USA Road Trip
Posted on 2013-12-03 - filed under news
'Zombie Woof' 5.12b!!
After a trip across the Mojave desert to give my hands a rest on the smoother sandstone of Red Rocks, I'm back to pit myself against some more skin thrashing Joshua Tree
testpieces.
The grading here is perhaps the severest of any place I've
been to, but this makes it all the more memorable. Every route I send is like walking in the footsteps of the great stonemasters who have written the history of climbing on these oversized desert boulders. The likes of John Long, Lynn Hill, Tony Yaniro, John Yablonski, Randy Leavitt and many others who advanced free climbing standards here.
In this case, 'Zombie Woof', a very bouldery 5.12b was first toproped by John Bachar in 1980 and then free climbed on lead by a youthful Jerry Moffat on his first USA tour in 1983. Here I just managed to free climb it after 2 days of effort. A short but
uniquely satisfying and memorable pitch with surprisingly intricate footwork to get established on the lip of the roof.
If you have climbed with Alan or have climbed in the Verdon then we would like to hear about your experience.
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