Deer in the Headlights

This nice line is located about 25 feet right of the start of

Center Face Left

and maybe 30-40 yards down to the left from Deer Hunter. Look for a continuous and clean line of mostly right-facing corners and cracks.

The climbing starts up moderate terrain in an inset between two corners. Continue up the right-facing corner (left side of inset) to a small roof. The crux climbing is getting past the roof and through the next 15 feet or so, and involves wild lie-backing and sidepulls out left with fairly thin feet (5.10b sustained). At the top of this, follow the crack slightly left to the next big corner and stem and layback the corner (5.9 spicy). Continue up and a little left to the next corner (5.8 spicy). Bring a 60-meter or longer rope, it's a long pitch.

Belay on or just below Stagway. This pitch ends about where the first pitch of

Center Face Left

ends. From here, you can continue up any of the other routes mentioned above, or traverse left along Stagway to the start of

Nun Buttress

and an easy downclimb to the base.

This climb is clean, with little lichen and high rock quality, fairly sustained in the 5.8 to 5.10- range, and a lot of fun! I almost gave it 3 stars but don't know the other routes on the rock well enough to do so. I did notice a bit of chalk on some holds in the crux area, so it's possible the route has been climbed before and recently.

Standard rack, including RPs, and double set of cams to hand sized. Emphasis on finger-sized gear. Larger pro can also be used but is not necessary. Screamers may also be useful for some of the smaller RPs.