Valentine Crack

The main right-facing crack system about in the center of the Dragon Arch Buttress. Dragon Arch climbs are a bit gritty and this one is no exception. This climb starts relatively easy with a tough 5.8 move (protects with #2 Camalot perfectly), then progresses into a lengthy lie-back sequence. There were 2 additional pitons below the 5.8 crux. The belay station has shifted upwards by about 10-15 feet from the Ruckman guide, so bypass the three old pitons, and instead stop at the slung flake. The upper pitch is wide and hard to protect if you don't have the larger gear; however, this is where the climbing gets better. Wide crack on your left, bottomed seam to your right, gritty face underneath. Do you chicken-wing up, face climb, or come up with another way to climb this crack? Barring the gritty rock, this climb is good. If more people climbed it, it would vastly improve. hint hint. Cleaned up, this route would rate two stars.

Bring a standard rack, heavy on the large stuff. Cams seemed especially nice in a couple of locations, otherwise hexes, worked fine.