Arêtamania

This is the short but stunning overhanging arête uphill of the slab routes.  Easy climbing past 3 bolts reaches the base of the arête.  Step around the arête to the left to a series of apish moves, mostly on second-knuckle holds, past 4 more bolts to chains.  A bit crumbly, but it’ll continue to clean up with traffic.  7 bolts, 2 for chains.

Note on the FA/name:  As mentioned on the area page, this is one of the lines that was bolted by an unknown party, apparently many years ago, and that doesn’t appear in any known guides.  When we first visited the crag, tied on to this route’s first bolt was a moss-covered piece of sling, that when untied revealed the sling was originally red.  Since this assumed “red tag” was discolored and covered by moss, and blinded by our unquenchable thirst for glory, we ignored it and dropped a rope on the line to see whether the bolts and rock were sound.  The rock was pretty nasty, but the worst was remedied by a combination of prying and flailing, and the moves were eventually strung together. Given the route’s mystery, the “FA” and "real" name remain unknown until the FA party steps up.  The bolts seem to be in good shape, and are fairly close together; but it would be comforting to learn the length of the studs if anyone might know.   Big kudos to the original developers for their vision and obvious hard work in equipping the route, and apologies if any offense has been taken.

The major arête on the crag.

Draws. If setting up a sling-shot top rope, very long slings may be warranted for clearing the lip of the arête.