KC and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with some climbing at The Leap this past weekend. Thanks to Mucci for his route recs. We drove up Thursday and hiked up and around to the Hogsback around 2:30. We climbed Knapsack Crack 5.5*** for our initiation to The Leap. It was our first multi-pitch all gear climb! We did it in 3 pitches. I never did see the piton shown on the ST topo at the second belay but there was a cool jug handle to thread as part of the built anchor. I told KC that this climb would be a good one for her to learn how to place gear. She could lead 1 and 3 without building a gear anchor and we could swing the leads. After the climb we went back to our little motel in Kyburz - yes we are spoiled - plus c'mon - it's our anniversary weekend!
Friday (our actual anniversary) we headed back up and did Ham and Cheese 5.6** on Hogwild. This is a fairly new slabby climb with a mix of bolts, pitons and small gear. I got to pull a little roof at the start of p3 and climbed my first set of tasty dikes with a little runout for spice. I missed at least one piton on p3 (KC spotted it on her way up), and nearly headed up an unfinished project by accident at the start of p3. P3 was definitely the most fun.
JC nearing the roof on p3 Ham and Cheese
After walking off we headed back to the car to grab some more gear and went back to Hogsback to do Manic Depressive 5.5**
I have to say that I found the supposed crux at the start very easy and actually had more trouble in some of the higher up sections. There were some spots where the crack was shallow and flaring - no gear - and the moves felt harder than 5.5. The ST description of mostly 5.4 is BS in my opinion. The belay shown at 200 feet is also misleading. I went higher than I should have and had to work a funky slot for building the anchor. It was weird because from below it looked like I was climbing to a good flat spot - but when I got there it sucked. The slanted/awkward stance had my big toes screaming by the time KC got up there and I was whimpering like a little baby. I changed into my approach shoes for the last "pitch" - which ended up not being much. I'd like to climb this one again and make sure to build the belay shortly after passing the middle mark where the pro and stances have to be better. Live and learn. It was still a fun climb. We were thoroughly whooped by the end of that one - time to call it a day.
JC on the supposed crux of Manic Depressive
KC polishes off Manic Depressive
Saturday we headed back for one more route before hitting the road. We decided on Harvey Wallbangers Center 5.6** and I ended it with the optional 5.7 mantle. The approach is the same as for Manic - it involves a lengthy 4th class scramble up to a big tree. Some of the moves on that section felt like borderline 5th class to me and I was super proud of KC on both days for doing it. It is a good warmup to get you ready for either route. The short traverse left from the tree to the base of the Wallbanger routes adds some spice. we both decided this was our favorite route of the weekend. It had a wider variety of moves - finger locks, a few hand jams, liebacking and two fun mantles. The p1 belay was nice too. I didn't know whether or not I would try the 5.7 option until I got up there. After pulling through the joyful 5.6 mantle and seeing the nice crack for bomber pro - I couldn't resist. It wasn't the most graceful of moves - close enough to qualify as my first beached whale. KC followed the whole thing clean as well. What a great weekend!
JC starts p2 of Harvey Wallbangers Center
KC on the 5.6 mantle of Harvey Wallbangers Center
