Hats Off

Hats Off is located on Rock of Ages.

P1. Climb the first pitch of

Days of Heaven

and belay.

P2. Do the first few moves of the second pitch then continue straight up a thin tips crack (12a). Climb up this seam until you are eye level with a row of grips heading right. Place a good piece of gear high in the crack and campus right. The hand holds are pretty good, but the feet really suck. One can place a medium wire about halfway out the traverse. Continue traversing until you slab out on the far right shoulder of the cliff. The gear on this route is not easy to place. The RPs and TCUs are all solid but require some jiggery-pokery.

Hats Off is a hard route to on-sight! One has to be good at placing small pro and moderately bold. The crux pitch is a good candidate for a pre-load. There is no fixed anchor on top.

Descend down the east slabs.

This route requires small TCUs and RPs. Double up on TCUs purple through yellow. Several #4 and #5 RPs would also be a good idea.