Mark joins us to meet our friends Clare and Dennis for breakfast and some sport routes. We’re excited that they’re moving to Denver from our prior home of Ridgecrest, California. We get a positively summery day at North Table mountain – Clare has done a good writeup already, so I’ll just sprinkle in a few comments on the routes:

Lemons, Limes, and Tangerines 5.8+ – Clare hangs the draws for us on this favorite cranky roof and face climb.

Big Dihedral 5.8 – We’re trad-free today, but this route is good any way you hit it. I finally worked out a sequence I like for the upper crux – now I’ll probably never be able to repeat it.

Killian’s Dead 5.6 – Ann hangs a TR on this, and shows us how to do it “tradmaster style”, without the face holds.

Deck Chairs on the Titanic 5.9+ – Always a fun ride, we all do some sinking and swimming on the Titanic.

Unnamed Face 5.11a/b – Mark led this without knowing a rating, but climbed around the arete instead of up the face. I touched the face holds, and they felt far too cranky for me. This climb looks like more fun than it is, not really worth the needlessly high first clip and one questionable top anchor bolt.

Another unnamed Billy Bob route 5.7+ – Clare finishes up on this. It looks like a good one to hit when things are busy.

The Fabulous Flying Carrs Route 5.10d – I gamely get on this when the easier cooldown I was shooting for is busy. I avoid falling by backing off the hard moves and taking the easier arete variation. Feels good, but the harder moves look better.