20 December 2022
Necronomicon 8b (+) trad by Mary Eden
Two weeks ago we reported that Bronwyn Hodgins had done the second female ascent of Necronomicon (8b) in The White Rim. The FFA was done by Mary Eden in October and here are her comments. (c) Spencer Mckay
"The challenging roof crack has a 12 ft crux of WC friend .75s surrounded by fists, baggy hands, hands, and thin hand sizes. Necronomiconโs slash grade of 8b/8b+ comes from whether or not the climber can thin-hand or hand jam the crux section of .75s. If the climber can get thin hands or hand jams in the .75 section, then the grade is 8b. If they have thick palms and have to ring lock, paddle hand, or finger bar the crux, the grade is 8b+.
The crux for me was the paddle hands and fat ring locks. I unfortunately have thick palms and cannot thin hand jam cracks protected with .75 cams. In the crux I used a sequence of a tight paddle hand(your hand stops at or before the knuckles on your hand and you โjamโ by lodging the knuckle as deep as possible while finger barring and hoping for the best) at my chest and a fat ring lock(a ring lock in which I tuck my thumb under the base of my index finger) above my head while keeping my toes (in the thinnest slippers I could find) jammed close to my hips in order to keep my body tension high and not slip out of the very thin offset .75 crux. The red point crux was getting into and leaving an awkward pod that comes immediately after the crux section of greens. Once you successfully navigate the pod with a double knee bar that allows you to go hands free, it's important to not allow the exit of the pod to push you off of the route, and continue the last 20 ft of mildly chossy roof crack climbing to the other side.
In 2020 I scouted the route, had two sessions on it, and made plans to return in the future. Unfortunately, I was unable to return to the route fully until October 2022. In 2021 I attempted a session with Ben Rueck in August, however, the extreme heat of 118 degrees fahrenheit shut all attempts down even though the route is perma shady. This fall I worked the route for 3 days, took 1 rest day, and then another 3 days until I secured the pink point. Then due to bruised palms, aching knees, and sore calves I took two rest days. The first day back and first burn I got the red point.
I climbed Necronomicon a bit differently than the ways it had been freed before. I opted to climb Necronomicon at an earlier start than the standard, a positive hold with a heel hook at the end of a dirty offwidth squeeze crawl. I chose to do the dirty offwidth crawl 10 ft further back in the cave because it felt personally lower energy to enter the roof earlier than precariously balancing on a rock stack.
I cannot put into words how beautiful, remote, and rewarding it is to climb down in the White Rim. The first time I saw the 30 meter roof crack, Necronomicon, there was a herd of bighorn sheep standing around the base, the sun lit up the sky for a cotton candy sunset, and the hardest looking crack Iโd ever thought about climbing loomed above. Climbing there has fully captured my imagination and curiosity. Climbing this kind of crazy stuff on adventures like this is honestly why I love rock climbing so freaking much. "
"The challenging roof crack has a 12 ft crux of WC friend .75s surrounded by fists, baggy hands, hands, and thin hand sizes. Necronomiconโs slash grade of 8b/8b+ comes from whether or not the climber can thin-hand or hand jam the crux section of .75s. If the climber can get thin hands or hand jams in the .75 section, then the grade is 8b. If they have thick palms and have to ring lock, paddle hand, or finger bar the crux, the grade is 8b+.
The crux for me was the paddle hands and fat ring locks. I unfortunately have thick palms and cannot thin hand jam cracks protected with .75 cams. In the crux I used a sequence of a tight paddle hand(your hand stops at or before the knuckles on your hand and you โjamโ by lodging the knuckle as deep as possible while finger barring and hoping for the best) at my chest and a fat ring lock(a ring lock in which I tuck my thumb under the base of my index finger) above my head while keeping my toes (in the thinnest slippers I could find) jammed close to my hips in order to keep my body tension high and not slip out of the very thin offset .75 crux. The red point crux was getting into and leaving an awkward pod that comes immediately after the crux section of greens. Once you successfully navigate the pod with a double knee bar that allows you to go hands free, it's important to not allow the exit of the pod to push you off of the route, and continue the last 20 ft of mildly chossy roof crack climbing to the other side.
In 2020 I scouted the route, had two sessions on it, and made plans to return in the future. Unfortunately, I was unable to return to the route fully until October 2022. In 2021 I attempted a session with Ben Rueck in August, however, the extreme heat of 118 degrees fahrenheit shut all attempts down even though the route is perma shady. This fall I worked the route for 3 days, took 1 rest day, and then another 3 days until I secured the pink point. Then due to bruised palms, aching knees, and sore calves I took two rest days. The first day back and first burn I got the red point.
I climbed Necronomicon a bit differently than the ways it had been freed before. I opted to climb Necronomicon at an earlier start than the standard, a positive hold with a heel hook at the end of a dirty offwidth squeeze crawl. I chose to do the dirty offwidth crawl 10 ft further back in the cave because it felt personally lower energy to enter the roof earlier than precariously balancing on a rock stack.
I cannot put into words how beautiful, remote, and rewarding it is to climb down in the White Rim. The first time I saw the 30 meter roof crack, Necronomicon, there was a herd of bighorn sheep standing around the base, the sun lit up the sky for a cotton candy sunset, and the hardest looking crack Iโd ever thought about climbing loomed above. Climbing there has fully captured my imagination and curiosity. Climbing this kind of crazy stuff on adventures like this is honestly why I love rock climbing so freaking much. "
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