from the wire before this mantle.) Easier climbing (and pro) leads to the second headwall. Angle up and left toward a crack and tiny tree at the top of this wall, about six feet right of

Break on Through

-- quite scary if you don't cheat and protect in

Break on Through

. A fun crank past the tree with good pro gains the top.

This is definitely VS for the onsight, but with knowledge of the gear it is surprisingly well-protected -- perhaps S+. I bounce-tested each of the pieces protecting the crux after I placed them on lead, and I had previously tested the higher pieces -- the trick is placing them just right while on the lead. Ask me if you want the piece-by-piece beta. Or, this could be a relatively safe (S) lead with pre-placed pro. Or, simply toprope it. That's what I'm going to do from now on....

Located on an isolated block, sitting on the upper right side the Lower Ramp.  Climbs the thin seam splitting the sheer maroon face. A fixed pin gets you started and then small wires are used to protect the thin crack which is more or less face climbed.

Quicksilver is a different finish and a completely new pitch above the first 3 pitches of

Quicksand

. The 5.9+ rating is an offwidth rating and may seem hard if you are not used to OW climbing.

From the ledge previously above the first 3 pitches of

Quicksand

, below the death-rap-station, climb up to the right and towards a 4-6" crack though the roof at a right-facing dihedral/overhang. There is a death block teetering here, but it can be easily avoided. It looks to be about ~ 4' x 3' and is perhaps 8 cubic feet (about 2000 lbs). The point is, that it WILL KILL OR MAIM SOMEONE if you knock it off - so don't. Stem up past the flake and to the roof/crack. You can protect the roof at the base with a #3 Camalot or 3.5" piece in a narrow spot (solid gear), and then stem higher and get in a solid 3.5"-4" cam. Protect, then pull up and left to the corner and over the roof (5.9+). During this crux, a #4 Camalot is optional, but the last piece is at your knees anyway. Continue up on easy hand-to-fist cracks protecting with 3" gear, if you saved any (5.5) and up to a ledge and to the top of the ridge, now 20' right of the top of

LJW

. Belay after slinging a [huge] boulder, or walk the ridge to the "slot" above

LJW

, and belay as per that climb.

"Walking on Thin Ice" - that about sums it up.

Find this route by locating

Long John Wall

. Look just to the left of the broken, right-facing corner at the base of

LJW

. The arete on the left of this is the route.

There is a clean arete with a few tiny seams in it, 15' up off the ground, a short finger lock section, and then flakes. Climb in from either side (5.9) to establish yourself on the left side of the arete on a reasonable set of footholds. Try in vain to get a RP placement you trust around the right hand side, which is a blind placement from the good stance. Give up, and climb a few more feet up and left onto the left side, checking out the nasty 20' landing you'd get. Look at the seam at the left hand, and decide again that nothing good goes in there. Quit fooling around, and make a few 5.9 moves to a 10-inch section of "finger crack" where you can place a TCU or Alien. Clip it, make a crux move (9+), and then run for the ledge on easy moves. Don't fall. Place a piece or two near the ledge for a directional. Climb up and left to a tree with slings that can be backed up by nuts up and right above. (no rap rings here) or go up and right to join

Long John Wall

.

In any case, when you come down, ask yourself if that was really S (given grade) or VS. At least the rock is nice solid stone!

Just right of

Break on Through's

large dihedral is a steep crack system that leads to a large roof.  This is actually a better pitch than

Break on Through's

1st pitch but it doesn't look that great from the base.

Take the thin crack straight up to roof, turn roof around left side and cruise to tree.  2nd pitch moves up thru rotten band and takes the right crack/corner system (left is

Break on Through

) up the headwall.  Very steep crux but great pro and jams take you to the large ledge with 2 bolts at the far right.  You can also downclimb to a dirt ledge, then head south about 10 feet and find a cable/rap station, with one more rap below that which will take you the base of The Unsaid.

Description

Protection

Routes in West Ridge - part B - Long John to Verschneidung