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Rewritten
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In climbing it seems like we rarely deal in absolute superlatives. Just as 5.9+ is a wide, blurry, and subjective spectrum; climbs are not easily sorted without modifiers or groupings. The best 5.8 in J-Tree, the best splitter-crack, the Fifty Classics, maybe a top ten list, but never “The Best”.…
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The Line
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I’m grabbing at the weird looking dike when I suddenly remember it. Then I find the incut slot, and I remember switching to layback. There’s a jam, but my hand doesn’t quite fit, but I remember the sloper on the left as soon as my fingers touch it. It’s disorienting.…
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Dung Fu choo-choo
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You ever get to the crag to witness some spectacular insanity going up the rock? I once encountered a party of six that sent three leaders up each pitch (entwining all their ropes and gear) before bringing up their three respective followers. Luckily their system took so long that we…
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Breakfast of Champions
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This one had been burning a hole in my brain for a long time. It just looked cool. Mildly intimidating, scenic, and varied. But since it was on the north side and shady, it needed a warm day. With the perfect weather this weekend we were finally set up head…
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Finally, Overseer
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I’d been wanting to climb this route for years. On our very first trip to Joshua Tree we hit up Hemmingway and did Dung Fu, and about halfway up I noticed Overseer. The veering improbable corner to the left beckoned to me with an almost irresistible siren call. It looked…
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Snowy Piton Pooper
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Oh boy. Did we get ourselves into it. We took a casual approach when we saw snow in the parking lot. I mean, we were going where it was vertical, shouldn’t be too much snow there, right? Seemed reasonable at the time. Today Luke and I were aiming for Daves…
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The Whodunit?
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This was an incredible day. After feeling like Fingertrip was a snooze, Luke and I were looking for something a bit more serious. And this route delivered, and then some. A great amount of challenges, none of them too difficult, incredible flow and pacing, and so many memorable sections. And…
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First Fingertrip to Tahquitz
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You never know who you’ll meet online. I’ve only met cool folks, but it’s always a bit of a crap shoot. But Emma tweaked a pulley pretty bad, and despite her inclination otherwise, she was going to sit it out until it healed. It was the right call, but it…