Mark Hudon
Trad climber
On the road.
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Skot Richards and I climbed this pretty much excellent route in eight days (three days waiting out a storm on Lay Lady Ledge) in Ocotber of 2015.
The rock quality throughout was excellent. There are a few large blocks on the first 5.11 pitch but they are in no real danger of falling off.
The aid climbing was excellent. A real hard man with an ego problem might call the route A3 but I'll call it soft A4. The 3rd A4 pitch, up in the Taft Granite is one of the best pitches I've led on El Cap.
The anchors all have at least one 5/16 button head or 3/8 bolt along with a few good looking 1/4 inchers. Bear in mind that the bolts are getting close to 30 years old. It might be a good service project for future ascents to pull a few and replace them with 3/8" bolts.
I don't have Chris' book in front of me but the rack in the Sloan guide is good although the pitch lengths are over stated.
The 5.11 is mandatory but this route deserves far more attention.
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