White Punks On Dope

Guyzo, two 50's for the rap? Down Voodoo CHil' wtf?

"White Punks on Dope, III 5.8
It was spring of 1976 Scott Edmiaston and I were up to our usual antics of hanging out in the Kern River Canyon. Climbing was still pretty new to us but we had made an unconscious commitment of immersing ourselves in this fascinating activity. The freedom to explore new terrain and create a different adventure each day was truly addicting. As climbers, we had a blank slate but which to draw, given the vast resources of rock we had in our backyard.

During our ventures to "The Canyon" we encountered Richard Leversee, an individual with similar vision to ours. Richard had the good fortune to have a base camp at his parents cabin at Camp Nelson near Dome Rock and the Needles. Richard's main focus had been at Dome Rock, where he pioneered many of that rock's classic routes. However, on this occasion, Richard had mention of a new line to climb on Voodoo Dome, the most massive formation of the Needles and one of the tallest as well. This open invitation had Richard and his partner Todd Burrell, Scott and myself embarking immediately on a very special adventure.

We negotiated various game trails starting just north of Needlerock Creek below the dome. The route, situated left of center on Voodoo Dome's broad south face was to follow a series of cracks to a long section of slab below the top. Richard forged ahead on the initial lead up a broad left facing corner below the apex of a colorful arch/headwall. Climbing a wonderfully featured straight-in crack, he stopped at a small stance to belay just as the cracks seemed to disappear. Todd led through, finding good, but sparse protection on delicate face moves to the headwall above. Showing true boldness, Todd didn't hesitate to master the moves over the headwall. Adding to our awe of his boldness was watching Todd downclimb the move after he realized how wild the exposure was at the lip! After rationalizing for a minute, Todd continued up, finding a great belay in an cave hidden above the headwall.

While Scott was climbing up, I tunneled through a hole at the top of the cave and scrambled up an easy and interesting chimney. Richard and I made it to a large ledge below an impressive wavelike left facing corner while Scott and Todd followed. Richard and I took turns mastering moves up past some plants and sod at the thinnest spot of the crack in the corner. Richard finally made it through with some continuous finger laybacking. Higher, the crack in the corner cut left into a small roof and back to a corner again. The crack at this point became about eight inches wide and with no protection to fit for the next thirty feet, Richard decided to squeeze chimney! A fall back into the main corner would not be pretty from his position. After thrilling himself and the rest of us emotionally, Richard hauled himself onto a beautiful small ledge below a huge expanse of slab. While following Richard's lead we discovered that though scarier, that an undercling to a layback was much less traumatic than his squeeze chimney.

I took the next lead, heading directly right from our belay a few feet to a system of black knobs. I then ran it out straight-up to a big stance and placed a bolt. Delicate moves out right and up got me to a faint watercourse where I was able to place two more bolts on the way. Heading for a huge pine tree on a ledge above took some route finding. Climbing down a bit, or to the side, then up, and back was pretty standard for this pitch. The final run-out to the tree was pretty horrendous. That fact hadn't occurred to me while I focused on the climbing. Little did I know, but everyone at the belay was wagering on the quantity of the bolts that I would place on that lead!

We discovered a great finger crack to be the final pitch left of the huge pine tree. Richard went ahead and soon got us all on easier terrain and the summit at dusk. We slowly picked our way through the forest back down to Needlerock Creek. Truly, the descent was more epic that our climb. We had to crab craw without the aid of lights for what seemed like an eternity.

Since that day, many others have passed by way of this route, to enjoy its continuously fun and varied climbing. I personally have returned just about each year since to recapture the those great moves. The route has changed little since 1976. The plants in the corner have since been cleaned and the old bolts have been replaced. White Punks is considered by some to be the best moderate freeclimb in the Southern Sierra. I hope it will continue to be an inspiration to others as it has been to me in the search of the climbing experience."

I'll show you the smooth and FAST way down....

You've been to GOD? Tell me everything please.