New Route at Index

[North_by_Northwest]

There's a new route at Index that ya'll should start climbing. You won't find it in any of the guidebooks. The approach is short, the route has some great moves and the position and exposure are top notch.

 

It's called 'Cream of the Country' and it's a 10c finger crack with some face moves. It was put up about a year ago (I think) and is pretty clean but it hasn't seen much traffic. I climbed it last weekend and it was a great pitch.

 

The approach is interesting too:

Walk or climb to the top of GM/Heart of the Country. To the climber's right of the final set of anchors there is a red fixed rope. Follow this rope and some others up and to the climber's left. The trail branches at one point and leads to a large ledge under an overhang. Stick with the main trail and it will take you above the ledge and further left. You will pass a number of cracks that are recent first ascents, but keep going for the goods. 'Cream of the Country' is a right facing corner with a slabby start. You will find two bolts with chains at the base of the climb. One hanger might be missing, if so use a medium size stopper on the bolt. The direction of the climb is pretty obvious from here: one bolt off the deck, then into the crack above. The crux comes near the end of the route. Small cams are very useful. There are anchors at the top of the route.

 

Once completed another route can be toproped from the same anchors. This route (12+) is an overhanging hand size crack to the left of 'Cream' and you will want tape if you plan on trying it.

 

As stated above, this route is fun, has a bit of adventure involved, and is mostly clean. The approach is pretty short too. Get out there and try it out.

[rr666]

How clean is "pretty clean"? Sounds like a great way to top off GM/Heart of the country. Might have to try that next time I am up there...

[North_by_Northwest]

I pulled out a couple of little Thimbleberry bushes coming from the crack in places. There is some lichen on the slab but it is clean in the key spots. The crack is almost all clean. You won't be sketching out on moss and dirt and getting lichen in your eyes and teeth when you're trying to lead, if that's what you're thinking about.

 

Do it

[EWolfe]

I think that is one James put up? Is there another climb to the right of it that goes much harder?

[North_by_Northwest]

There's a harder route to the left (mentioned above) that is at least a 12. He has routes to the right of "Cream" but I don't know the names or ratings. One might have been "Anchors Away" and I think it was 11 something.

They all look good.

[allthumbs]

North_by_Northwest said:

There's a harder route to the left (mentioned above) that is at least a 12. He has routes to the right of "Cream" but I don't know the names or ratings. One might have been "Anchors Away" and I think it was 11 something.

They all look good.

Hey retard, for a punk bitching about the spray last night, you sure seem to hang around here a lot. Hypocrite

[EWolfe]

North_by_Northwest said:

There's a harder route to the left (mentioned above) that is at least a 12. He has routes to the right of "Cream" but I don't know the names or ratings. One might have been "Anchors Away" and I think it was 11 something.

They all look good.

Yep, them's the ones - I was looking at the .10c and the .12 last time I was up there. The .10c does look good, but James is such a notorious sandbagger, I wanted to make sure it was in fact a .10+ before I tried it. The sickle crack that is .12 looks HARD!! Thanks for the confirmation NBNW.