DarthAider
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From Ben Williams (4/29/03): Darth Aider is an aid route (big surprise) that was freed in the eighties by (i think) Alan Kerry. The route is on the buttress to the south of clubhouse rd. The route has been done in two pitches historically. The first pitch climbs to a bolted hanging belay underneath the prominent roof after following a rotten 5.10 crack with a bolt. The second pitch is the crux. It continues underneath the roof and up the left-facing flake passing a couple of bolts and a fixed pin. It then moves left into a splitter hand crack that narrows down near the anchors. A variation second pitch traverses across a ledge with bolts instead of following the flake. After a short stint in a thin crack, it rejoins the original route at the hand crack mentioned above.
Gear: Standard rack with emphasis on 1-3 camalots. This is not a sport route. I've given it a "PG" rating because all the bolts on the route are relics, and because the gear at the crux is not so great. Although i've never tested it, it has failed several times for a few others, resulting in 25+ foot falls on 1/4" bolts. I'm told none of the bolts were there for the original free ascent, so it begs the question: if you're going to retro-bolt a route, why not do it with modern gear?
Check it out- Dick Dower was a columbia climber in the 70's/80's and has WAY? COOL? photos from Early attempts at Darth Aider on his rockclimbing.com profile:
http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos.php?Photographer=kappydane
Better directions for the approach: Go south from club house road past the noisy cows. After 100 yds(?), head up the hillside to the buttress. There is no real trail, but its easy in the winter time. The route is obvious to find; its the nasty looking crack that leads to a cool flake. It can be helpful to have Floyd's book because he has a picture of the route. There used to be red webbing hanging from the first belay.
Other tips: The first pitch is really more like 5.8, but everyone just calls it .10. Its easiest to have one leader for the route. The fixed pin is kinda bent and can be hard to clip. We used to leave a biner/snap link on it to clip into instead. Bolts on route are suspect, but have held falls. There are good anchors at the top, so no more need to walk off.
Tidbits: Some of the surrounding rock is pretty good. Lots of potential- duncan did many of the possible lines, including one on gear to the left of darth that is hard, scary, and unrepeated.
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