Mark of the Beast (666)

This was shown to me in 2011 by Jeff Popko. He put in some top rope anchors, and I managed to get the first clean ascent on TR. Jeff later went back and managed to fight his way up it on lead for the true FA. On his impressive lead, he managed the burly, OW/squeeze roof with 3 #6 BD Camalots, hence the name (666). I recently went back and tried to lead it with the addition of a #7 and #8. The 7 was very helpful and not as tipped out as the #6 in the middle of the roof. The #8 fits but gets in the way.

The pitch starts with an overhanging, thin hands dihedral then ramps out with an easy fist crack up into the roof (there is an old pin on the ramp that was put in as anchor by a prior ascent of just the bottom half). Now wedge yourself into the horizontal squeeze/chimney/roof, and armbar across. The movement through the roof crux is really bizarre and seemingly impossible.

Hike up a streambed into an alcove across from

Interiors

. It’s on the right side of the alcove. You will know it when you see it. See the photo.

BD 1 x #0.5, #0.75, #3, #4, #5; 2x #1; 3x #6 (optional 1-2x BD # 7 if you own them - they are definitely helpful).