This surprising OW has many things that make the name fitting.  It is hard to believe this was freed in 1964.  It is hard to believe it doesn't get way more attention, and it is hard to believe it is rated 5.10.  This awesome OW is located on the huge block at the top of Moby Dick on Blair 2.  You can't miss it.

It gets your attention right off the bat and holds it until you are standing on top.  From the ground, it looks like it will have a lot of hands...it does not.  It is fists and bigger the whole way.  This is a fantastic OW testpiece.  It has everything to make an OW hard: it doglegs and changes sizes the whole way making it very difficult to get into a rhythm.  It also is surprisingly rest-free.  If I got the FA, I would give it .11b.  This route is very sustained.  For those aspiring to become OW pros, this is a must do.  It is harder than

October Light

, or

Left Torpedo Tube

, but easier than

Worm Drive

.

Hard to Believe

Inner Notch

Take 5

A Dream of Fat Antelope

Outer Dark

Intimidation

Bragging About Jesus

Inferno Fog

Five Finger Discount

Scratch the Surface

A Horse Will Have To Do

Unicorn Exterminator

Bat Bomb aka Project X-Ray

Jogging to Vedauwoo

Penetration

Sketch Palsy

La Femme Takeda

The Suit

Go Left, Old Man, Go Left

Jogging Direct

Sweet Variation

The Ledge of the World

Putter

Bullwinkle

Outer Notch

Pretty Girls with Long Knives

Damit

Random Crystals

Arete Already

Unremembered

Inconvenient Angles

Son of a Wanted Man

Middle Notch

This is an excellent beginner's climb on the northwest portion of Blair III. This route ascends a slabby system of cracks on the right hand side of a large notch (as you face it). The top consists of a right-facing dihedral with a nice hand crack in the back. It has excellent stemming.

Climb a low 5th class chimney leading to a giant boulder.  Walk under the boulder, turn right and either climb up to a short face on the left or stem between the boulder and the face (the latter ends with the same finish as Middle Notch).

It is not a bad route especially if combined with

Middle Notch

and

Outer Notch

.  I recommend leading

Outer Notch

then top roping the other two.

This is a great mixed climb starting just to the right of

Intimidation

behind an Aspen tree. The start is 5.10 fingers. Climb up to the horizontal and traverse right to the main crack that curves to the left then goes straight up. Climb the crack until it becomes a thin seam then goes to slab. 3 bolts protect the seam and slab section. The crux is moving over the first bolt.

Begin approximately 10 feet left of

Random Crystals

in a low-angle, hand crack. Head straight up and bust right at a ledge. A slightly heady move off of the ledge takes you past a short, flared section and into a great hand crack. Belay at a rap station 5 feet right of the finish.

There are two options for descent: scramble off to the south (my personal preference) or use the rap station. It seemed like there was potential for a stuck or damaged rope due to the location of the rap bolts.

Outer Dark takes the diagonal crack that veers left off

Intimidation

at approximately two thirds height. Start on

Intimidation

, and set up a belay on the sloping ledge below the final head wall (hand-sized cams). Climb left on flared hands, going to fingers as you traverse around a budge.

The crack turns to crimps and edges protected by thin cams. As the crack peters out, climb crystals (crux) to a horizontal break and up into a chimney and the top. Rappel

Intimidation

.

It's surprising that this route hasn't been added to MP until now, since it's one of the best routes on Blair III. Start by climbing a nice hand crack that angles right to a sloping ledge. From the ledge, pull the first of two cruxes up a steep and strenuous crack/face. The next crux is a challenging offwidth that leans left and offers some good grunting.

This is the best "moderate" face route at Vedauwoo!! This route is on Blair III, the first (most W) of the large crags you encounter heading east on the trail out of the picnic area. Hike up to the E side through a forested valley between Blair III and II until you are almost at the North end of the rock. Two long bolted lines start here; [Bragging About Jesus" is the line on the right. Start by scrambling up a steep ramp to a bombbay chimney; stem and chimney up 20-30' (no pro) until you can step over onto a gorgeous arete/flake and clip the 1st of 10 bolts. Crystal pinch and layback the flake edge past 10 bolts, with an optional cam up high (spooky move without, I always place it). It has no crux, it is just sustained fun and maybe a little soft for the grade. DOUBLE ROPE RAP!! from shared bolt anchors at the top of "

Sketch Palsy

", the left of the 2 routes.

Inferno Fog is a bolted slab/face on clean stone that gets progressively more difficult as you reach the top.

Just so there's no confusion, I didn't lead this pitch. My partners managed to get the rope up it, with falls and hangs, and I had the distinct pleasure of a toprope.

This is a great pitch on the NW side of Blair III, about 50' left of Intimidation - 5.9. A shallow hand-sized crack quickly dwindles to fingers, crappy fingers and crimps (probably the crux) past a bolt. This gets you to a horizontal crack (big hand-sized cams) on which you hand-traverse left to another steep seam. Follow this past two bolts and finger sized gear. There's hard climbing throughout this sustained pitch with distinctly harder sections at the 1st and 2nd bolts.

To the right of

Penetration

, creating the open book corner, is Scratch the Surface.  Start to the right on face holds climbing up and left toward a vertical seam.  Place pro and trend up and left to a horizontal rail and eventually to the beginning of the two bulge finish. Use face features for the first and a thin hands crack for the second.  Awesome!

Somewhat misleadingly called a "sustained finger crack" in Kelman's 2003 guidebook, this route is more about technical stemming than finger locks. Climb the flake and slab up to the base of a dihedral with a tiny little crack in the back of it. Proceed up this corner on a few insecure jams and flakes/crystals for feet, and head left to a shelf when the crack pinches down. Above this tricky bit, the crack widens, first to fingers and finally to thin hands.

P1. Rocket up through a exfoliating flake utilizing deep hand jams until the wideness takes over. A few OW moves takes you to the top of the flake (upon the Unicorns head) where one can get a good rest before a short hand section to a move past a bolt. Follow the horizontal crack until reaching the anchors above.

P2. climb left facing corner until you can traverse right at horizontal and make one final overhang move to top (as per Orenczak description pg. 166 in the Vedauwoo guide, 2011).

This is one of those Voo, anti-classic, but Type 2 kinda classic route. It has high histoplasmosis risk and moderate rabies risk. You gotta

guan

it.

Start with a mantel up on gritty ledge near past an reddish, quartz dike to an obvious, undercut flake. Work this to the right until you can access the long, horizontal crack.

Powerjam this horizontal fissure straight left for 30', passing through a wide section with kneebar/invert through the poo. A crux move comes - an invert & pivot (can also be done with core intensive kneebars), then grab a big block of dried dung, and exit the wide. Try not to get bit by a bat when you invert.

After this section, a 1" foothold provides stance enough to shake out and switch ropes (to mitigate drag). Pump through seasonal green slime on fists and licheny feet to access the meat of the route - a very pretty overhanging hand crack that climbs really nice. Fire this, and you are mostly done....

An easy but unbolted face guards the top. A fall from the very top might be fatal, but I propose an R rating with a good belayer. If you've made it this far, you probably wouldn't fall...one would certainly hope.

****If anyone wants to take the R out and put in bolts to make this route safe, that is fine with the FA team.****

2 rope technique is recommended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

.

You will want some hand wipes after this stinker. Contender for Voo's crappiest route.

Identify the mossy slot and start climbing. The first 15 feet offer the technical crux, but you can find decent feet. Gain an easy handcrack which leads you to a shelf. Step left a few feet to the base of an imposing 35-foot chimney. The Kelman guide suggests building an anchor here. With wise use of runners, you can run the whole climb in one pitch. Armbar, jam, and otherwise grunt your way up. You can find reasonable holds for your right foot and heal-toes with your left. The back of the chimney offers good gear.

I thought this climb was of the same quality as Intimidation (which I followed), but a little easier. Enjoy!

I'm not sure why I got on this route, maybe because my partner backed off of it, so I felt obligated.  Anyway this short, flaring offwidth felt quite difficult for the given grade.  Maybe it was because of the strenuous start getting into the offwidth or maybe it was the crappy rock which was continually raining down as I struggled to the anchor.  Either way, this route starts at a water-streaked face that turns into an offwidth after about 6'.  The initial moves getting into the offwidth are the crux and are very awkward.

This is another "must do". This climb takes the steeper, direct route to the anchors shared with "

Braggin about Jesus

". Start up the very deceptive slab, pull over a small roof, and continue straight up to the anchors. It has perfect rock, is sustained, and is fun.

A double rope rap is required!

This is an overhanging finger-to-flared, thin hand crack with a cool, but unprotected boulder problem start on a lone boulder/tower.  If you send this without tape and don't gobie, find me and I'll buy you a bear and a high-five.

Pete Takeda who has climbed in the Woo for years, turned me on to this challenging little rig, and this is one of the legendary Takeda's many nicknames.  He had tried this thing on a few occasions but never managed to lead it clean.  He generously turned the line over to me, and I managed to barely scrap up it second go.

This is the sort of climb that seems to pack an eighty-foot climbing experience into only forty feet of burly crack.  The start is 11+ and unprotected for about ten feet, so have your belayer spot til then, and then make sure every piece counts, because you are close to the ground.

Climb hands leading to a rather large OW and squeeze roof in a corner, with an anchor just above the lip.

Fairly easy climbing through a low slot located behind a tree for about 30'. Take the one to the left (5.7+) as the route gets kind of fisty. The route terminates in an off-width (Paul Piana refers to this as a "chimney like structure" - but its not unless you are 4' tall and 60 lbs). Fire in your big cam and lay back off of the flake on the face.

Start with

Jogging to Vedauwoo

, but at the ledge climb the seam straight up.

The seam was cleaned of much dirt and moss. It now climbs and protects nicely.

Climb the crack just right of

Go Left, Old Man, Go Left

.  Then, follow the hand crack to the top.

This route is a little dirty but still worth doing if your looking for something new.  The first part of the crack varies in size from hands to offwidth and ends at a large, flaring, horizontal crack/ledge.  Belly crawl left across the ledge, and finish with the crux upper section of

Intimidation

.  It is probably best to belay where this route meets

Intimidation

to avoid rope drag.

I have yet to climb this crack but wanted to add it on the site to hopefully get more light shed on this classic looking line.

This was a little unclear to me, but it seems as though one needs to climb a 10d finger crack to get up to the base of Putter. Putter is a flaring, left-leaning crack that splits the south side of the formation. It looks to be hands and fists.

This was named after the moose that hung out in the shade of the aspen grove.  I am sure the bottom half of the route has been TR'ed multiple times, but the handholds and gear placements up high were still mossy.

Start just left of

DOFA

in a nice, thin hands crack.  Follow this to another short crack before engaging the bulge on the left. A key purple C3 protects this move and can be backed up with a #3 with a long sling.  The crux is face climbing through the bulge. At the horizontal, traverse right to finish on the OW on

DOFA

.

If climbed in one pitch to the top of the formation, this route is probably one of the longest in Vedauwoo/Blair.  It has varied climbing, great exposure for parts of the climb, absolutely all-around fun.  It is highly recommended.

Do some easy, if exposed and exciting, moves to the base of a right-facing dihedral.  Follow the fingers and tips crack (crux) to a small slab where the dihedral switches aspect to face left, then follow the steadily widening crack to the chains.

An alternate start ascends a sharp edged corner with dubious pro onto a long ramp that ascends up and right to the base of the dihedral, although this would cause much rope drag during the crux.

Located 10' left of "

Go Left...

" and 10' right of "Fat Antelopes," this route starts with low-angle grungy crack climbing to a wide ledge.  From here, jam two cracks in a V and then work up between them or the left crack to the flake above.

This one-pitch climb has it all (whether you want it or not!). It starts out with a couple chimney moves, exiting with hands into OW, and continues up the shrinking crack, past a few horizontals, until it fizzles out completely. Place a good small cam and nut at the top of the crack and launch out onto the face, heading for the (last) horizontal. Traverse right at the horizontal (with gear) and finish up with what is now

Braggin'

. It has excellent stone all the way.

(Guidebooks say the first ascent was done prior to any bolts being in place - but do not list the first ascentionists.)

This is a very wide, squeeze chimney with an elegant possibility for conquering it.

This is the second crack in from the right on the northeast prow of Blair III. It's the first crack to the right of "

Penetration

." The angles of the rock make the climbing harder than it looks. Basically, it's a typical Vedauwoo wide crack.

Son of a Wanted Man is an anomaly for Vedauwoo; instead of climbing a crack or sharp crystals, the dike that characterizes this route allows you to climb on mostly smooth holds: crimps, pinches, and underclings. Don't let the abundant features fool you though, Son of a Wanted Man is hard from the get go. A short tricky boulder problem guards the beginning of the route, then after a quick reprieve, you charge forward into the crux overlap, where the angle of the wall changes. As you get closer to the obvious jug, the other features die off, and you are left with powerful moves to vague pinches and blobs. Once you gain the Thank God jug, the hard climbing is over, but now you have to place gear for protection, and just when you think it's over, there is one last boulder guarding the chains, more of a mental challenge than a physical one though.

Climb a low 5th Class chimney leading to a giant boulder. Staying right of the boulder, wander back and forth for the easiest path to get on top of the boulder. From here, climb a short, unprotected face to the top and build your anchor.

It is not a bad route especially if combined with Inner Notch and

Outer Notch

. I recommend leading

Outer Notch

then top roping the other two.

It is located in the notch between Moby Dick and Blair III, starting from the northwest side of Blair III.

To descend, rap from anchor above

Son of a Wanted Man

(maybe 20 feet southwest from

Outer Notch

).

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Lower Blair III