Shangri-La

I check out a new area at Exit 38 called Shangri-La with James yesterday. There's some information here and here about this new crag. I had heard tales of this rock being amongst the best quality at 38 and comparable to Index, with long routes and even some trad. So we went with high expectations, and we were not disappointed. The routes are long and very involving, and you need your full bag of tricks for them.

James at Shangri-La. Its hard to get a good photo of the crag.

We warmed up on a 10cish climb called Crouching Tiger, it was a really fun technical route on grippy slopers. Next up was History Book a 10a corner crack. I had to do a bit of gardening on my way up (its much cleaner now), but it was still pretty enjoyable, despite my at times questionable gear placements. My favorite route on this wall was Hidden Dragon, a long and devious 11c or so. I had to use every inch of my 5'8" +1 reach on a couple of spots. It was so much fun to be climbing pure onsight, with not a dab of chalk on the route, figuring out moves and improvising beta on the fly. The most challenging route I did was Hypertension, which starts up a V4ish boulder problem start that involves a painful pinky jam, that I finally figured out after using an excessive amount of tape. Its not over there though, it makes you think all the way to the chains, where I opted to reach out left manteling bad slopers to lunge for a thank god jug, I normally climb quietly and efficiently but this route required a couple of power screams, I'm glad I didn't blow it at the end. This route gets 5.11+, but it'd be one of my hardest ever 5.11's. I think 12a may be more appropriate.

James follows up Small Arms Fire

We checked out the rest of the routes there, some of which look very good, some of which need a lot more cleaning, there is potential for even more routes there. We finished up on a fun 10b Small Arms Fire, which is a rap in-climb out, route, a great way to finish off the day.