Hi all! My name is Matt, and I ran into a bunch of you a couple of weeks ago at the west-side parking lot. Brad, JC, KC and possibly some others?
Anyway, I was with a group of 4, we mentioned heading over to climb the Inn Crowd route later in the day, and were asked to give an opinion on route here on the forums. You are all a brave group asking for someone's opinion online, so it's the least I can do to offer one
We spent the morning climbing around on the flumes, and then split up in the afternoon. Rachel and I split off to the Inn Crowd, while the other two went after Lava Falls. Only we were short one rope in the group and had to hike back to the car to get an extra rope and didn't make it to the base of the climb until late afternoon. The directions here were good, we found the route without much trouble. Which is saying a lot. I have a bad habit of making extra long approaches and then getting off-route.
We climbed both pitches, but were running out of daylight so we didn't get a chance for the alternate finish It looks like a lot of fun, I'll have to return to get it. It was weird climbing on such a well-protected route at Pinns. I don't think I have anything original to say about the climb. Good exposure and it was fun cruising up the Balconies. First time I've ever climbed up there. Great addition of a moderate multi-pitch climb in the park.
I kinda hate myself for saying it, but I can only give the route 2 stars. Rock quality on P2 especially was sub-par. I'm curious how well it'll hold up to traffic. Not that it was the worst rock (you know, like the upper band on Machete), but there were a lot of hollow bits. And a lot of stuff coming down on rappel. I'm glad the route traverses, I'm glad there's no reason for anyone to be at the base of the cliff, and I certainly wouldn't want to be climbing over another party.
One big caveat.. the belay station at the end of P1 is worth 3 stars and then some. Amazing standing on that giant load stone and watching the park. I'd climb the pitch just to have lunch there. Coming down, we sat on the load stone and watched the sunset before heading down. Awesome ending to the day.
A huge thanks to EVERYONE here who helped build this route. It's a serious addition to the Pinnacles cannon, and deserves a lot respect.
Hope to see you all out there sometime again!