I climbed Country Club Crack (11+) yesterday with John Prater. Apparently I went up there to practice aid climbing without using aiders. I could barely do the start of this route (11+ boulder problem) while grabbing the draws stepping in a sling on the second bolt. I know there is a trick to this start, but I think the trick makes the start 5.11+. It would be something to work on...for a very long time. Once I got to the "5.8 crack" I was surprised to find the climbing very hard. This crack is not 5.8. I'd said 5.9 minimum. Two hotshots following us took a very long time to do this short crack section and the second guy (apparently not a hotshot) fell off this section. I think the crux of this crack is near the bottom where you have terrible fingerlocks in an awkward flare.

John followed this pitch on jumars. It was his first time jumaring and he did very well. He had done his homework, reading up on it the night before. He used by gear and it needed a little tuning to get it setup right. When I picked this climb I actually hoped that I'd get some practice at this also. I need to get my setup working smoothly before Zion.

As I started leading the second pitch (11b), the two hotshots arrived at thebase and starting working on the start. For some reason this intimidated me. I guess because I was worried about looking like a gumby and didn't wantanyone watching. This was a self fulfilling prophecy. My crack endurance still sucks and my head was not in the game. I climbed up to the first rest, this is only rated 5.9 or so (but easier than the first pitch crack). There are a number of fixed pitons on this lower section and I clipped them all. But of the traversing nature of this crack it would be essential to place gear very frequently so that John could jumar this section without too much trouble. While this is true, this thought did not enter my mind. I placed gear every four feet (sometimes even closer together) because I was afraid. I don't know why. The pro is good and the fall is clean. I was just intimidated. It was awful. I wanted to lower off and go home but there wasn't anything to lower from and the hotshots were watching.

John was encouraging, but I was not to be encouraged. I hung early on at the first hint of trouble. I was burning myself out placing all this gear instead of climbing to a good jam and placing the piece. Part of the problem is that, when looking up this climb, there doesn't appear to be any rests at all. The crack tends to the left so that it is difficult to use the left foot .There are some face holds lower and a stem below the roof for the left foot, but above the roof, where the crux is, there isn't much help for the left foot. Anyway, the crack is so steep that it doesn't look like there will be any rests at all and hence I wanted to put in gear all the time. Now that I know about some rests maybe I will be bolder next time. I need to just keep climbing this route until I conquer my fear. And hopefully put in a respectable performance on this route. It is an outstanding crack! An absolutely stellar bit of climbing. Very steep, very intimidating, a roof, great pro, many great hand jams, etc.

Once I started hanging it got ugly. I hung a few more times getting up to the roof. Hung a couple of times there. I turned the roof and placed another piece. I was now staring at the crux. Up to here I think the climbing is only supposed to be 10c. This might be true. Probably is. I should have been able to get to here, but I would need to be climbing confident and run it out a bit to conserve energy. There is a good stem rest below the roof. I didn't attempt the bizarre leg hook rest above the roof. Hanging on the gear was so much more convenient. Plus Bruce told me that this was a bit of a sucker rest - hard to get into and out of. The leg hook rest is where you slot your leg into the wide crack above the roof. Climbing by this wide section is the crux of turning the roof. You must reach past this wide section and it is strenuous.

Whenever I had to hang on this route (often!), I'd call down to John as quietly as I could: "Tension." I had some irrational idea that if I called it down quietly enough only John would hear me calling for tension and not the hotshot belaying one foot away. It was pitiful. It certainly wasn't a proud moment. The conditions were very good for the climb. It was a bit cold and windy and I climbed in my pile pullover and a shell. This sounds bad, but I my hands didn't sweat because of the cold conditions. This is a big plus for someone who doesn't use chalk.

The crux is very thin hands to off fingers and the feet are terrible due to the leaning. I basically aided this section, though I didn't step in any slings. I pulled up on my piece and placed a piece above it. I did this for two or three pieces and then started free climbing. Even this last section is non-trivial, when you think you'll just grab some jugs and step up. There are jugs at the start of this small ledge, but it is hard to stand up on the ledge. After what must have seemed like an eternity to John (hell it felt that way to me), I finally called "Off Belay!"

On the plus side, John did extremely well following this pitch on jumars. This is non-trivial to do since the pitch continually traverses and is extremely steep. Looking down at John I could see that his trailing loop (due to tying in short) hung completely free. This route is steep! Rappelling off you don't touch the wall for more than half the rappel. John was extremely composed the whole way. Like he'd been jugging routes for a long time. The only time he had trouble was at the roof, which not only overhangs, but still traverses left. Here there was a significant gap between the pieces and the rope was tight against the rock. After a few minutes where he couldn't figure out anything, I suggested he hang on a hand jam, pull the piece under the roof and then fall/swing out onto the next piece. He didn't like this idea. Fortunately I could help him out since at the top of the route, I had to traverse back to the right to get to the bomber three-bolt belay anchor and I happened to be directly above him. I lowered him our haul line and he switched to jumaring on this line momentarily so that he could unweight the lead line and clean the gear. This is a handy technique when available. When John switched back to jugging on the lead line he somehow got the haul line tangled up in this jumar setup. He finished the climb with this tangle and by the time he got to the belay he was a moving spider web. It was funny, but he had done a great job.

Totally gone mentally (me, not John), we rapped off and headed back to town. The two pitches had taken us three hours to do - only 150 vertical feet. More practice is required! Lots more. I'd like to go up there again this week with another free climber. I need to lead this pitch over and over and over. Until I can get mentally strong.

Having met numerous incredible climbers while climbing the Salathe Wall on El Cap in Yosemite a couple of weeks ago, I've been inspired to start working on my own mini-El Cap. One of the guys I met on El Cap was Jim Herson. He is working on freeing the Salathe - 35 pitches! He's redpointed everything so far except the Teflon Corner (12d). He didn't get it that day and hence he'll be back. Heck, if he can work a 35 pitch route, I should be able to work a two pitch route. Eventually I'll work up to three, then four, and maybe even five pitch routes! :-) Heck, the Naked Edge is five pitches.
That might be my next project...

But for now my attention is on one of the best crack climbs in the Boulder area: Country Club Crack. I climbed this a few months ago with Homie and it was ugly! I was freaked and scared and climbed like a sissy. I hung so many times that it was more like an aid ascent than a free ascent. This time I was back to at least give a better account of myself.

I met the Trashman at the CU Research Park (where we both work) at 6 a.m. and we drove up to Castle Rock and geared up. Thankfully, Trashy wanted to lead the first pitch and he started up a little before 7 a.m. This pitch starts out with
the technical crux of the route: a brutal 11b/c boulder problem. It involves precise footwork, strong fingers, and a tricky, one handed mantle on a tiny edge. Trashy promptly aided this section on the two bolts that protect it. He now had to deal with the "5.8 hand crack." This description is way off. First, in the next thirty feet of climbing (which puts you at the belay on a small shelf) you get at most two hand jams. The climbing is tricky, difficult to protect, steep, and mainly flared finger jams. Trashy moved up this section nicely and thoroughly enjoyed it, but agreed me that it is at least 5.9 and more like 5.9+. Trashy placed nothing larger than a red Alien on this pitch.

I put the second rope on my back and started to decipher the boulder problem. Dr. OW had given me the crucial beta about the unintuitive mantel move. I got up to the mantel move and placed my left hand on the edge. My right hand was high on a side-pull. If I could press out the mantel, I'd be in reach of a good hold. I couldn't do it though. The mantel is still too high for me and I couldn't press it down. The taller you are, the lower and easier this mantel will be. Maybe I should have tried bouncing into the mantel, but I didn't. I pulled on the sling to reach the hold and immediately started free climbing again. The next section involves a huge reach from an undercling with the left hand. This is a blind reach also. I
pawed over the edge for the tiny finger hold - searching the rock by Braille. Finally I got the edge with my right hand, but, losing my balance, fell off. The next try, I made a correction. As soon as I got the edge with my right hand, I stepped my right foot up to a better hold. This time I didn't fall off and I made the next hard move to reach the crack. This is a
huge improvement over last time where I aided this section completely. I still have the crux to get, but it is only one move and only about one foot of climbing.

I then followed the tricky crack up to Trashy's belay. I found the nasty flare a bit easier than last time, I think because I was wearing SpyderMitts and the sticky rubber of the mitt made the flared jam feel more solid. Once at the belay, we re-racked and I tried to relax and not freak out. The next pitch, which can be combined with the first into a 160 foot marathon, is vertical to overhanging the whole way. When rappelling from the top of this pitch, the rope hangs completely free for 100 feet. The last time I placed gear way too often, as I was frightened. There is no rational reason to be frightened. The gear is good and the fall is very clean. I was determined to always have my feet above the last piece before making another placement.

I climbed off the belay and through the first section to a stance where I clipped a fixed pin. Then up some more good jamming to another foothold where I placed a yellow Alien (yes, I'm trying to memorize the rack). Ten feet above the Alien I clip another pin and the Trashman says, "Hey, this is a clip-up!" Up to here the climbing is rated 5.9+ and there are some good footholds to the left of the crack. This is critical since this crack has a strong leftwards lean the entire way and the left foot is rarely ever placed in the crack because of this.

The next section is rated 10c and leads up to and over the two foot roof. Here the footholds run dry and the jamming is a bit tighter. This crack has some very good hand jams on it, but it isn't protected with the slew of #2 Camalots you would expect. This is because the crack is not very consistent. The lower section has a number of finger jams and the upper part (still below the roof) has good jams, but separated by a much thinner crack. In general, I made the reaches between the hand jams and placed smaller cams in the thin section between the jams. I climbed another ten feet above gear to a good jam, but burned myself out placing a marginal #1 Camalot. I thought about hanging on this piece so that I could place something better, but I convinced myself to continue. I struggled mightily up another seven feet or so to another good jam and placed a #2 Camalot. I was near my limit as I pulled up the rope and clipped it. A couple more moves and I could stem over to the dihedral of Englishman's Home (another 5.11 route that joins CCC just below the roof) and get a rest. I moved up to a better stem and placed a #3.5 Camalot below the roof. I then proceeded to spend what Trashman probably thought was a fortnight resting in this stem.

The next section over the roof is very difficult and pumpy and I wanted to be as fresh as possible. Finally I moved upwards to the lip of the roof. I worked to get a good jam here and then step on the sloping edge of the dihedral. Here I could reach above the roof and place a #2 Camalot. Then I got a jam above the cam and cranked upwards. The tricky part here is that you have to make a big reach past the wide section, where you get the knee-hook rest, to another hand jam. Once again, there isn't really anything for my left foot here. I got the jam and moved up higher until I could put my foot into the wide section. I hung on at my limit and reached for the rack. I pulled off a quickdraw! Damn! I can't place that in a crack. I'm about to fall now. I clip the quickdraw back on the rack, after momentarily contemplating just dropping it, and pull off a green Quadcam (a tiny bit smaller than a #1 Camalot). The piece fits okay and I have just enough strength to pull up the rope and clip it before I'm history. I hang on the rope for the first time.

This is already much better than last time. I have climbed through the 10c section and am at the crux 11b thin hands section. It is about as well as I had hoped I could do. Last time I had hung 3-4 times by now. The crux section is brutal, horrible jams and I knew I couldn't lead it. I was dripping with sweat and pumped. I did three aid moves (off a fixed pin and two large stoppers) to the top of the crux section and then had Trashy lower me back down to the knee rest. I wanted to learn how to rest in this section. After one failed attempt to get a knee-lock, I found that the rest is actually more of a knee-hook. I dropped my foot and lower leg into the crack and then drop down low until the back of my knee catches in a constriction. This isn't a great rest, but I could drop both hands by working my abdominals. I couldn't do this for long because of the pressure on my knee and the abdominal stress, but even hanging on with one jam provided a pretty good rest. Next time I'll try to climb into this rest before placing gear above the roof. It should be easier to place that way. I
didn't do this today because I wasn't sure about this knee rest and didn't want to fall and break my leg or something.

Then it was time to try the crux on TR. I worked up on terrible jams until I couldn't hang on any longer and hung on the rope. I hung there for a bit until I found a high thumbs down jam that worked for me. I could get this jam from a wide stem from the crack to a tiny edge way to the left. From this high jam I employed Eric Winkelman's key beta: step high for the rail on the right. I cranked up and hit the well-chalked rail. Previously I thought the lower portion of this rail sucked, but this time it felt okay and I hung on. At this point I have my right hand on this rail that diagonals up and left to merge with the crack where I have my left hand. Now by slapping up the rail and moving my left hand jam up the crack I got to the point where they merge and there is a tremendous jug! Yeah! Now I'm leading again and the move into the alcove above the crack is awkward and will be very difficult coming at the end of such a long, strenuous pitch. It is the last hard move however and, utilizing a mantle with my left hand I struggle into the alcove on my third try. The remaining moves are straightforward and I make a hand traverse over to the three-bolt belay/rap station.

Trashy's endless belay session has finally ended and he gets rewarded with CCC. Trashy moves easily, confidently, and quickly up the lower section. Apparently he was quite pumped by the time he got to the stem rest below the roof, but it didn't show. Trashy got over the roof and came off just before he could get his foot into the wide section above the roof - almost the same spot I came off. From here on up, Trashy had a tough time. He couldn't get the jams to work for him. This is really a brutally difficult section. He worked it out though and didn't resort to any aid (other than resting on the rope). Once he got the edge, he was fine though and made the move into the alcove much easier than I did. He was suitable impressed with the pitch. This pitch was rated 11a earlier, but gets 11b in the latest Rossiter guide. I think this is correct. It is definitely harder than any other 11a I've done in the area, but this is probably mostly because of the pump factor.

I'm still a long way from redpointing this route, but I'm a lot closer. I've freed all the moves on the second pitch, but can't link them. The first pitch still has an aid move on it. The work will continue. I would have liked to take a TR lap on this route but it was 9:20 by the time we got back on the ground and I needed to head to work. We drove back down the canyon and grabbed a quick shower. I was at my desk by 10:15 a.m.

Progress Summary:

* freed most of the boulder problem start - one move to go.
* freed the crack to over the roof.
* memorized the rack.
* learned the knee-hook rest and will use it next time to place the piece over the roof.
* learned the crux sequence and will try to lead it next time - though with a bit of runout - I won't be able to place gear. We'll see if I actually do it.

Last night I called up The Man, aka Hardly Manson, and proposed an early
morning workout on Country Club Crack. He accepted and we met at the mouth
of Boulder Canyon at 5:30 a.m. this morning. We drove the 12 miles to Castle
Rock and quickly geared up. Hardly wanted the second pitch so it would be my
first time not leading that pitch. I got the first pitch.

I clipped the first bolt and set-up for the crux move, but could not move my
left foot up. The right foot is on a very greasy edge and it is difficult to
push on this foot without popping it off. I knew where I needed to put the
foot, but couldn't unweight it. I fell off. I tried again with the same
results. Then I hung from the bolt while just moving up my left foot. From
this position, I was able to "pop" my right hand up from the sidepull to the
good hold. From here I climbed to the second bolt and set-up for the mantle
move. I stepped up and made the long reach over the bulge to the tiny hold,
but once again I fell off trying to get my foot up. I got it on my second
try and made the dicey move up to the crack. This is my first time leading
this section mostly free. I know I can get the section section clean next
time. I just need to make sure to get the left foot up first. The only move
left to free is getting the left foot moved up. This was my first time doing
the "pop" move free. Definitely some progress here.

The "5.8" crack above is getting more comfortable and I felt solid on it,
though it is still 5.9+. I was quickly at the belay and it was Hardly's
turn. He fell off the crux move a couple of times, but then got it! I was
excited. He flashed the next hard move and moved steadily up the crack to
the belay. He confirmed the 5.9+ rating for this first pitch. I think it got
the 5.8 rating because people had to climb it so many times before they got
the rest of the route clean that they got it wired.

Tom geared up and I gave him the last bits of advice for the pitch. He
climbed steadily up to the third fixed pin where the rest was so good that
he was able to remove both gear slings and take off his pile layer without
hanging on the rope! Amazing! He then continued up through the very
difficult thin hands 10c section to the stem rest below the roof. He cranked
the roof, rested briefly at the knee hook and FLASHED the crux!! AWESOME!! I
couldn't believe it. Impressive.

My turn. I climbed the lower section easily, but the 10c section is still
quite difficult for me. The crack leans left severely here and there isn't
anything for your left foot and the jams are tight. I solve this section
with a difficult reach through with my right hand, but it puts me way out of
balance. I think the best way to do this section will be to shuffle the
hands up so that I don't get so out of whack reaching high and left with my
right hand. I made the stem rest below the roof and this feels really comfy
now. I took 5 minutes to de-pump and then cranked the roof and into the knee
hook rest. This was easy to get into and felt good this time. I can rest
here for 5 minutes before it starts to hurt.

I left the rest and climbed up to the fixed pin, unclipped and set-up for
the crux. I got my hands out of sequence here and fell off before I could
get my foot left into a desperate stem. After resting a bit, I switched my
hands and got into the stem. Then I set the horrible thumbs down thin hand
jam. Cranking for all I was worth I made the reach to the edge and completed
the crux. At the top I had Hardly lower me back down and I did it again.
Then I had him lower me all the way back to the knee hook rest. I barely
made it this last time, but did not get my stem out to the left. It takes a
lot of energy to make that reach and I didn't have enough to do the stem and
the crux. This time I barely had the strength to reach the edge and had to
slap wildly for it. I then had to slap a couple more times before getting
the jug at the top. I didn't have to do these dynos the first time. Clearly
I was getting tired. Once again, the move into the alcove gave me problems,
but I found a knee hook that makes this move more stable for me.

So, Hardly did awesome and I made considerable progress. I've done the crack
crux free about four times now. Linking it into the lead is probably still a
few attempts away, but getting closer. The first pitch has now been led free
except for a single movement of my left foot. This move is still aid for me,
but at least I'm leading this pitch mostly free now. Hopefully we'll make
another attempt later this week. I'm loving this route more and more. It is
so classic! It must be one of the best crack routes in all of Colorado.
Certainly in the Boulder area.

I've got good news and bad news, but let me start at the beginning…

Kenny Rotten and I met at the mouth of Boulder Canyon this after work. My last three attempts on this route were in the early morning. Was I hoping that the afternoon would be better luck? No, it was just the only time I could find a partner. Ken and I had been friends for years, but had only roped together once. Ken had done CCC back in his glory days and had recently done the first pitch. He wanted to return and do the upper crack.

Ken wanted to lead the first pitch, but, since he hadn't freed the face moves at the beginning of this pitch, I started up the pitch first to show him how to set-up for the move. I couldn't show me how to actually do the move since I couldn't do it myself. I clipped the first bolt and did the first move to get my right foot up high. This is a tough move in itself, as I have to kick my right foot up the wall to the foothold. Once there I demonstrated the correct position for the move. Previously I have not been able to un-weight the left foot at all. This time I did lift the left foot off the wall just before falling off. This is progress, no matter how small. I tried it one more time with pretty much the same result before I came down and gave Ken the rack.

I should also mention that when we had arrived the first thing we noticed was the water. Numerous streaks of water ran down the first pitch and there was a little water running from the start of the second pitch. Ken though the water ran over the crucial holds, but I assured him they did not. The water did affect your foot placements, but not at the crucial moments.

Ken tried the crux move but, like me, had trouble lifting his left foot. He pulled on the quickdraw, made the reach to the flake, and then on up to the next bolt. I described this move also and Ken came close to pulling it off, but the water was an issue here - it ran over the handhold. Once again, he pulled on the draw to stand up, then he free climbed over to the crack and up to the stance. Once here he noticed that the crack was pretty wet. The start of the crack is the quite difficult and it is essential to get a flared jam in the crack. Since the crack was wet this jam would be more difficult to obtain and even less secure than when dry. Ken placed a stopper, stepped up a bit and placed a #2 Camalot before deciding that he didn't like all the water.

I lowered Ken back to the ground and we switched ends. This time I lifted my left foot even higher before falling off. I told Ken I wouldn't mess around with this move very long. I'd give it one more try. This time I got it! The key for me is rolling the right shoulder into the rock. I saw Hardly do this the last time we were here and it is the key. I got the left foot off the rock and then realized why Hardly had so much trouble locating the foothold. My face was pressed close to the wall so that it is hard to see where to place your foot. I took my time and got the foot set. Once I had done that I made the reach to the flake easily with my left hand and didn't have to "pop" with my right hand. I was excited, but not done with the face section. I moved up to the bulge move and cranked it fairly easily. Alright! My first time to free this section. Unfortunately, I had a toprope for this lower section so I'll have to return and clean it up.

I then cautiously climbed the wet crack above to the belay, anchored, and put Ken on belay. Ken pulled through the crux move again and almost got the upper move, but fell off a couple of times before pulling on a quickdraw to make the huge reach over the bulge. From there Ken moved smoothly and confidently up to the belay. We re-racked and I was off. This would be my fourth lead of this crack.

Things went smoothly on the lower section. Clip a pin, yellow Alien, another pin, no hands rest with a pin. #1 Camalot, green Alien, run it out to the stem. I worked through the lower crux even easier than last time and into the stem rest. I didn't place the stopper at the first stem this time and instead climbed directly into the upper stem and placed the #3.5 Camalot. This is move than a 15 foot run-out, but the first ten feet are mandatory because of the lack of rests.

I rested in the stem for a bit and then climbed up to and over the roof and into the knee hook rest without placing a piece. I bypassed the #2 Camalot just over the roof since this burns energy and I felt confident. Looking up at the crux crack things have changed once again. There used to be a fixed pin here, but it was gone last time. Now there was a fixed camming unit. I climbed up, clipped the unit and came back to the rest. I psyched up and started up. The jams felt even worse than usual, but I got into the crucial position to do the crux move. I knew I was too low, but I made a desperate attempt to reach the right edge before falling off. I fell about ten feet with rope stretch to just below the knee rest. Damn!

I tried again with even worse results. When I failed the third time, I hauled myself up to the top piece. I had avoided this before so that I would be climbing from the knee rest or below, but I was now too tired to pull it off. I feared I would have to do an aid move to complete the climb. I didn't want to regress that far. On fourth attempt, I nailed it and moved up to the jug. At this point I was more than 10 feet above my last piece, but the jug is good and I slammed in a #2 Camalot. I was really tired and barely cranked the 5.9 moves over to the belay.

Ken strapped on his Spyder Mitts (I climbed in a single layer of tape and this seems to be the best way to go) and started up. Ken is an experienced crack climber and it showed in his technique. He moved easily up the lower section and into the lower crux. He seemed to be totally solid, but actually was burning energy fast and came off. He swung out and left. After a brief rest on the rope, he climbed up into the stem rest below the roof. Ken was climbing the route just right. Just right in that he only fell at the cruxes! He next came off trying to make the big reach past the wide section of the crack - the last move required before you can get into the knee-hook rest.

He was getting tired, but climbed into the knee rest and looked remarkably comfortable there. He must have strong abdominals. I didn't look nearly as relaxed. Being already pretty wasted, the crux proved challenging for Ken but with a few judicious hangs on the rope, he was able to move high enough to get his foot into the crucial opening of the crack. From there the jams felt better and he could reach the right edge. But he was too wasted to hang off of it. Another rest and he was at the jug and pulling the Camalot. Once this piece was pulled he had no gear between himself and my belay and he was ten feet down and about ten feet left of me. He climbed halfway through the final face moves before he came off and swung a tiny bit. When he reached the belay his comment was: "I'm completely wasted!" "Perfect!" I responded. "Then it's time to go home."

I convinced Ken to lower me back down to work the crux a bit more. On my final go while leading I had done something different and wanted to see if it was truly the best way to climb it. I lowered to the start of the crux moves and cranked it without much trouble. I had Ken lower me and I succeeded again. My new strategy was to keep my left hand lower - in a better jam until I had slotted my foot. This is not intuitive because you slot your foot only two feet below your hands. I didn't think I'd be able to let go, but with my right foot slotted and my left foot smearing on a rugosity directly below my hands (this is key), if I pull in tight, I can make the reach. Not only can I make the reach, but I can reach a slightly better thumbs down jam.

Each time I'd climb to the jug before being lowered. This time Ken lowered clear to the knee-hook rest. He wanted to see if I could do the moves with a little pump going. I knew this is what I needed to practice but was afraid I'd fail. The crux move is now matching the hands above the foot slot. I made it my third time and Ken lowered me down a final time. From the knee-rest again, I made the crux moves for the fourth time in a row. I was getting tired and this time I had to dyno, not for the right edge - that is getting to be comfortable if I set-up correctly, but for the left hand thumbs down jam.

Despite taking three falls leading the crack this time - which is clearly a regression over the single fall I took last time - I'm not depressed. I learned a new way to do the crux that I feel gives me a good chance of success next time. And I've eliminated two gear placements on this pitch. I only make ten placements this entire pitch now. Also, I've freed the first pitch completely! This is a MAJOR breakthrough. I thought I might never get this move. While just a boulder problem, this is a bona fide 5.11b/c pitch. I still need to lead it, but that should just be a formality since the only difference is clipping one bolt and that is above the crux move.

It was a fun, fairly successful evening at Castle Rock. Ken had a good time also.

Ordered list of gear placements for the first pitch:

Ordered list of gear placements for the second pitch:

Complete rack for combining both pitches:

If you don't combine the pitches, then no doubles are needed. This size rack does require some run-outs though. Currently I am doing these run-outs, but it might be wise to carry another #2 Camalot in case the run-out over the roof doesn't feel comfortable and maybe another medium sized stopper for the first stem rest.

Country Club Crack: Summary

I should have the res of my reports somewhere, but I've now climbed this route 13 times. I've redpointed the first pitch twice and the second pitch twice, but I've never done them both on the same day. I've the led as one pitch as well, pulling on one draw on the first pitch and redpointing the upper pitch. It's a great climb, but I'm losing my obsession with it.