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Peak Mountain 3

Jaws II

FA Dave Graham (1998) | Jaws II (post break) Vasya Vorotnikov (2007)
CREATED 
UPDATED 

Description

Originally a Dave Graham 5.14b, two key holds broke off making it considerably harder. Many very solid climbers attempted the broken line over a few years before Vasya put in an intense amount of work over the better part of a year and snagged the first ascent of what is likely the hardest route east of the Rockies. He was shy about grading it since he had not yet climbed 5.14d but many strong climbers had speculated that it could be 5.15a so that was what it was given tentatively. To date, Jaws II has seen 5 ascents that I know of and the 5.15 grade seems to be sticking. It seems that being local is helpful for projecting jaws due to the fact that this climb is very conditions dependent and our weather is very unpredictable.

There are two very hard cruxes, the lower one being in the v12/v13 range and the upper one being a huge v10/v11 dead point. There is no real rest on the route unless you count the v6 section in the middle which must feel nice after the intensity of the first crux but I'm sure leaves something to be desired.

All in all, a striking line up one of the more beautiful sections of waimea, one of the east coast's finest cliffs. If you've got what it takes, get after it!

Location

Left of the China Beach on the big kids wall, left side of Wiamea.

Protection

8 bolts to anchor