Ascents by Hard Landin' Brandon having Distinct route

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.

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.

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

Great fun. My first desert spire!

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.

Great fun! Watch for loose stuff below the crack.

The crack sucked up piles of nuts. Fun moves at the roof. Don't skip the mantle at the top.

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

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.

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

Led to set up top-rope.

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.

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

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

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

Unique, polished rock. Right crack could probably take pro up to a #3 BD cam. Nicely sheltered from an otherwise bitterly cold and windy afternoon!

Fun double cracks. Pulled the bulge at the top.