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Peak Mountain 3

"Space Invaders" to "Shot"

FA Jeff Achey, 1980's
CREATED 
UPDATED 

Description

It might be a little hard to say exactly where this route is, as Shot, Space Invaders, and one other route are a little confused in the Rossiter guidebook. The topo and the photo are in disagreement, and neither correlates well to the text. As well, the first pitch of Violator appears to be a retro-bolted line of one the other trad lines, if anything makes sense at all.

But this will correspond to the ascent I made. If anyone has other info, please chime in.

This route would get more stars if it were more solid rock and gear, but unfortunately, both the rock and the gear go bad at once, in an area of very high potential consequence.

The route starts with a shallow left-facing corner with a very thin crack, goes to a ledge, then up further in an even thinner crack to a small Knifeblade (spook!) and then left over some flakes and onto a low a angle section, then left through a very thin and brittle flake (2.5" cams will go deep enough to hold) and then up left into a right-facing corner to the roof JUST RIGHT of P2 of Violator. Pull up through the roof protected by a #4 Camalot (new or old style OK) and finish on a few less scary moves.

This route is pretty dangerous and has some loose rock. Best left to stonemasters and not for everyday use.

If you were to continue DIRECTLY up past the pin a and not pull left, you would end up at a thin left-facing corner at the roof (Small ball-nuts or RPs?) after a runout through bad rock. There is a single open spot below the roof, maybe 5" wide, but this fails to meet the description in the book of "A fist crack through a roof."

Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

Location

To the left of "False Gods, Real Men" and slightly right of the heavily bolted first pitch of "Violator" about 250-300 meters uphill from the creek on Nebel Horn Ridge.

The route starts with a shallow left-facing corner with a very thin crack...

Protection

Well, not so great. The first part is good rock and thin gear- Small stoppers, RPs and a ball nut. The second section is worse, for 20-30 feet of the ledge you get a ballnut and then a 20+ year old rusted, somewhat loose, under-driven Knifeblade, then some cams behind a thin crumbling flake... 30' off the deck. If you fall and the pin pulls, you are dead meat. Take a hammer and whack it in. My second drove it part way in with a rock in his fist.

After that, continue up on a .5-.75" cam, then a few 2-2.5" cams or #1 Camalots (take 3 in all) and a #4 Camalot at the lip of the roof. Lots of longer slings.

The route looks like a multi-pitch route, but it has nothing worthy of a belay until the top.