chasing the heifer

Luke ? demonstrating the crux move of The Fleeing Heifer

My goal before the start of winter here was to climb something that at least theoretically matches my lifetime peak ... with the hope of moving upwards from that next year. Today I achieved that with a redpoint (*) of The Fleeing Heifer, Squamish's rite-of-passage sport route at the 5.12c/ 7b+ grade. I tried it for the first time on Wednesday, getting most of the individual moves straight away was but unsure whether it could be put together in a single push. On Thursday I made three redpoint attempts, failing at the same place, a powerful pull off a layaway with bad feet to a marginal split-fingers hold. After the last burn, I worked this crux move multiple times then did sets of isometric hangs on the layaway for a while to try and strengthen/ recruit/ train the specific muscle combination (no, I don't really understand the science of this, or the terminology!). I then rested for two days. The ascent today went pretty smoothly and I felt materially stronger. Sometimes it is all about the rest-days!

The Heifer is the only sport route of its grade in the new guidebook's Top 100 list. After doing it, I wouldn't contest its quality. It's a nice length, somewhere between 15-20m. It overhangs gently and consistently, maybe 3m overall, with no really good rests, except a technical knee-bar low down, so it is properly strenuous. The crux move, around the fifth bolt, is subtle in terms of foothold choice but also very powerful. Straight after the crux there are two sideways moves on quite unique flat side holds that look hard to hold from below but in fact are relatively easy to pass. Then there is a long cruising section on spaced holds which is fun to yard through, though in the knowledge the clock is ticking. The last section has a second crux with various solutions, mostly very tenuous when pumped. I was fortunate to watch another climber tackle this with an un-obvious high-heel-hook approach, which though weird, proved doable even with flagging strength. Above this is a slightly run-out and reachy sprint for the chain, with potential for a big fall if you are tired - which I was, but I managed to stay on.

Luke ? on the second crux

One reason climbing this grade is interesting to me is that it casts some light on grades of some new/ new'ish routes I have done in the UAE/ Oman over the last few years. If length of time required before redpointing is a good indicator, The Heifer needed about the same amount of work as Duct-tape and Jellyfish (not my name ...) at The Blindspot which I sent earlier this year. It took less work than Echo Beach at Tawiyan, which I sent in 2009. So I would stick by 7b+ for both those. I also made the fourth ascent this spring of a DWS route, Generation X, on the Musandam coast that also gets 7b+, and was graded by a very experienced climber. For me, that route required attempts on four days spread over a year or so, but I think as a pure physical feat is easier than The Heifer. But it is hard to compare sport with DWS. An obvious problem with attempting DWS routes is that you have no bolts to cheat on and use to acquire knowledge of moves above your "real" highpoint - instead you are in the sea!

* apologies to non-climbers for an excessively jargon-rich post.