Carnage (aka "Wild Virus")

At one time the hardest route at Shelf,

Carnage

is the striking, S-shaped arete listed in "Shelf Road Rock" as "Wild Virus". I believe I've made the First Free Ascent, so I've taken the liberty of re-naming it "Carnage", which I think fits nicely with the names of Shelf's other 5.13ds, "Damage" & "Triage". Though Carnage is certainly not the best hard route at Shelf, it is considerably better than it looks from the ground, and is certainly worth doing if you climb at the grade. The movement is technical, powerful & improbable, with a number of sequence options that rely more on technique than finger strength. There are numerous hard sections, but there is also a no-hands, sit-down rest at the ledge, which makes this a line that clearly favors the boulderer. The crux is characterized by thin crimping, arete slapping, and technical footwork. There is some dubious-looking rock in the middle, but nothing ever broke, and the business sections all feature excellent stone.

Begin up an easy slab, then make an awkward traverse left to a stance at the lip of the roof. Devious 5.11-ish moves bear-hug up the double arete. An easy runout past the third bolt leads to the ledge. Chossy looking (though surprisingly solid) cream stone leads up and right to a juggy flake on the arete proper and another shake. A few tricky moves in the V5 range gain a pair of sloping crimps, a chance to clip and one final shakeout before the crux. An ultra subtle V10-ish boulder problem slaps directly up the arete to reach the obvious horizontal pod at the 8th bolt. The route is capped with another 20 feet or so of mid-5.12 climbing, with big, commiting moves between relatively good holds.

Carnage is the striking arete ~40 feet left of the Hot Beach Wall. Its also the second bolted line left of

Super Suka

, and the second bolted line right of

The Cure for the Common Crimp

.

10 gold coldshuts to 2BA. Stick clip recommended.