Thindependence

This is a one pitch route that begins from the top of the flake that marks the start of

Pear Buttress

. It can thus be used as a start to

Loose Ends

,

Pear Buttress

, or

Visual Aids

. You can start the pitch by leading the first half of Pear Buttress and then traversing left on the ledge with blocks that marks the top of the flake, although this can cause rope-drag and also increases the possibility of ledge-fall. Perhaps more common is to start from a belay platform just down and left of the flake, or you can boulder up onto the flake and establish your belayer there. You can access this platform by scrambling down from the staging area at the base of Howling at the Wind, Fat City Crack, and Toot (a good option if planning to rappel), or by scrambling up and around from the base of Pear Buttress.

The route begins from the middle of the flake and follows two very thin but good cracks on perfect rock up to the sloping ledge of the three above mentioned routes. Small nuts work really well; small cams are bomber at the crux but plug the crucial locks. I recommend continuing with

Visual Aids

and

Cheap Date

for a challenging route with 3 pitches of exquisite, mid-5.10 finger cracks on perfect rock--an unheralded link-up that is one of the best routes at Lumpy Ridge. However, if you don't want to continue, you can lead up either Loose Ends or Pear Buttress to the fixed rappel anchor at the top of P2 of Pear Buttress. From here, you can rappel west (NOT down the route) with a single 60-meter rope down to the base of the Howling at the Wind Dihedral, in the vicinity of the route Toot.

Small stoppers (including RPs), small camming units, and a #3 Friend.