Ian on No Climb

With the summer heat quickly reaching triple digits, trying to climb has meant trying to find shade. And while the Summit Crags are still closed for falcon nesting, one of my favorite spots for good temps and steep climbing is The Helmet. Between my out of town trips, I've spent most of my climbing days the last two months hanging out at The Helmet, mostly projecting a route I started last summer, No Climb For Old Men.

The Helmet is a granite cave shaped like a helmet. Imagine your standard granite dome, but with a huge square block cut out of the bottom, forming some serious overhangs and roofs. On the left side of the cave, the lip of the roof is highly featured and climbable for about 30 feet. Chain draws have been hung along the lip, which dangle straight down into open air, and this section of the roof has been dubbed 'The Chain Gang'. Below the beginning of the chain gang starts a route called El Torito (12-), a slightly overhanging route that allows passage to 'The Chain Gang' section. Starting on El Torito, and climbing the 30 feet of pure horizontal climbing of 'Chain Gang' forms the route No Climb For Old Men. Truly unique for Mt. Lemmon, this climb has captivated me for almost a year now.

No Climb breaks down like this - 35 feet of 12- climbing of El Torito, into about 20 feet of dead horizontal 12- climbing of Chain Gang into a final boulder problem that is about v5, but feels much harder after all the serious climbing that precedes it. I've been fortunate enough to have other people psyched to climb at The Helmet, and last week I was able to film Ian on a pretty solid attempt of No Climb. I was dangling from above, being blown by the wind and spun by the weight of the rope below me, so the camera work is not too good in parts of the footage. Despite this, I was able to get most of the real action. Ian is super close to sending, and should get it next trip out.

Before the video though, HUGE CONGRATS to Dustin, who sent his first (of many) 5.12 this same day. He crushed Demolition Derby, a powerful and pumpy climb on the right side of the cave. Old footage of Clayton working Demo Derby is here, and hopefully Dustin will soon post the pics I took of the send with his camera to his photo site. Strong work Dustin!

Ian on No Climb For Old Men:

Should have some footage of Clayton, Dustin and I bouldering up soon as well!