Monster OW leading up to the Alcove

This is a shot of the 5 to 10 inch (125mm to 250mm) offwidth crack that leads up to the Alcove. This pitch is part of the Bermuda Dunes route. It's also the easy (5.10d/5.11a) free variation of the Salathe that bypasses the 5.13a thin crack above the Ear.

Have fun, kids.

I led this fine section (C1, with Valley Giant cams) in the dark, with no headlamp or flashlight. There was no possible way to get off-route. All I had to do was finger-feel that the cams were seated properly. BETA: the crack gets small enough for fists for a short section near the top. Moving past a bush growing in the same crack below this photo is the crux of that pitch.

This photo was taken the next day, when I had to rap down to free a haul pig that got impossibly stuck below a small roof. The other haul pig came up cleanly. Guffigure.

Notice the use of the big cams for the belay. We replaced one of the bolts there with a new one.