Crank Boulder

Stephen Tremaine, Ethan Hulme, and myself climbed a 40 foot wall called Crank Boulder in Charon's Garden during the first week of November.  Despite cool Fall weather, the west facing wall warmed up quickly once clouds cleared out.  We first climbed a 5.7 crack route called The Water Faucet.  As the name implied, this crack was wet...very wet, and slimey, and the climbing wasn't much fun.  Next, we climbed a crack located to the right called Strappado.  This 5.8+ route was a lot of fun, with the crux located at the top of the crack where the wall bulges outwards a bit.  Once past the crux, the route eases back to class 4 or easy class 5 climbing.  Ethan and Stephen then worked on a 5.9 route called Bodacious, which has a hellacious start (possibly the crux) that quickly eases back to crack climbing.  I skipped this route, and instead did Nowhere (5.10+), which starts out as a 20 foot crack climb that then fades to face climbing during the last 10 feet to the finish.  I was stumped once I reached the face climb section, while Ethan seemingly cruised to the top.

Ethan nearing the top of The Water Faucet (5.7).

Beginning moves on Strappado (5.8+).

Middle section of Bodacious (5.9).

Beginning of Bodacious (5.9).

Nearing the top of Bodacious (5.9).

Face climbing on Nowhere (5.10+)