- Edit (TBD)
Description
This sport anomaly in trad-land may offer the best warm-up on the south side; it offers engaging climbing to get you firing for the day, without the time commitment required of the trad lines here of similar grade. It is a wandering line that follows the most generous features up this striking black streak; some route-finding is necessary to keep this in the grade range, but for the savvy basalt climber, this is a cool pitch at the grade.
Start off of a good triangular ledge with a bolted belay. Work up a short dihedral to the high 1st bolt, and cut a hard right to get established on the arête (tenuous, easy to get suckered too high on the traverse). Once on the arête, head up and start moving right to the 3rd bolt (Sweet Thunder stays on the arête proper). Crank up a large welded flake/block (stood strong against much prying, but I didn't want folks putting gear behind it so I added bolts) to a short dihedral with fingerlocks (often unfortunately muddy thanks to runoff from the crack above). The corner is brief lived, as you exit hard left on a horizontal jug rail back to the arête proper. Head up on cool cinder features, weaving right and then back left to exit in a groove. A couple of the bolt placements in this last cinder section were positioned for rock quality, which sadly didn't necessarily align with optimal placement.
For the grade, this is a rather complex line to read, but once you figure out the sequences it is quite fun. It's a route that gets better with repeat visits. The wandering nature makes rope-drag a concern, and I recommend using about 1/2 draws and 1/2 slings on the bolts before traversing bits.
Location
From the Hobel Memorial head west. There is a large live Ponderosa, then two mid-size Ponderosas, with the 2nd about 10' back from the rim (which forms a slight depression). That's your anchor, rap into the groove and down the black arête past the bolted lines to the ledge with anchors.
Protection
8 bolts, bolted lower belay, bring slings!