Forward Never Straight (a.k.a. Shade of Grey)

This line lies immediately right of The

Greatest Route

at Greyrock, and sports a strikingly similar opening sequence through a short, right-facing dihedral capped by a roof ten feet off the deck.

P1: Boulder through the roof on good handjams (5.9), and follow cracks and face climbing to the left edge of a roof band to meet a second, much thinner, crux (5.9) with tricky pro. Pull the moves to gain a belay at a horizontal crack (hand-sized & larger cams). 5.9, 110 feet.

P2: Head straight up the face (9-) off the belay, passing two nice 3/8" bolts along the way to a seam. Continue up seams and face climbing - slightly runout - aiming right through quartzite terrain to find a suitable spot to belay near the huge P3 dihedral of

Barfy's Favorite

. 5.9-, 120 feet.

P3: Bearing right, climb the face, with cracks, above, passing a large dead tree. This face is "around the corner," so to speak, of the P3 dihedral of

Barfy's

. The angle eases and climbing leads to a convenient belay on a large ledge, also shared with

Barfy's

. 5.7+, 120 feet.

P4: This pitch is the same as P4 of

Barfy's Favorite

. Ascend the face or corner rising off the ledge (5.7 either way) to a right-facing corner and roof about 40 feet out. Pull through the squat overlap on good jams (5.7) and paddle up the crack above to a belay on/near the summit plateau. Better than P3. 5.7, 200+ feet.

Ten or fifteen feet right of The

Greatest Route

at Greyrock lies a right-facing corner with a roof about ten feet off the ground. This is the start to Forward Never Straight. The second pitch runs parallel to the

Greatest Route

.

A standard rack up to #3 Camalot is fine for this climb, with an emphasis on small pro for the first pitch.