2007 CCAJ

each got a couple of wet, vegetated, dangerously run-out dihedral-stem-sketching pitches. The big surprise was that most of the route was spectacular with smooth but feathered, weather-polished edges and footholds and a plethora of thin-cam placements. Fifteen hundred feet later we topped out on a beautiful new free line, which shared the last pitch of Goldfinger. We called the route The Stump Man (aka The Brown Finger, IV 5.11, 1,500'), a slight jab at my good friend Chris' Goldfinger route, but also a nod to the reality of muddy fingercracks. We descended Chris' route back to our skis and boots.

The weather just wouldn't get bad, so one rest day later, we were back on the Stump to tackle the next dihedral system left of The Brown Finger. The line we took avoided the dihedral for the most part, as we found the better rock, and the path of least resistance, weaved up world-class rock on either side. We explored both faces of the dihedral and then ventured onto the arĂŞte toward the top. This is probably the best route on the Stump, with an impossible-looking, runout 5.10a pitch through a steep but featured golden face with luscious flakes near the top.

Stump Jumper (IV 5.11a) features four classic and unique 5.11a pitches and much bullet 5.10.

It still wouldn't storm, and now The Stump was pretty played out. The El Cap-size Eye Tooth loomed above our camp, letting us know of her presence by dropping the occasional avalanche down one of her huge gullies.

Just to the right of the biggest avalanche gully lies Dream in the Spirit of Mugs (V 5.10, 2,800', Bonapace-Haas-Orgler, 1994), a worldclass, 3,000-foot alpine rock climb, that, 1,500 feet up, breaks right on easier ground, avoiding a more direct line up a 1,500-foot golden headwall pillar with numerous finger-sized splitters streaking up its face. The Stump –Renan Ozturk After simul-climbing the route to Pitch 13, where the Dream breaks right, we continued directly up for eight long pitches, encountering world-class stemming and fingercrack climbing. We were amazed to find that the direct line went at 5.10+, as it looked like 5.13 from below! Renan, who has done Dream in The Spirit of Mugs, recommends our line, which we called Ballad of a Dead Soldier (V 5.10+), as a much more direct and enjoyable finish. This is also a much better rappel route, though it's still a flake- and block-ridden pucker-fest in spots (pray when you pull).

"It's pretty amazing we haven't core shot a rope," I said to Renan as I rapped off the last pitch.

By the time we pulled the ropes they were both miraculously chopped.

As we skied the hour and a half back to base camp, it was snowing and the next three days were spent in the tent in a state of delirium. And then... the sun peaked through the clouds and the rain stopped. We wandered toward Denali to the next formation north of the Root Canal, where we found one of the best routes I have ever done in my life on the Lower Incisor. I had the pleasure of leading the first two pitches, which both clock in at 5.12. The first pitch entails a classic 5.12 crimper traverse from 7