"The Hardest Aid Lead in America"

Yeah, right. Well, at one time (c. 1972) this WAS considered the hardest aid lead in America. And now? The 6th pitch of the Excalibur is nothing more than a mild hammerfest in the Park: A3 or A3+ using pins, heads and hooks. Dr. Piton is shown here surgically making short work of this "approach pitch" to the real reason we went to the Valley to party: the W-I-D-E stuff. The off-offwidths of P8-P9 are clearly visible directly above his head. The shallow V at the very top of the rock is where the climb ends, a mere 2000 feet or so higher.