Ascents by Hard Landin' Brandon having Distinct route

Fantastic Sunday afternoon with Jon. Wasps on P1 but they didn't bother us.

With Gina. At the top, Gina led up the staircase, and we descend via slabs to the right. Very satisfying and accessible scramble to the top.

With Gina. Perfect weather. #5 cam was nice to have.

For whatever reason, I really enjoyed this one.

Linked River View Crack to the top half of the Family Route. Tight chimney!

Harder than it looked! Some constrictions kept this from being off-fingers.

The slick basalt keeps this from being a gimmie. Good fun. If only it were longer.

Fun enough, but it was windy and cold. Placing gear could be a little tricky at the top.

With Jon. Led all pitches. I was glad to have both the #4 and #5 cams. Chimneys are the future of climbing, for sure. Super fun! Rappelled the North Face with a single 80m rope.

With Jeremy. Led all pitches. Started with the left (5.8?) variation on P1. Honestly, this route didn't live up to the hype. We got behind a slower party and summited after sunset, so that might have dampened some of our enthusiasm.

Avoid. The book draws a topo line up a moss-choked seam, which strikes me as dubious and at odds with the recommended gear width. To the right of this is the 2.5" crack leading to the loose column. The low climbing is good, but after that everything is ugly. The loose column is dangerous, but you'll need to plug some gear around the stronger section of it. Above this bad gear, a run-out on chossy holds leads to a bush for a top anchor. I traversed to the Knobland anchor instead.

TR. Couldn't get past ringlocks and a crack too narrow for my toes.

Great fun! Watch for loose stuff below the crack.

with Laura and Joel. Careful footwork and an eye for tricky placements will get you to the chains with a big smile on your face. Great fun.

Good fun. Did Bong Eater first, which made the Hand Eater variation to Bong Eater feel a bit easier.

Excellent crack, with an exhausting finish. So much blood in the crack. Tape, people, tape.

Wow, now that's a new low in rock quality. Still, the finish makes up for it. I used and recommend a cheater stick to clip the piton. How this formation doesn't just collapse is beyond me.

Continued straight up the face to the summit, avoiding Entry Fee (and trying not to touch the dirt clod). This variation felt like 5.11+ or so.

Just one more tower before we get back in the car... Slinging a knob before the summit reduced the runout a little bit.

Led pitches 1, 3, and 4. Wow, the exposure!

3 pitches. Led P1 & P2. Fantastic climbing, with a breathtaking summit. Some scary death blocks and some massive piles of bird dung detracted from the experience.

Great fun. My first desert spire!

with Laura. P1 only. Ignored the crack and the right side of the bottom dihedral for some fun face climbing.

with Laura. Linked P1 & P2. P1 was great fun. Rock quality on P2 is not nearly as good, but the climbing was still enjoyable. Rapped with an 80m.

with Laura. Super slab pitch was great. P2 traverse was a little funky. Two rap descent with 80m rope.

A fantastic day in the mountains with Laura. 5 pitches; led every pitch. Some very long runouts and funky natural protection kept me from focusing too much on the view!

with Laura. A couple of bolt placements were a bit awkward. Twice I placed gear only to find a bolt later. I personally thought the rock quality was least conducive to gear at the only spot where bolts are lacking! Still, there were a few fun moves and interesting pockets on the route.

P1 only. Fingers to hands to fists to offwidth, this had it all. Very sustained. Pulling the bulge at the top felt like the easiest move on the route!

Super polished liebacking leads up to tight jams that I wish went on forever.

Mantel crux is sharp and height dependent, but the moves were all very fun.

with Adam. Super fun steep climbing requires a variety of techniques. Very easy to protect.

Led P1, P3, P5 with Adam. The mantel is heady, but so is P4. Very fun.

with Jan. The Bay Tree is a bit awkward and comes at the crux. Slung two boulders for top anchor.

with Jan.

Incredibly polished rock, but lots of hidden jugs. My lack of wide gear forced me to lead up the left of the two cracks in the middle of the route, which felt at least 5.9. A #5 C4 would have been nice.

I didn't see any opportunities for pro in the middle of the route, so we top-roped it. There appear to be two options above the first crack: Head up and right on face climbing (runout), or traverse right on the grassy ledge until you reach the next crack (pendulum, rope drag). A bit chossy at the crux.

with Laura. Better than it looks, with some fun moves. At 5.6, it's still not a gimme. Might be 5.7.

with Jadian. Combined both pitches into one mega pitch. Wished I had a BD #4 and an extra #3 at the top, but luckily I did save those #2s 'til the end. Also used up #9, #10, and #11 hexes! Fantastic climbing.

with Jadian. Pulled the roof in a couple of different ways, but never bothered finishing the rest of the route. Good fun!

with Jadian. Good fun!

with Laura. Led P1 & P2. Good fun knob hauling, but Laura decided she prefers cracks. Plugged enough gear that it didn't seem as runout as supertopo suggested. Purple link cam for the win!

with Laura and Jadian. Link up after After Seven. Led P3 and P5. Followed up P4 on unprotectable 5.6 face to the left. We climbed the alternate 5.8 thin flake/roof finish on the last pitch, which was awesome fun. Beautiful views up top. Laura had a blast!

with Jadian and Laura. Led P1. Continued up After Six.

Fantastic jams. Probably easier with my smaller hands. The start and the left traverse to join Firecracker both looked difficult to protect.

Got the rope jammed in the (unwisely placed) cam while pulling the roof. Had to lower and fix it. Stealth handhold above the roof will change your beta!

P1 and P2 only. Led P2. Intimidating crux moves around the bulge!

Set up a top rope. Struggled, bled, and gave up. My partner had better success.

Led P2 to the intermediate anchor and rapped to avoid storms. Just plain fun, and hilarious to watch my much larger climbing partner squeeze under the flake.