Vultures

Vultures is the striking thin finger crack that splits a blank wall to the left of the obvious roofs. If you aren't into sport climbing or you want a warm up before the harder stuff, Vultures is probably the route you came here to do.

It doesn't look that bad, really, as the wall is a bit undervertical and there seems to be many options for your feet. The crack is splitter, and it looks like it offers some good fingerlocks. You might think to yourself that Vultures could be a quick tick, that it's massive reputation as one of the harder 5.10s in New Hampshire is a bit overblown.

I thought these things, that is, until I found myself ten feet up, with one gray TCU in, blindly groping at the crack that most decidedly would not accept my fingers. And those footholds that looked so great were just bad small enough, or polished enough, or something, that they did not inspire confidence at all. In a word, I underestimated the crack.

This is what I think Vultures really is: a standing testament to the climbing skill of its first ascentionists and a testpiece that is sure to test climbers from any era.

Yeah, so climb the thin crack to bolt anchors. It doesn't look too bad, does it?

Thin. TCUs and stoppers. I didn't use anything bigger than a yellow TCU.