Start: At the tallest, steepest section of the eastern face, find an obvious, large right-facing
flake that archs up right.
Go:
Move up the flake until you can reach out left and gain the long hand rail. Move left and down along the rail until
decent holds allow you to climb straight up. (Traditionally done with a heel hook.)
A
true classic. Originally rated 5.9
Variation: Flake/Crystal follows the flake up and right and to the top via a somewhat hidden crystal hold.
V1
12. Testpiece V5 ***
Start: On small, crystal holds immediately to the
left of The Flake.
Go: Crimp up a vertical line of small face holds to a shallow, thin horizontal crack (requires
left hand on the "tooth" hold) then straight up from there (avoiding the rail) to a hold where the rail ends.
Mantle directly onto the upper slab section via a small two-finger crystal.
The original Rat Rock testpiece ... reimagined
with eliminates and more direct powerful moves. For many years the hardest problem in the park. Crimpy and powerful.
Hard moves lead to an exciting finish. Take care to avoid the low foot bulge out right and any part of the hand
rail.
*One or more of the low crystal holds have broken
smaller, removing the nice flat edges they used to provide. Because of that, starting the problem is a little
more awkward, but does not impact the grade.
Variation: The original, easier version. Use
the obvious bulge out right for the right foot to help make the initial moves to the small horizontal crack and then
any where on the hand rail for the left hand. The same hand rail is then used for a left-foot heel hook
to make the mantle. V3
13. Rat Patrol V4 **
Start: Immediately left of Testpiece on low crystal holds.
Go: Climb up, using two of the small face holds on the lower part of Testpiece for the right hand. From the low crystals, reach up with left hand to
the small right-facing sidepull (gaston), then find the right balance to reach out right to grab the "tooth"
hold. Set feet, then make the big move to the rail. Finish directly finding good holds in the large
crystally rock above.
Not as sustained as Testpiece,
but the moves are almost as good.
***Since the low
crystal holds were broken, the start of this problem has gotten a little harder. One of the broken crystal holds was
a key foot hold for the big move to the rail and the lack of the original edge has made this move a bit harder as well.
14. Tweaky Shit V3 *
Start: Immediately left of Rat Patrol. 2-3 feet left of The
Flake. The left-hand gaston on the sidepull of Rat Patrol becomes a straight on right-hand sidepull on this problem.
Go: Crank up on the tweaky opposing sidepulls
and grab the horizontal rail above. Continue to top.
Right-hand sidepull broke first
in 1987 making the problem a little harder. The hold broke even bigger the next year but was epoxied back on by Yuki
after consulting with other local climbers.
Variation: Tweaky Sit V4 Begin with a sit start at a low right-hand
undercling, using a separate "island" of rock for your feet. Make some difficult moves on small holds to gain
the opposing sidepulls. ***It is possible to eliminate the rock "island" for the feet bumping the grade
up a bit.
15. Ratraverse V2
Start: On the low bulge right of the flake (used as a major foothold on The
Flake problem). Small hand holds are found on the top and side
of the bulge.
Go: Move
left to the large flake, then up slightly. Traverse left across the middle of the face until you find yourself in the
middle of the Tweaky Shit crux.
Gain the rail above and hand traverse the rail to where it ends at a very small right facing corner. Power up the flakes
at the corner to the top.
Trick foot placement at crux.
