Video from Capstan Session

For the past week I had been hoping to finish off a project on Capstan Rock, an endeavor not aided by the soul-sucking "controversy" of the previous posts. This was the excellent and rarely repeated Daydreamer Direct SDS, put up by the amazingly strong but unknown Xander Oxman. This is a series of difficult crimp moves along the right arete of the formation culminating with a long throw to the Just Right pocket and the finish. Though graded by Jonathan Siegrist at V9, it feels exponentially harder than the V9 given to the lower start to Just Right and is comparable to every V10 I have done, not just for Flag.

Sunday afternoon was breezy and cool, prime conditions for the small crimps on the problem and as I was settling in for another session, Dave Graham and crew pulled up and decided to try the SDS for Just Right. It was amazing to watch how quickly the moves started being put together for this problem and it was obvious that Jimmy Webb was going to do it. While for purists, the start off the shelf is not a true SDS, starting in the hole on the left is not going to add much to the problem, except an awkward squatting traverse. Jimmy started from the shelf and the undercling on the left which is where the business begins. In the video, you see him already having started. I had to sprint up to the camera to press "record." In my view, Jimmy's start will become standard. If the name is confusing, it has more to do with the difference between a crouch and a sit. Call it Direct Just Right ,per Chip's guide, I suppose.

This problem has had quite a reputation over the years including a description of Daniel Woods getting rebuffed by the crux throw. It is certainly one of the best lines on the mountain and I was psyched to see a proper straightforward send. Jimmy Webb is one of the most talented and under-assuming boulderers in the country. He had flashed a notorious V12, Burnout, earlier that afternoon, so taking a few tries to do what he proposed was V11 makes sense.

After he did JR, I got on Daydreamer Direct and had a burn getting fairly high but not past the crux. A few minutes later, another try was more successful, getting to the pocket but now pretty pumped. There was a stab to the edge over the lip and then a struggle to get over the lip and the problem was done.