Finally, dawn breaks to a practically cloudless sky! Our first beautiful IC day this trip. Scarface is a great place to bask in the sun, starting on the right side of the cliff and working around to the front as the day progresses. So, off to the Wavy Gravy area it is. I have a standing date with Twitch (5.11), since I have never been able to send it, With our heads set and energies amping off we go.
First, a warmup of course. Matt L decides to get his wide on, with this Unnamed 5.10 offwidth which is just left of The Wave (with the Unnamed 5.9 in between). Matt puts in a great effort getting through the overhanging stacks, and even takes a short fall here before getting through the hard part. Turns out that he didn’t bring enough big gear, so he established himself on a ledge and lowered down a loop of rope to pull up another #6 Camalot. After plugging it in, he pulled through the last few moves to the top. When I did this on TR, I invented some new “grab and roll onto your back” move to top out… Hey, it seemed logical at the time, and was easier than the “beached whale”!
Matt L. leads an unnamed 5.10 offwidth, left of Wavy Gravy, on Scarface Cliff
Kevin onsighted the cool Unnamed 5.9 left of Wavy Gravy, and also led Wavy Gravy with one hang (after the crux!), which he really enjoyed. Then I led Wavy Gravy for a good warmup in preparation for Twitch.
Kevin in the classic placing-pro position on the Unnamed 5.9 left of Wavy Gravy
We headed over to my nemesis…. I was psyched. I’d been on the climb before, and Matt R. wanted to try for the onsight, so he took the first lead and almost made it over the roof on his second try. Then, on his third try, “take take … lower!”.. He broke or sprained a rib trying to pull too hard! Damn! Unfortunately we didn’t get any photos of Matt trying, and it put him out of commission for the rest of this trip (luckily that was only a few hours away anyway!)
Tad attempting to pull through the crux on Twitch (5.11)
Then Bojan gives it a try ...
Then it was off to Scarface (5.11-), which I redpointed on my first try on this trip. I had done it once before on toprope on my last trip, and thought it was pretty easy for my skill set.
Tad getting past the business on Scarface (5.11-)
We finished the day up with Where is Carruthers? (5.10) and headed back to camp for a nice dinner.
The campfire warms us as the sun sets behind North Six Shooter
Ciao, – Tad
That roof looks intense!
[beta alert] Yup, it’s just over a body-length long, and completely horizontal, with good hand jams out the roof, then you get this weird wide flared spot that it’s hard to get a good jam in… Then once you figure that out, what to do with the feet? I haven’t figured it out yet, and I’ve tried it on every trip so far (that makes 4 times!) I got to the top on a previous trip because MattL got in a cam past the roof, and I think I cheated through the crux. Grrr, it’s still a standing date!
What, no beached whale! I got to see this ‘grab and roll’ technique:-) Twitch was the route that injured matt … tough break. Did you make it thru the crux?