Entering the techy crux and the heady exposure.  Photo by Adam Amick.

I've mentioned before on here that last summer I teamed up with my good friend Leif Gasch to try and put down a famous unfinished Todd Skinner project called "The Strawberry Roan."  There isn't much I can say about it that Leif hasn't already said better than I can on his blog, but I will say these words before you click on the short film below that we made while working on the route.

While I fell on the last hard move on my last attempt at the route, the experience of working on this route with Leif was far more important than clipping the chains.  From hiking up there the first time and standing under the most perfect arete I'd ever seen, to working out improbable sequences, each of us with different beta, and watching Leif send at the eleventh hour, finishing with a standing ovation at the Lander Bar afterward, it was an amazing adventure.  One that meant the world to me.

And the fact is that "The Strawberry Roan" isn't going anywhere.  It's not gonna fall off.  This ain't Rifle Mountain Park.  :)