2024-03-29 · SBP Poplar
In some ways, I suppose that I underestimated this, but really what happened is that I didn't read it all the way to the end. I thought that the start looked pretty doable—and it was. But once you get comfortably on the cluster of big holds… what do you do from there?
I tried a few clever things, like putting one leg or the other between some of the big holds, or flopping over the top rock. They don't really work. They're also quite precarious: my first fall from this route felt extremely scary, with two big holds and one sharp volume jutting out at me that I managed to kind of corkscrew around on my way down (deftly, if I do say so myself. an onlooker described my fall as "beautiful.").
Instead of these tricks, my best approach seemed to be Just Doing It, popping up dynamically to the cookie at the end. I had my right foot on the hold on the front face of the volume and my left foot on the smallest, lowest hold in the cluster of three, and I just sprung up. It was a bit scary, but at least there's no real risk of hitting your head since your arms are way above you. Once I managed to get up there, I realized that it was easier than I'd thought, since you can comfortably grab the cookie as low down as, like, the 5 o'clock position, which saves you a solid few inches of height.
Took maybe half a dozen attempts. Cool route. Be careful with it and don't get hurt.