The Stigma vs. The Regegade

Alan's plan was to aid the crack and fix pins before working on it. When we arrived at the base of the crack, I suggested, "Why not at least try it without the pins first?" Alan agreed. He did aid the pitch first, but mostly clean, fiddling with RPs and TCUs along the way to Todd's no-hands stance. Above that, Alan couldn't get nuts or cams to stick in the shallow, flared crack, so he whacked in a couple of pitons, reached the anchor bolt, and rappelled, cleaning his gear as he descended and making up a rack for his free attempts. On his first day's attempts, Alan got about halfway to the stance, cruising the initial 5.12a section but only a few moves beyond. The next day, he ignored The Stigma, and instead did some soloing and bouldering, while I sat at the base of Cookie Cliff guarding my fixed rope from the Valley locals, whom I imagined were lurking nearby, ready to pull it down and defecate on it, or some such idiocy. John Bachar did walk past, pausing briefly to inspect the route, but departed without comment.

Somehow, we recruited two Japanese climbers to belay Alan the next morning, so I could photograph Alan on the route. These two were very excited to meet the very famous Alan Watts, who was apparently a very big celebrity in Japan. Alan made two tries that morning, and I got some good photos, while Alan got a 40-foot whipper after nearly sticking the crux on his second try, then falling off as his non-English-speaking belayer let out slack when Alan wanted him to take it up. We soon said good-bye to our Japanese friends, who apparently did not understand that they were being given the bum's rush. After they departed, Alan took a long rest, then sent the route on his next try. The crux involved torquing up several small, well-spaced pin scars, including a mono-doight twister and one of the most improbable gastons I have ever seen accomplished. Once established on the stance, Alan was ready to call it quits, since that was where Todd had stopped, but since Todd had been criticized for stopping short of the end of the crack, I goaded him into giving the rest of the crack a try. Under such intense peer pressure, and a threat not to lower him off unless he kept climbing, Alan agreed. Of course, there was the matter of protection. Alan didn’t have a hammer and pitons on his rack, but utilizing my fixed rope, he pulled up a few pins and the hammer, then climbed up, whacked in a pin off a 5.12 finger jam, then finished the crack. Unfortunately, the anchor bolt was out of reach from the end of the crack. After a few desperate dynos and falls, I suggested he tie a longer sling on the bolt so it could be clipped from the top of the crack. He yarded up the fixed rope, tied a long sling on the bolt, and on his next try succeeded in completing the crack free.

pulls out every base trick in the devils tool box