Right Side Routes

Here's a quick post to highlight four new routes that went up on the far right of the Tick Farm and Tiger Stripe the second half of last year.

Photo courtesy Tim Karst (click to enlarge)

Tick On, 5.10c. Bolts. Tim Karst, Dave Jones, Kurt Krueger. June 2011.

Jonesin' for a Tick, 5.10a. Bolts. Jones, Karst. September 2011. FA Megan Mahoney.

Tick or Treat, 5.10a. Gear. October 2011. Kurt Krueger. Shares rap anchors with the face climb to the right.

In his usual style of thinking outside the box, Kurt proposes a t.r. first pitch and has provided the following description of his concept, "First go up Tim's or Dave's route. Move right on the ledge to the anchor. Then rap. Then toprope the first pitch on the face thru the overhang (move to the side with the belay rope so the rope doesn't pinch). Bring up your second, then climb the shallow open book/crack (10a) a few feet to the right of the anchor you rapped/tr'd from. You might call the 1st pitch a project waiting for bolts..."

The less inventive among us will likely climb Tick On or Jonesin' and then gear climb Tick or Treat to the rim for a nice 10a trad pitch.

Unnamed Face Climb Tick on Top, 5.10b. Bolts. October 2011. Karst, Jones. (Route name now shown. Still appears as "Unnamed" in the topo image.) This is a nice face climb that will take you to rap anchors at the rim. This is a fun way to get up and out of the amphitheater and explore the ground above, or haul up your packs and walk down the ridge back to the main trail. (If you do this, be sure to go a couple hundred yards up to the crest of the ridge then follow that down for the easiest descent. There's a faint trail if you can find it.)

Here's Tim's description of the climb, "Start on furthest right of upper ledge at belay anchors. Climb through blocky ledges heading left to flake. Climb up flake to undercling flake. Leave undercling using downward-sloping ledges to gain 8th bolt crux. Move left to arete and finish climb. An alternative [toprope] start at the base of Kurt's gear climb needs 2 bolts to pull a layback roof to finger flake to gain access to 3rd bolt."

Megan Mahoney - Jonesin' for a Tick First Ascent

Megan Mahoney - Jonesin'

Trad Climbs

We wound up with a picture from the hike in the other day that does a great job of illustrating the concentration of cracks on the east side of the amphitheater. Since the majority of these climbs owe credit in one form or another to Kurt Krueger, we'll include the Green Bay Packer symbology used in the guide to denote a North Rim trad line.

Not Just Sport Climbs

• Because It's There (5.9R) Concept by Kurt Krueger. FA B.Hapak, K.Hanson, June 2011. Second Ascent K.Krueger, M.Moore.
• Li'l Crack (5.7) FA T.Karst, K.Krueger, July 2010.
• Give and Take (5.11-) Opened by K.Krueger, T.Karst. FA J.Selwyn, Sep 2010.
• Didn't See It But It's There (5.9) FA K.Krueger, Sep 2011.
• Because This One Is Also There (5.9-) FA K.Krueger, Aug 2011.
• Because You Can't Ask For More (5.9) FA K.Krueger, Sep 2011.
• Wild At Heart (5.8) FA Alec Sundet, Aug 2011.

As stated in previous blog posts, some of the "Cracktrilogy" climbs (the three rightmost cracks in the image) had signs of previous ascents. We welcome history of who climbed them and when. Until such a time, we've used the names and ascent dates from Kurt.

Now rack up and go plug some cams!

Scary Math

Pictured left: Dane near the top of Scary Math, prepping the route.

A favorable forecast lured eight of us up to the North Rim on Saturday. Although gusty winds kept things colder than we had hoped, six climbers, including Tim, Brian, Olin, Pierce and Mill first-timers Phil and Andrea, enjoyed routes on the Tick Farm and Tiger Stripe wall in what are still unseasonably mild conditions for January. Dane and Ken, however, continued work on Scary Math, doing some top-to-bottom cleaning and adding two final bolts. We are pleased to announce the route is ready to climb!

Scary Math looks like it will offer plenty of steep, pumpy challenges. It's 85 feet long and overhangs about 30 feet. After a bouldery 5.11 intro, it climbs continuously through one bulge or roof after another. The route is just right of Big Science (click on the sidebar image and zoom in; you can see fixed draws on Big Science), which needs to have two bolts repositioned and a bit more cleanup before it is also ready to climb. Our personal objective is to begin redpoint attempts in early spring.

We're psyched to have two routes established in what is currently the North Rim's steepest sector. There's definitely critical mass forming here, and we expect these routes will attract a lot of climbers looking for steep terrain in the Missoula area.

Brian bustin' the North Face outdoor model pose.

If you find June, you've found Ken.