Cave Exit

Very much like its namesake,

The Cave Exit

at Lumpy Ridge, this exit from the wall may have you scratching your head for a minute and also feel like a sandbag. I found myself spinning around in full body stems trying to figure out how to gain the crack.... This steep little crack is a perfect finish after an ascent of

Smoother

or

Crescent

. Just as safe to solo as to lead, since the crux comes right away and you would be looking at the same ledge fall either way. Once you figure out how to get started, you are almost done. After the perplexing opening moves, there is plenty of good gear and the difficulty eases quickly. I would assume that this has been climbed before, since it looked fun and was the most obvious way to go....

The start is on the south side of the summit tower of the West Ironing Board. On a blocky ledge, up and North from the end of

Crescent

and Green Crack West (

Green Chimney

), there is an obvious crack in the back of a cave-like feature.

SR, scramble off to the NW. Maybe bring a cell phone if soloing. If you fall in that hole and break your legs, no one will ever find you....