The Hood - If you’re going to chip routes, at least make them fun.

Objective: Performance

Routes Sent:
Touch of Grey, 10a, onsight (okay route)
Finger Injection, 10c, onsight (climbed it a total of 3 times, MONOS!!!)
Innocent Bystander, 11b, redpoint (3rd go, incredible highly technical crux, a no handed step up to traverse)

Total Points: 13

Routes Tried:
Friendly Fire, 11c, 2 tries (the biggest POS, 50ft of 10a to 3 move slab dyno, a waste of glue and batteries)
Short Dog, 12a, 2 tries (pretty good route, very Owl Torish, big moves between two finger pockets)

Total Pitches: 11

Sea of Limestone
Can you find the climber?

Chillin' in the Compton Cave

Yes, if you define world class as 13s/14s climbable in the summer in America. No, if you want high quality routes of all grades.

Notes: Alex and I went to The Hood, the primary climbing area of Mt. Charleston, on the second day. This sector is higher in elevation with less-featured limestone. Fewer features is a mixed blessing, less chossy bits but more enhanced elements. I have nothing against chipping routes (not that I'm in support of it either). Sometimes, it is a necessary evil. If routes are less than natural, they should be fun to climb. I got on a bunch of climbs that were POS. Who puts monos on a 10c? Seriously. Friendly Fire consists of very easy climbing to a very hard crux. The crux involves ticking-tacking into a setup for a desperate lunge on a slab. WTF!!! I was forced to climb it twice to get my draws off. However, Short Dog is a reasonable route, V4/rest/V4. I was saving a redpoint burn for the next day but those plans fell through. I will get my revenge in a couple of weeks. I was fit enough for 11 burns, but I would like to see more sends.