Basic Rock Climb - Lexington Tower/North Face

Start time: 7:00 am

The snow was entirely melted out, so we followed the normal summer trail/route up, reaching the base of the climb about 8:30 am

Everyone got through the 1^st 2 pitches including the crux with little difficulty.  We were careful to place copious gear on the traversing 3^rd pitch and all did well reaching the summit.  We hung out for a bit for snacks and views, but chose not to linger too long, wanting to avoid a 3^rd pitch traffic jam with another party that was starting up.

We set up a traversing rappel line following a string of gear placements to avoid potential pendulum fall, having Clayton and Danielle unclip and re-clip gear.  Managing the rappel while traversing wasn’t smooth and in retrospect, we agreed a prussic with personal anchor on the rope and a tighter line would have been easier to manage

From the top of the second pitch we did 2 rappels to get down.  Both came very close to the ends of our 60m ropes.  Don’t forget the knots!

We repacked and it was a quick hike out.

Lexington’s North Face is a nice, relatively quick climb with good rock, fun moves, and exposes students to traverse-climbing without too much risk.  Everyone did great and it was a fun day.