Fathom Direct - 5.10b

Awesome adventure w/ Tim. We leapfrogged pitches. Camped out at a great site at the Panthertown parking area. Hike in to base of route took us 2 hours. Pitch 1: "Have and Not Need" 5.10c, 5 bolts (R). Pitch 2: 5.9+ Traverse 2 bolts and 2 pieces of gear (R). Pitch 3: 5.10a bolts and gear (PG13). Pitch 4: 5.10a bolts and gear (PG13). Pitch 5: 5.10d bolts and gear (R). Pitch 6: 5.10a Joins up w/ Fathom for awesome roof move, bolts and gear (G). Pitches 7 and 8 were wet so we rappelled with two 60s from here. Pitches 3 and 4 could easily be linked. 1 set of cams from smallest tcu to 2.0 camelot is more than sufficient, there is not much gear on this route. 2 hours back to camp. Really enjoyed this route, but it is def heads up, would recommend adequate slab experience and a strong head. For the record, I was anemic and sleep deprived when we did this thing and diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a few days later. The hike out felt hard!

I just got done with three routes at laurel--others unknown. I thought they were great--fathom direct included. But every one had no fall ground at 5.9 or 5.10, and insecure. I thought the crux was the 6th pitch of fathom. Do people aid that spot? It seemed much harder than anything on Fathom Direct.
I made the hike twice. Second time out took me 70 minutes; my partner Tyler, 20 years younger, took 55 minutes. The hike is nice.

This was my first multipitch. I climbed it with my friend Andrew. He led the whole thing.

long!

This route is actually Begoon Offenbacher. Fathom starts over left up the slanting corner and joins Begoon Offenbacher at the top of the 4th anchor. Fathom Direct starts between the two and joins B/O after a pitch or two and I think you could either finish B/O or Hone Ranger. I thought the first 3 pitches and the headwall (6th pitch) were all about the same difficulty at mid 5.10, although the 3rd and 6th were better protected than the 1st and 2nd.