Burgundy Spire, Action Potential (III+ 5.10c)

 The East face of Burgundy Spire, pretty sweet looking, Man I was just here a couple days ago.

I climbed Ultra Mega OK (III+ 5.11a) just a few days prior not even realizing that Action Potential started about 10 feet to the Left. The cracks on the right are the start of Ultra Mega and the arching flake crack is the start of Action Potential. Man does that granite look good.

Me on the crux of the first pitch pulling over these crazy looking roofs, they look like they are going to be really hard but end up only being 5.9. That is sort of the story with the whole route, pitches look like they are going to be run out and hard but cracks and holds appear right were you need them most

No pitch was more like that than the third pitch, you almost can't even see any cracks and it looks like a blank slab with a slightly overhanging blank face above. Little did Jason Broman know that the slab had a 5.7 finger crack in it and the slab had two cracks and only a one move wonder 5.9. I wish we had some photos of the crux but alas. It is quite fun and it looks like it was even scrubbed a little. From the top of the 2nd pitch it traverses slightly left and pulls a blocky roof and gains a sweet and sustained 5.10c finger crack.  after climbing the finger crack for around 80ft it then breaks out and climbs a bunch of steep, juggy and slightly spooky flakes to a belay.

After the spooky flakes pitch Jason traversed around the corner for a fun pitch of 4th class to the base of a huge chimney.

Here I am climbing up the chimney. I don't think I stopped to short and climbed a full 200ft pitch to a ledge, of fun but sometimes loose chimney climbing. After the chimney was really the only downer of the entire climb, a 150ft kitty litter OW, the rock wasn't bad fort the whole pitch but when it was bad, it was way bad. I broke a hug foot hold and almost took a 50 footer. This lead to the Shoulder of Burgundy Spire. There was a group of three guys climbing up the regular North face route who where confused where we came from. We finished on the Original Becky finish, something I had never done before, it climbs right up the left hand arete past a small 5.8 roof with an old 1/4 bolt.  then follows just below the skyline on the north side until the final summit OW. We rapped down and packed up our bags, giving up on hopes to climb Varden Creek Spire the next day because of an impending storm.