Todd Skinner on Sphinx Crack, South Platte, 1986.

Hugh Herr and I had driven out to Colorado after Hugh’s climb of City Park, because Hugh had a vision of climbing more of the hardest cracks in America and wanted to get right on Sphinx Crack. (What is it with these climbers and their visions?) We spent several days there, working on the route. Our routine was: Jeff leads up over the roof until he falls off, then Hugh takes over and tries to climb the rest of the crack. I was just able to undercling out the roof, but tried the crack a couple of times and got nowhere. Hugh did better, getting about halfway up a couple of times but not really coming close. Thankfully, after a few days, several other climbers showed up, including Jimmy Surette and Todd Skinner. This allowed me to set up a rappel for photos, which turned out okay, but the best angle was at the top of the slabs off to the left of Sphinx Rock. Pretty soon, John Sherman shows up and we’re elbowing each other for position to shoot photos of Todd on the route. This photo is of Todd’s last attempt on the route that day. The next day, Hugh and I drove into Boulder and spent the next two weeks climbing in Eldorado Canyon, never to return to solve the riddle of the Sphinx. Nobody else did that summer, either.