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|  | | Varicose |
| | 5.6 | | | | | | | | Mickey Mantle |
| | 5.8 | | | | | | | Second trip of the weekend where we had to take Plan B. Original plan was Pinnacle Peak's South Crack. Super fun route that I did a week or so ago. We had five in our group, and so were planning on taking a little extra time, especially due to a couple of the climbers being crack novices. Unfortunately, there were already two other groups ahead of us, which each had 3-5 climbers. The first group had sent up someone really inexperienced (to the point that it may have been a danger), so we decided to play on AMC Boulder instead.
We set up a toprope on Mickey Mantle, and then eventually another one over on Varicose and Reunion. Mickey Mantle would be terrifying on lead, so kudos to anyone who has the mental fortitude to do so. First bolt is high on 5.7ish slab (wow I love slab so much), then it's 5.8 slab to the mantle move (a super easy ~5.5 move), definitely run out and groundfall potential, so maybe popping a cam in around this section is how people get over any uncertainty here. It's impossible to reach the second bolt from this perfect stance, but there's a really cool step out right where you can get a closer foot and iffy hands, and then the bolt is right there. So that's nice! After pulling above the bolt it's all easy climbing from there. I rehung the rope from the anchors and put it over Rurpture, then stuck in an old Trango cam for a directional. That climb starts off okay, but quickly gets rough, as at least one hold has broken off over the years. We ended up needing a few extra directionals just to top rope.
Varicose was much nicer! Just a nice big crack, almost more like a flake. Plenty of little ledges here and there for hands and feet, so you're not married to the crack for the entire route. I have to say, those of us who were wearing Mythos shoes were the happiest on all these routes. There's really something to be said for the pliable rubber and being able to smear and feel what your feet are touching. So, perfect for granite/slab!
I did not get an opportunity to climb more. Dogs are not allowed, and so I left early so I could take the puppy to the park for a little while. But it might be nice at some point to come back and maybe try out Varicose on lead sometime. I think this whole granite thing this weekend is gonna need at least a few more visits. |
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