Revenue Village: Proud Face; Climb day (Last of the season?)

Thinking that it could be the last day of the rock season (at least out at the Village anyway) Sam, Terra, Cady, Manfred and I braved the cold wind and got some climbing in. Trying to find the easy way up to the rock, took us of the normal route and Sam found an awesome obsidian arrowhead! Less than a mile from where I found the mortar pestle. Eventually, we got to the rock (which is the hardest and furthest to get to in the Village) in about an hour. With too little time to clean any of the routes, we deemed top-roping the fastest and safest way to climb. Leading unclimbed routes in the Village is not something I recommend. The rock has tons of feldspar(?) crystals which simultaneously makes for fun but potentially dangerous climbing. Some of the crystals will, and do, break. Breaking holds usually results in a climber fall. Therefore, I like to swing around on top rope and get rid of the bad holds and scrub off the lichen where needed. Not to mention get the dirt out of the cracks. The motto of my area is 'trust the crystals' and it is so much easier to do when you know the route has been cleaned. Anyway, Sam and I got to climb 'Proud Face' 5.10d(?) and 'Proud Face Crack' 5.8 while Cady only got PF Crack. Terra and Manfred opted to stay in the sunshine which we were all very jealous of. Sam moved the rope over to 'The Fugitess Crack' and we both got burned out real quick. I was hoping it would go at 5.12 and now Im pretty darn sure it does! The Village needs some hard routes and this one is worth the walk. I didnt want to dream about it all winter with no attempts so luckily I got some. I put that curiosity to bed. I grabbed everything out of the cache that I dont like to leave through the winter, loaded up the pack and we hiked out as the sun was setting. The views from the ridge in any direction at anytime of day are spectacular, but the sunsets are particularly beautiful.

Me post traverse on Proud Face

Me figuring out Proud Face Crack. The trick for this wide crack is to stay out of it!

Fugitess laps. Hard. Steep. Cold this day.

My cheer squad!

Sammy sailing through Proud Face faster than me.

Proud Face shares the splitter crack start but traverses left at the first bend in the crack. PF Crack finishes right (out of sight) of the upper arete.

If it wasnt for Hollowtop Mountain, I would say Ward Peak is the most iconic mountain in the Tobacco Roots.