This right leaning crack offers a lot of variety in its modest length.

Begin the adventure in an awkward flared chimney that pinches down to hand and fist jambing past a bulge to an offwidth section. Climb the offwidth to a large wedged flake and from there jamb the left crack (fingers to fist) to a stance on a pedestal. Make an easy but unnerving (for some) step left into the dihedral where a short bit of quality jambing and stemming lead to the chains beneath what looks like a precarious large hanging flake that has looked that way for the 20 years I’ve been visiting this crag, but hey you never know when its time to go will be.

The Grand Wazoo

Cuticle Death

Crackenstein

Pygmy Twilight

The Little One

The Big One (aka Afternoon Delight)

Provocative Squats

Port Angeles’ finest hand crack, but that’s not saying much.

Locking hand jambs lead up to where the crack pinches down and goes horizontally right about 10’ a tricky face move leads to the strenuous final bit of finger locks and flared hand jambs.

Because of the irregular nature of the inside of the crack and some fracturing that goes parallel to the face this is another climb that it is best to wire the protection and the moves before you lead it and then don’t fall.

Start with the opening moves of The Big One and break out right on the attractive splitter that starts at tips, widens to rattly fingers then finally to hands below the bend.

If you contrive it and do no stemming to the wall on the left this is Port Angeles’ most technically demanding crack climb. This climb is most often toproped since it shares anchors with The Big One. If you do decide to be one of the select few and lead it, I strongly recommend that you study in advance where the best placements are, work the moves and then don’t fall because of the sometimes crumby and possibly expanding nature of the crack.

If you stem the entire fingers section and pull over to jamb the hand section up to the bend and then go back to stemming it makes for an enjoyable calf burning 5.10a.

A delightful splitter finger and hand crack with locking jambs and good protection makes this the safest traditional lead in the Port Angeles area. Chain anchors.

A right facing flake corner with locking hand jambs and good stemming narrows down to fingers just before the anchors.

This wide crack in a left facing corner has a flake at the base of it that looks like a number one. Most often liebacked but offers excellent right side in offwidth climbing. Because you have to place protection in a smaller crack inside the big crack and are only in a few spots able to see the quality of protection you are placing I will describe the climb in detail and recommend placing 2 pieces at the places I indicate in the description.

15’ of easy chimneying leads to a stance just below where the crack narrows to about 10 inches. From this stance place some pro in a thin hand crack inside the big crack then bust out with your technique of choice for about 15’ to the next spot you are able to get fully inside the crack for a no hands stance. Again, place some pro and bust out another 15’ to where the crack narrows to about 4’ and a no hands stem rest appears. Another 15’ of hand jambs and liebacking leads to the chains.

An alternate start to the Grand Wazoo that starts with a short bit of steep 4 ½” crack known to give fits to people who though they could climb a lot harder than 5.8.

Jamb the short offwidth up to a pod. From there either stem up a few steps and step out left to a ledge and scramble up to the pedestal on The Grand Wazoo or jamb and stem past wedged blocks directly up to the pedestal. Finish on the excellent dihedral of The Grand Wazoo.

Description

Protection

Routes in Crackenstein