Thirteen Words for Choss.

Choss, mank, friable, schmarm, pile, sand, soft, kitty litter, corn-flakes, junk, crap, etc...

A route with some rock that looks too poor to climb, but is actually worse than that. I am not posting this to invite others to try the route- this is a warning.

Years ago in an article on Red River Gorge, and Author said 'They say that the Eskimos have 15 different words for snow, because it is so central to their lives, and in Red River, there are 20 words for "pumped."

You should be getting the picture by now. I think I thought of about 10 words for Choss on the way up this thing, and between I and my partner, the indecipherable muttering heard throughout the canyon could have been interpreted as us inventing a few more.

Never before have I heard myself say on lead "Uh, look out, this is going to come down when I move, and I can't stop it... just watch me." I have a nice long scrape and cut now. On his turn, my partner followed and said that he had never been so scared while climbing on TR in his life.

The route climbs the zig-zag finger cracks (5.8) to a ledge perhaps 4-5 meters up, then up some questionable holds, flexible flakes, expanding jams and dubious gear to the top out, to join the slab. Go up the slab for perhaps 8 meters to a rap station (rope on a huge in-cut horn), or to the nice summit and retreat back to the horn. Rap 70' to the ground.

On the N.E. end of Shadowfax's lower, Eastern summit spire one can see a left-facing flake system that runs from the ground, where the rock is a good zig-zag finger crack, to the upper section of the wall through obviously loose flakes. This is "Thirteen Words For Choss."

A set of stoppers and cams to 3".

A few long slings.

Steel nuts (figuratively).