The Slab via Diagonals (5.3S)
May 11th, 2011
Leaving right after work, I sped down to Boulder to meet Shaun. Our memories of hiking down from the Fourth in total darkness was something we sure didn't want to repeat and it sped our progress up the trail. Sitting at the bottom of the Slab at 6:30pm with a storm looming and severe wind we cast each other suspect glances. Being one of the longest routes above Boulder with both a storm and darkness looming we had to work very quickly. Harnessed up I lead up the crux runout pitch quickly and belayed Shaun up. P2 moved up to a tree and I soloed/hip-belayed P3. The summit ridge was spectacular and we soloed quickly along it. Most of the climbing was very easy with only a few trickier spots. The final summit block resembled a thumb jutting up and offered a fun final challenge to the route. We made sure to enjoy dusk high over Boulder before running down the trail back to the car.
Leaving right after work, I sped down to Boulder to meet Shaun. Our memories of hiking down from the Fourth in total darkness was something we sure didn't want to repeat and it sped our progress up the trail. Sitting at the bottom of the Slab at 6:30pm with a storm looming and severe wind we cast each other suspect glances. Being one of the longest routes above Boulder with both a storm and darkness looming we had to work very quickly. Harnessed up I lead up the crux runout pitch quickly and belayed Shaun up. P2 moved up to a tree and I soloed/hip-belayed P3. The summit ridge was spectacular and we soloed quickly along it. Most of the climbing was very easy with only a few trickier spots. The final summit block resembled a thumb jutting up and offered a fun final challenge to the route. We made sure to enjoy dusk high over Boulder before running down the trail back to the car.
Short video of Shaun scrambling up the summit block.