Evilution Direct Third Ascent by Charlie Barrett

Just a quick note to mention a very impressive repeat of Evilution Direct (v11, E8?) by Charlie Barrett of Tahoe area, CA. This is NOT the original Evilution, done by Jason Kehl, but the right/direct version! Charlie's is only the third ascent as far as I know. Tony Lamiche did the FA in Nov 2002, and the line was repeated very soon after by Squamish, BC, climber Jordan Wright. Daniel Dulac famously broke his ankle falling twenty feet or so with his feet at the lip attempting the FA and was forced to fly home to France missing the Petzl Roc Trip for which he had arrived. Lamiche waited to the cool of the evening for the send.

While not a deadly line, it is very high and requires a very strong head. I'm suggesting an E8 for this -- making it perhaps the second most serious at the Buttermilks after The Beautiful and Damned -- not for the scare-factor entirely, but for this AND the sheer physical difficulty of the climbing. After the v10-ish 45-degree intro wall, there is a long committing heel-hook move at the lip to gain a good 1.5-inch edge about twenty feet up [since broken to become about 3/4-inch]. This is followed by some balancy reaches and careful half-blind step-ups. Not exactly gimme. It's been tried by all the best climbers, and while most have walked away some have not been so lucky!

Charlie says he had about 11 pads and climbed the problem after checking it out on rappel. He says he liked the direct line over the original, feeling it to be better looking with nicer holds and moves.

Thanks to Bonnie Hedlund for the photo.