Child's Play

[Redacted]

Heart's Desire

Quietlands

Mr. Longarm

Polyhedron Power

Calling Wolfgang

Fall of the Sportsmen

Riddles of the Grid

Scatterlings

LIFEFORCE

Straight to Voicemail

Machinations of the Childless

Full Sport Wall Project

Another stellar thin face route. The climbing is steep at the start, but soon transitions to vertical, passing several extremely thin and tenuous granite tech puzzles.

Quietlands is now fully restored after decades of neglect & disuse. A mantle, traverse, and easy climbing bring one up to the Sport Ledge where this route bifurcates from Hearts Desire. The climbing from here on is typified by mostly positive crimps. Near the route's end a ladder like intrusion of gorgeous mini jugs & crimps sweep up through steep rock to a final crux --which is both tenuous and cryptic.

All hardware has been replaced (provided by WARP) and the climb is mostly clean. While it could use more scrubbing it is definitely very climbable in its current state. Currently equipped with Perma-draws courtesy Matt Carroll.

Mr. Longarm is basically a five bolt variation to Scatterlings. It packs an incredible merry-go-round style all guns blazing boulder problem finale. This section is relatively steep by sport wall standards with long reaches, fun compression, and heel hooks.  Other than being 80' up the wall, you will have the feeling of a casual day at the boulder field.  Stick clip 1st bolt. IMO this one is a bit easier than Riddles of the Grid.  Diagonal left at the 7th bolt for Mr. Longarm. Scatterlings goes up and Right here.

This route is another gem with a storied recent history (see my comment below). It demands four stars but has seen very little traffic over the years. After an initial gear placement climb airy 5.11 edging past three bolts. An easier section in the middle takes a small to medium sized nut before bolts appear again and the difficulty begins to ramp up. Suffice it to say that with relatively few ascents, just where and what comprises the crux is somewhat debatable, but it is most certainly in the vicinity of the last few bolts. For me at 5'7", there was a reachy move from nebulous, bad holds around the second-to-last bolt, followed by a high-step maneuver that seemed as though it should've been easy but wasn't. One attempt made me throw my shoes in the bushes nearby while the next saw me redpoint, so it probably comes down to minutiae and the vagaries of tricky "steep low-angle" climbing. As with most Index routes, it is somewhat temperature dependent and even sunlight filtered heavily by trees on those 80% RH, 80 degree summer afternoons can make an appreciable difference to ones experience and ego.

The pitch above this is called Straight to Voicemail. See entry for that route.

Free at last... an ancient project dubbed "Iron Eyes" and authored by legendary hardman Andy DeKlerk in 1990. Begin by dancing up Quietlands, then quest upwards with minimal respite through difficult sequences demanding laser like execution. Summon your inner wizard for this one. Get caught in the summer sun on this rig and kiss your tips goodbye.  70 meter rope should get you down, just tie a knot! As for new start to Quietlands, probably best to use a stick clip.

An epic pitch caravanning through old and new terrain to tackle a potent boulder problem on relatively steep rock. Begin with the first 6 bolts of Quiet Lands, then breaks left sweeping across the wall, clipping one bolt on Scatterlings, then breaking left and tackling an impressive convex bulge.  Can lower with a 70 meter rope. The crux for me was using two very small crimps to reach across to the large right side pull at the 15th clip. Needs some repeats folks!

Scatterlings was overhauled as of Summer 2019 with 1/2" SS bolts and fast clip SS anchors. I was able to re-use 100% of the original holes.  After discussing with locals and reaching out to the FA parties, I did take liberty in adding two additional bolts to eliminate 2 unnecessary run-outs. Feel free to skip bolt #5 and #9 if you want to relive the original experience, but know a fall before clipping bolt 10 could break your ankles .

Execute a very difficult sequence of thin moves-- 12+ to access fun 5.11 terrain culminating with a satisfying 12a finish to mantle. Incredible climbing and as Greg O says ****!  Thanks to all whom helped out with the cleaning (Jack, Matt, Liz, and Nate)!

Even though it could technically be pitch 2 of Calling Wolfgang, this climb couldn't be much different in character. The crux is pretty much right off the belay, with a nice edging sequence that though thin and difficult, will seem straightforward after the trickery on the previous pitch. Be mindful of falling onto your belayer as you weave tenuously back and forth directly above her. After this, it's relatively smooth sailing until a perplexing section that may vary in difficulty (inversely) proportional to height of climber. My memory of the remainder is foggy and/or non-existant, but none of it is as hard as the beginning section. A nice counterpoint to Calling Wolfgang and a must-do if things went well enough on that route that you and your partner are up there already. The two climbs are probably close in difficulty, but the styles vary and as such, individual performance and results may vary.

This directissima follows the left hand edge of an arete for 5 or 6 bolts --leading into Child Abuse proper. The most difficult section is smack in the middle, but the last 15 meters are far from mere child's play, especially with all that rope hanging below.  Employ an 80m rope if you're planning on ascending to the anchor level. Best Sport Wall route?

I'm posting this to clarify that the new bolted line between the last pitch of Wildest Dream and Lovin Arms is a free project. Didn't have time to actually place a red tag on it before the season ended. There are two pitches that likely go at 12c and 12d/13a or perhaps led in one 50 meter 13a rope stretcher. Its gonna be good.

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Routes in Sport Wall