Best Laid Plans

When you're at the base of Heart and Soul and staring off at the huge walls to the south, it's natural to wonder about all the possibilities for exciting big new lines. Then your gaze drifts to the left side of the wall and you see a very clean looking splitter crack that seems like it would be cool but kind of far off and maybe not all that tall. At first, "hmm, maybe that's a beautiful handcrack," but then again, "it's kind of far away, it could be pretty wide..." This is Best Laid Plans.

Thrash your way to the base. Leave your packs and solo up a 4th class chimney to a nice treed ledge below the start.

P1: 3 options for getting up the initial choss to the base of the crack, none of which are very good, but luckily not too hard and definitely short. Step over with huge exposure into the hand crack. It quickly widens and kicks back to overhanging OW. Thankfully there are some face holds. Belay at the small ledge in the scoop. 5.11

P2: Start up the last bit of overhangingness and let the off vertical but ever widening crack ingurgitate you. Eventually it's too wide for the #6 C4 to keep being walked as your moving top rope; leave it, you're in it to win it now. After a while you can jam some small cams in shallow horizontals. Pull on to the top and belay off the nice shiny bolts. 5.10 R

There is definitely room to continue this one for a few more pitches up the arête if you're so inclined.

When at Heart and Soul, look south and it's on the far left end of the buttress. We bushwhacked and 4th classed from underneath it but it would probably be the most straightforward to go to the base of Heart and Soul and contour over to the base. If you do this you'll go by many old, partially forgotten routes, most of which were aid soloed by Ron Raimonde.

Single rack to #2. Doubles of #3 to #6 (new BD C4 sizes). A blue big bro might work for protecting the top.

I think you could rap from the P2 anchor to the ledge at the base of P1 with a single 70, but won't guarantee it. 2 ropes lets you rap straight back to the packs.