R.O.T.C. (5.11c) Midnight Rock, Leavenworth, Washington

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R.O.T.C. (5.11c)

Nothing Yosemite Valley has to offer in the way of thin, steep cracks can beat R.O.T.C. There may be some close ties, but R.O.T.C. is everything a classic crack should be, and more. The route climbs a full-pitch, overhanging thin-finger-to-thin-hands crack, high above the Tumwater Canyon. It is a thing of beauty, and was for awhile an object of some controversy. According to popular lore, R.O.T.C. (an acronym for "Right Of Twin Cracks" or "Rather Overhanging Thin Crack" if you prefer) was first climbed in 1977 by Paul Boving, an eastern Washington native who, like Yosemite legend Jim Madsen, was greatly gifted and without fear. Also like Madsen, Boving died at the height of his career, in a fall from Index Town Walls' Thin Fingers route (5.11a), which he had also established as a free climb in 1976. Then in 1979, two outsiders claimed the first ascent of "Ratzy." When confronted with the news of Boving's free ascent, they scoffed; they had spent hours scrubbing dirt and lichen off the route, and stated that Boving must have been the greatest lichen and dirt climber ever if he free climbed the line. These remarks produced an equally sarcastic letter to the editor of Climbing magazine extolling the virtues of climbing lichen and dirt.

It remains uncertain who really made the first free ascent of R.O.T.C., but nobody cares any more, and it never did matter. Boving is credited with the first free ascent, as he should be. In any case, the controversy brought the route to everyone's attention, and several ascents were made within a short time of the second free ascent. It was a catalyst for Northwest locals, something to break them out of the "doldrums" following Madsen's, then Boving's, untimely deaths.

Even without the controversy, R.O.T.C. would have become popular. It is by far the finest singular thin crack climb of its rating on the West Coast, outside of Yosemite. Overhanging pumping fingertip jams gradually widen to fingers, then thin hands, and one flare which permits solid hand jams and the only "rest" on the entire pitch. Then it's more thin hands, more overhanging, until the wall eases to vertical. With forearms burning, the belay ledge is a welcome sight.

Getting to the pitch requires climbing one of several possible routes. The first two pitches of Wild Traverse (5.9) offer the easiest approach, although many parties use the more direct Sting (5.10b). The most direct, and most difficult, approach is the overhanging, leaning dihedral crack just below. Dubbed Stevens Pass Motel by its pioneer, Peter Croft, this unrelenting 5.12a pitch begins with a thin 5.11c face and ends with a poorly protected 5.12a flaring crack and face move to reach the belay ledge. This route, too, was the subject of some controversy, when another climber renamed the pitch "Falling Star" after claiming a first ascent of the direct finish. Again, it really doesn't matter. What is really important is that the Stevens Pass Motel-R.O.T.C. combination is the hardest multi-pitch crack climb in Leavenworth, a must-do classic.

Aside from the controversy, the most notable ascent of R.O.T.C. was Croft's 1985 free-solo ascent. Although crack climbing seems to be a lost art these days, a few climbers still manage to lead the pitch on-sight.


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