Oscar the Grouch

A fun route that requires careful, shifting footwork. There are actually two variations to this route: stopping at the first set of chains is .10d; continuing without stopping to the second set of chains is .11b.

The crux of the first part is low: getting off the ground and then pulling up to and clipping the second bolt. Fortunately the first bolt is low and can be clipped from the ground to protect this bit. After the crux the difficulty eases up somewhat.

After the second bolt the route continues trending left just a bit to the third bolt and then fairly straight up from there. However, the climbing requires weaving a bit back and forth to use the available hand- and footholds. Footholds abound, but are not a ladder in any sense.

Just before the first set of chains is a steeper section with sparser holds; get through this and into a shallow v-slot to the left of the first set of chains.

The exposure at the chains is exhilarating; Looking out west over Utah Valley is quite pleasant.

For the .11b variation continue past the chains up and right. This section is hugely entertaining; it continually gets steeper and harder, right up to the chains. Big holds for the most part, with one thinner section.

Note that the variation to the second set of chains is approximately 120 feet long. A 70m rope is not quite long enough to lower all the way to the ground (lower to the first set of chains, clip in, pull the rope, etc.).

The right-most bolted route at the base of

Bad Bananas

. The route starts to the left of a bush, and there are more bushes below the ledge on which it starts.

11 bolts, chain anchors (.10d); 11 bolts plus clipping the first chains, followed by 6 more bolts, then chain anchors (.11b). That's 20 draws for the long version!