Honeymoon Arete

I’ve eyed this arete since I first started climbing at Black Mountain. Life got busy with two young kids not long after I started climbing here, so I don’t make it back that often, but for my wife and my tenth anniversary my parents took the kids for three nights and we got to spend our second honeymoon climbing. Originally I imagined the arete being a continuation of the the alcove below it, but Dustin beat me to it and put up Log Skidder. The arete can be climbed as a variation of that start, but we cleaned along the edge of the face for a long, easy romp.

P1. Start as per “Unnamed 5.5 Crack” on the back side of Possum. At the top of the crack, cut up and left up slab, climbing a series of steps along the edge of the face, crossing Log Skidder and belaying from a two bolt anchor at the base of the arete. 5.5

P2. Step left from the belay up a series of steps past the first bolt (5.7) then back to the arete, climbing suprisingly positive holds on the right side, then finishing left through a beautiful, airy finish. Enjoy the view, fiddle with a small cam, then top out to a shared anchor with Log Skidder.

Start on the featured hand crack at the toe of the Dream wall, just past Possum.

Single rack to 3”. A small cam, 0, protects the top out.