Tideline - Tad's first 5.11a trad flash

Back in May, after we bailed off of El Cap, we did a bunch of cragging.

Tuolumne had just opened for the season, so one day we headed up to the Olmstead Point area, where we all gave burns on Tideline (5.11a).

Matt went first and came close to redpointing it. I went second, and was (barely) able to flash it. This was my first 5.11a trad flash. Derek stuck to his guns and worked his way up for a good attempt following my climb. At the time, it was one of the few 5.11a cracks I had attempted (other than in Indian Creek), and I was psyched to make it.

It starts out with hands in a corner, with good feet. Then a few moves up, it gets steep and overhung as you move through the roof and into the bulge above. The crack pinches down just over the roof, and has a few pods just when you need them to score hand jams to rest in. The whole top part of the climb boasts a rail for the right foot, and maximizing it's use, along with the other feet on the face, was key for me maintaining enough energy to finish.

At the top, I barely made it. First I tried to pro and I didn't have the right size tiny gear, and I ended up using a good finger lock for the placement. Finally I moved up but was so flash pumped I could barely hold on to move myself up over the lip. Phew!

This climb capped a great day of cragging with beautiful weather until around 4pm when a thunderstorm rolled in. Luckily we made it back to the car just before the rain hit.

If you enjoyed this, check out more of my videos and climbing trip reports on my blog at http://www.csh-east.org/blog/

Enjoy,
-Tad

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Flash