The Big Picture

This is a tricky route and of surprisingly different character form

Tits

. The tough stuff on The Big Picture comes right away, and as far as I am concerned, from the very first bolt. The Big Picture leans a bit to the right and chases an indistinct system of crystals. It seemed as though once you had latched on to one of these things you had to milk it for 180 degrees, and these are cruddy little quartze inclusions with very little to grab on to and lousy frictional feet. Get back on your feet above bolt 3 and ease into a right-facing corner system. The climbing stays moderately difficult from here to the anchor and through two small overlaps.

While things are probably not harder than 5.11+, almost no move is easier than 5.11. I would tip the route toward hard 5.12b because of the relentlessness of the climbing. If you slip past the crystals, then it is a pretty reasonable bet to pull the red point since the really hard stuff is over in the first 20 feet. This great line gets three stars by any measure, just jump on it.

The 80 feet of climbing need only 8 - 10 draws and something for the double bolt anchor at the top.