Late March I took a full day trip out to West Tahoe to climb the Leap with friend and partner Greg Cooper of Reno NV. A full day it was no doubt, we started our approach at 10AM after a 2hour car ride along 395 to the 50. Our first route of the day goes by the name Surrealistic Pillar and it is featured in the Supertopo book as well as Mountain Project, about 400ft split up by 3 pitches of 5.8/5.7 with some run out class 5 scrambling near the top. We ran out our 60m and cut it down to 2 pitches. From here you have a 30minute hike through the forest and up the mountain to get to the base of the main wall (from the top of Lower Buttress). We climbed the Traveler Buttress up the Main Wall beginning with a stout 5.9 offwidth which presented it's challenges as the face is relatively blank. Pitch two of the Buttress was my personal favorite as the exposure was superb and climbing up the massive dike ladders gives a strong sensation of victory with the pain of the offwidth behind us. The final pitch is more class5 scrambling with the tippy top of the entire crag in sight. This was an incredible opportunity to follow an experienced 5.10minus trad climber up one of the 50 great classic climbs of America (according to both Ueli Steck and Royal Robbins).
Rock/Climb Quality : 10/10 Size : 10/10 Accessibility : 9/10
More Information Available @ : http://www.mountainproject.com/v/lovers-leap/105733959
