Little Cottonwood Canyon

Fat Grips

Crystal Pinch Variation

We drove up to SLC on our rest day which was Tuesday. We got a tour of Little Cottonwood Canyon that afternoon since Shannon was out there climbing. We looked at the left side of the main canyon between the Secret Garden and the Standard Overhang. The next morning we headed out early to catch good temps. The high was 58 degrees Fahrenheit but that was still too hot for the granite of LCC. We warmed up in the Secret Garden, and I climbed on Fat Grips with Pat. I tried this climb in early June 2 years ago, and flailed in the warm temps. The climb felt better today, but I was still unable to link the moves, so I tried some new beta. I used a different sequence involving an arete and a very subtle heel hook. I ended up leaving the climb until the evening in the hope for good temps. We drove up the canyon and I climbed on this Squamish-esque lip traverse called Butt Trumpet. I tried the climb consistently for the better part of an hour, and was able to keep enough tension to send on what was supposed to be my last try. Then we headed to the Standard Overhang. I climbed on Superfly with Pat. Superfly is basically a two move boulder problem that starts on a crescent crimp rail, does a move to a right hand crimp, and then throws to a jug over the top of a bulge. I tried this climb 5 times before giving up and climbing on other boulder problems. I flashed the Crystal Pinch and did the variation from the start of Superfly shortly thereafter. The variation has a really badass move that consists of a move to a gaston and then a handfoot match. I also did the Standard Overhang which is probably one of the best boulder problems that I have done in LCC. Later that evening I went back and tried Fat Grips and ripped part of the rubber off my Sportiva Viper heel. I called it a day after that and went back to Shannon's place to recover and get ready for Joe's Valley the next day.