In May The Group traveled to Smith Rock for another epic weekend of climbing. My main partner for the weekend was Jere, who is an impressive trad leader. He had his eye on a 3-pitch 5.7 classic crack called Spiderman as a sort of warm up to the summer:
Spiderman Buttress
One morning we got up very early, climbed over the daunting Asterix Pass, and got to the wall before anyone else. The view on the other side was pretty spectacular.
Asterix Pass – a dicey, unroped 5.6, with a huge pack. Not fun.
View made it worth it – pretty sunrise
Spidey came along, of course, and he warmed up with some completely “cliffhanger” moves, all 100% unroped.
Spidey = Captain Showoff
Jere led the whole thing, linking the first two pitches where I followed cleaning gear to join him on the top of the 2nd pitch. The climbing was beautiful, solid, clean – very easy to see why it’s a Smith classic.
Classic Smith
Spidey at the belay ledge
We swapped gear when I made it to the belay ledge, and Jere sent the 3rd pitch like a champ, throwing the final roof moves with impressive style and grace. I gained some great beta from watching him, and was able to send the roof with equal ease. It helps when you have bomber holds at the top!
Jere’s Happy Face
When you aren’t the rope gun, you’ve gotta be the rope flake
More Smith photos to come! Thanks for the great climb Jere!
