Ken working Danger Mouse
Dane Scott photo Dane, Ken and Scott took advantage of a gorgeous spring day Friday and headed up to the North Rim. We had the drill with us and in between climbs did some improvement on a couple of routes.
Snaggletooth
This is the 10a located left of No Drama Obama on the upper tier. Snaggletooth is actually the first route we bolted at the North Rim. We'd left it such that you have to place a couple pieces of gear between the first and second bolt. Yesterday we added two bolts above the first, allowing the climb to be done without gear. Be sure to take 2 or 3 runners to avoid rope drag.
Proof of Concept
We bolted a direct start to Proof that starts just left of QED before the little rock step that leads to the Upper Tier. This adds about 25 feet of 5.9-ish climbing and lengthens the climb to just shy of 35 meters. Read: be sure to bring your 70m. Most importantly, the direct start straightens the route and reduces rope drag that occurred when starting beneath Obama. We ran out of battery before we could finish the first new bolt off the ground. You can easily get to the second if you traverse in from the left. Otherwise, we'll have that first one installed within a week or so.
Danger Mouse
On a sending note, Scott Goodwin got the first repeat of the new Little Heroes route Danger Mouse, following Dane's first ascent a week ago. Here's a video Ken captured on his phone. The route is in the low 5.12 range. As always, we encourage others to get on it and give us their thoughts.
