Seven Pitches in an Afternoon

Yesterday I met up with my buddy Mark around one o'clock for some climbing in the Trapps. I was a little bit early so I walked down to the Sleepy Hollow area to meet up with him, as he lives and works at the Mountain House and rides his bike from there. And since we were down there, I thought, we might as well climb there.

Sleepy Hollow is the last section of the cliff, and it's one of my favorites. It isn't as tall as the rest of the cliff, but it's secluded and has lot's of pine trees. During the summer that awesome pine smell permeates throughout the area. The views are different too. You're quite close to Skytop and even the valley views aren't the same as they are in the early Trapps. And lest we've forgotten, the climbing there is fantastic too! We ended up getting on Art's Route (5.9) and then Wegatebles (5.10a).

Art's Route would seem to be me to be a hidden gem. It's really, really good. And it's also pretty hard. The guidebook says "First Ascent: Art Gran, 19060s." The fact that it's Art Gran and that fact that the date is vague is usually a good indicator that "5.9" could mean anything from 5.9 to 5.11. This one is definitely not 5.9. You start with a cool crux off the ground -- a sort of mantel thing. And then it's a bit easier for a while. When you get up to the roof, if you've taken Dick's advice to bring a blue cam, you'll be pissed at him because it's actually the #4 that you want. But then you do some hard pulling with some big moves. Maybe even throw a little dynamic pop in there, if you're so inclined. The business is over after that, so the hard climbing isn't very long, but it's hard for sure.

Wegatebles is one of those climbs that is good enough to do every day. If it weren't for the long walk to get to it, I would probably consider doing just that. It of course starts with some spicyness above a small nut right off the ground, and then pulls big roofs on good holds (What?! Are we in the Gunks or something?) This climb was Matt's first 5.10 lead, I remember it well.

Mark had to go to work after that so I called up Davis to see if he wanted to get out for a little while. We ended up doing five more pitches, which was totally awesome. I led up the run-out first pitch of Annie Oh! (5.8) which has terrific climbing. And then Davis led the second pitch of Three Doves (5.8). We came back down the ledge and I did the second pitch of Annie Oh (5.8) which has a scary microwave block on it that could come off at any second. Came back down again and Davis led the last pitch of Arrow (5.8). Classic. All four pitches.

We finished up the day with Feast of Fools (5.10b), which Davis led. He had never done it before, and so obviously he had to do it. Another classic, awesome pitch. So good.

Ian leading Feast of Fools back in the fall of 2008.

Lots of mileage on some uber-classics. Millbrook tomorrow?