3-16-09: Two Bolts or Not to Be

Randy Puro on Two Bolts or Not to Be [v10]

There are a few lines in the valley that we have found that would be under the "maybe someday" category. A line that you think about, but seems too out of reach to actually drag a crew down to try. Two Sundays agoand two years after first cleaning and scoping the line, we headed down to attempt to boulder a short Ron Kauk route down by the highway 140 entrance. I believe he did the first ascent in the mid-nineties, long before the era of big pads, but exact details are unclear.

The first part of the climb is a very technical arete which leads into a steep roof, the crux being sticking a dyno to a sloper and crossing to a good pinch. The last move wouldn't be very hard if the move was a few feet off the ground, but becomes very committing when when you have to heel hook at hand height (making you totally horizontal). At that point your back is about 18 feet above the pads.

The climb was still a little wet from the melting snow, but Randy stuck with it and by the end of the day it had pretty much dried out. More impressive, his heel flew out at the crux and he took a screamer of a fall, but he kept trying, culminating with the send captured above.

-Raza