Two New Lines In the Bank

I went out Tuesday (yesterday) to Dale's Camp to check out some projects up on the Xavier’s Roof Boulder. This boulder has had me staring every time I’ve been up there, as I’ve always wanted to see if the very high west side of the block, or the steeper northwest side would be climbable. But motivated by other things, I had never been there at the right moment to get to grips with it.

I was with Randy Puro, who remembers being at this boulder with Michi Tresch (a climber from Switzerland, who put up several great lines in Bishop about 10 years ago). Randy told me that he remembered Michi attempting at least one of the projects, the tall west-facing scoop, but doesn’t think he topped it out. He did however vouch for the fact that the ‘jump-start” line (listed in the guide on page 304 as unknown/project) had indeed been done, and he thinks it was by some guy (Will Perrin) from Wales!

I have been suffering from an injured left shoulder, so wasn’t about to attempt the very shouldery Xav’s Roof, which our friend Justin quickly dispatched, though I thought I could probably try one or two of the projects instead. I threw a rope over the boulder to check them out. The line that runs up and left to join the good patina of the jump-start problem turned out to be on excellent glassy rock and required only one hold to be cleaned! My first go, egged on by Randy’s encouragement, I made it through the climb. It is an amazing boulder!

Thanks to Jeff Sillcox for these photos:

The west-facing scoop is just as good, but very different--delicate and airy. It feels quite a bit more frightening than the above line despite being a lot less physical. Thanks again to Jeff Sillcox for the image:

In the Bank