Tap and Die

The climb starts on the left side of the arete which is imediately right of the direct start to"Garfield goes to Washington". Climb up the same start as "Wife Sentence" but step around the arete right(protected left by an excellent medium rp that is difficult to find but well worth the effort)to reach the bottom of a thin,right-leaning crack through a small bulge and steep wall.The route is extremely well protected but you must be pretty solid on the grade to place the gear.It has been toproped since the first ascent at 5.12b by laybacking the crack but must be jammed straight on,on the lead in order to find and place the protection. This crack is very sustained in nature and is a-typical to the area in that you cannot face climb around the crack-climbing.To my knowledge it has never been repeated on the lead, even by "Cute Boy". The route is of excellent quality and a crack-climbing testpiece for the Rushmore area. Credit for the name goes to Travis and the route was established in traditional style and ethics. A top-rope variation start begins below the crack on the right side of the arete and passes through steep rock on face holds and meets the crack near its bulging section. This variant start should please remain as a toprope.

There is no fixed gear on this route, it takes nuts, medium rp's,and small cams until near the top where it takes a little bigger gear. It is never runout but it is very strenuous to place the gear.This route shares anchors with the routes to either side and so, may be toproped by climbing one of them.