The Supercrack Buttress

We got really crappy service at an expensive breakfast joint in town, but managed to get our revenge on the tip. Racing off south into the desert we headed for a place called Indian Creek, specifically we were looking for the Supercrack Buttress.

It was a fantastic day, nearly clear skies and warm to boot. I love yootaa! We found the Buttress and hauled up the short trail to the base. There were already a few people around, Leon pointed out the crack which gives Supercrack Buttress its name. For a few minutes we watched a guy climbing it, bloody thing looked real hard. But then it should. This is crack climb city, most climbs are rated around 5.10 and beyond our skills. But there were a few easier ones and I, having the first lead of the day, had my sights set on one in particular.

John's guidebook indicated that somewhere a ways to the left of Supercrack there is a 5.7 climb called "Triple Jeopardy". We found it with some help from nearby climbers. The people here were very friendly and talkative. We bumped into a couple of people who had at some period in their lives spent time in Connecticut. It was a really cool and sociable place. Everyone was polite and helpful.

"Triple Jeopardy" is a route which goes up three big boulders which lie against the Buttress wall one on top of the other. The bottom one is big and leans at such an angle that you can walk behind and under it. The next one on top is a bit broken at the base but lies flush against the Buttress, the third and highest one was small and pretty nondescript. We could see the rap bolts on the right side at the top.

After much hemming and hawing I eventually worked out a line on the right side, climbing up to where the lowest boulder leaned against the wall and then using the wall to stem back and out until I could scramble around onto the bottom boulder's front face. Sounds easy right? Well, it was ok I guess. But there were not a lot of pro opportunities, so I was getting a bit psyched out when I had a look at the interface between the two boulders. It looked really broken up. I gave one of the pieces an experimental tug, hoping that they had all been locked into place over time, but it rattled loosely. I started to swear quite a lot. If I wanted to go higher I had to pass over this garbage first. No goddamn way. I backed off, downclimbing and cleaning as I went. I still left a wired-nut behind though. I was pretty pissed off at myself. My lead head was still in the shop for repairs.

Leon shrugged and said that he wanted to do "Twin Cracks" (5.8) which was a route just to our right. There was a group already on it, so we waited patiently for them to finish. Leon used the time to make a pair of tape-gloves (wrapping sticking-plaster around his knuckles, wrists and fingers, leaving only the palms exposed). After they left we sorted our gear out and, once we were ready, Leon moved pretty damn smartly upwards. I knew he was a crack head. The climb consists of, you guessed it, two cracks which snake up side-by-side and separated by about 18 inches. At the top by the anchors they widen and form a column between them. He got to the anchors and set things up so I could top rope it after lowering him down.

I hate crack climbing. I had an idea about this before, but now I'm pretty sure. It's the sign of a poor climber I suppose, but there you go. I managed to finish it, but I'm convinced that leading the damn thing would have been out of my grasp. Leon, the utter bastard, had said that it was a lot of fun.

We talked to a guy there who recommended that since I was not a crack afficianado, I should try "The Naked and The Dead", a short 5.8 located across the valley on the Battle of the Bulge Buttress. We should also try "Binous Crack" (5.9), he said.