357 aka Angel (free version)

A classic steeply overhanging jam crack that angles out the left side of the Alcove, that goes from #4 camalots size to blue TCUs.  

Originally done as an aid route by Steve Depuis and Aaron Rashaw in 1998 and called 357 after a wildlife encounter- "Steve and I were sleeping in a tent when a bear started circling. Steve said to me "Cover your ears," then fired off a couple warning shots with his 357. All you heard was the Bear thrashing through the woods at high speed." - Aaron Rashaw

It wasn't until 2013 that Conor Cliffe and Tom Draper freed the route, renaming it Angel, with Conor describing it as  "some of the best pure crack climbing in the Northeast".

P1: 5.13 Climb an unprotected but easy layback corner to a horizontal rail that trends left towards a stance in an alcove below the main crack. Looming above are three significant cruxes, two much needed rests, and a whole lot of burly crack climbing in between. Battle a section of #4s to the first crux, which is comprised of sequential tight finger jams at weird angles. Get to the next wide looking section and find yourself in a great rest where you can liberally swap between hand jams and forget how steep it is. When you're fresh again progress through a pumpy section leading to another crux where the crack makes a V. Navigate this using tricky beta and you'll find yourself traversing a juggy rail only to wind up putting your whole leg into a hole that goes all the way to the knee. Rest up and tackle that last little redpoint crux. Mantle to the anchor stance, you earned it.  - 70', two bolt anchor, though you may want to construct a gear anchor if you are going to belay here for the second pitch. No 357 needed, but you are going to need your guns.

P2: 5.12a Continue up the corner and switch back left. Follow the short and burly horizontal (fingers) to pull around the lip. 40' Currently no fixed anchor and dirty. You will have to continue up the low angles dirty cracks to the top out. Not really recommended in its current state.

Gear: Bring doubles from #4 down to .2ish. New 4"x 3/8"s stainless steel bolt anchor added on 9/29/2019 for the first pitch.

This is the left most route in the alcove we did. It is a right leaning/overhanging crack. As one exits the top of the alcove there seemed to be a bunch of dirty crack options for a second pitch.

Doubles from .2ish up to #4 Camalots, tape. New 4"x 3/8"s stainless steel bolt anchor added on 9/29/2019 for pitch 1.