Hope everyone is ok. No accident is good one but I hate to see it starting this early in the season before many have even thought about going outside.

I was there yesterday but didn't hear/see anything. The section of Strictly near the top of the first pitch before you get to the traverse can be tough to protect well, but I didn't see where you would get badly hurt there in a fall. Of course, pro can pull. Any info?

There is actually bomber gear at that spot just before you traverse right. There is a thin crack just above you before more up and into the corner that takes eight bomber slotted nuts or small cams(blue or green alien). The gear below and above this spot is also very good. People climbing at the grade just might get a little spooked here as it is a little steep/exposed, but nothing too bad.

I'm pretty sure a poor soul got killed at that very spot about 3 or 4 years ago. He didn't get the gear needed and hit the big ledge. I believe it was early in the season.

Memory serves me of a "keyhole" type slot that is bomber but not necessarily obvious. I was stalled out there a few years ago for a minute or two fiddling with that slot when Rawdon(climbing with some woman on Shockley's, both apparently dressed)offered the keyhole beta to me.

i was there on the carry out for that guy. If i remember correctlyhe fell from the roofy traverse bit pulled a piece and slammed his head with an upside down pendulum or something like that. From my experience on that climb, the protection gets thin right before it gets pumpy and roofy and is quite easy to get lulled into a better hold is just ahead, but then the stance is too pumpy to hang out so you keep going, ultimately running it out too much

It's been awhile, but isn't there a fairly good stem/rest just below the roof before making the move right to better holds?

I thought the stiff/scarier area was the 10-15 feet leading up to the horizontal that you then tranverse over on to the belay. The horizontal takes a bomber cam, so I can't imagine anyone getting hurt bad once they get to that. I don't remember it being real hard but it was a bit awkward for me.

I recall (several years ago) getting a good but small cam in the roof before going into the slightly overhanging crux corner. If there was gear in or around the corner on the way up, it wasn't obvious and a 5.7 leader would be unlikely to stop there anyway.

The horizontal at the top of the corner takes bomber gear, but at that point it's only a few moves rightward to the bolts on good holds. Given that the traverse didn't seem to significantly increase the fall, I opted to go off to the bolts rather than hang out and place gear. I might have placed the gear first if there was a rest I missed, but I suspect many 5.7 leaders would be too tempted to get to the security of the bolts to spend time finding it.

For those who do go directly to the bolts, it's probably helpful to lean over and get a piece back in the horizontal to protect the second; otherwise the second can take a nasty swing out of the corner and onto the face.

I was told he passed away after a couple of days.

Very tragic news indeed. My condolences to the families and friends...

I'm a little confused about where people are talking about...


Are folks saying the top of the first pitch is the bolts, or the small corner on the ledge (just below my partner)? This might help me figure out where people are talking about moving right etc...

From where he is, there is a bomber hand size cam near his feet, and IIRC you can get a decent yellow alien under the roof in an undercling - you can just make out that crack on the bottom side of the roof. I can't remember what you can get between those two placements though. Once you're two moves into the roof, you can stop and place every cam left on your rack if you want...or just gun for the chains.