Schwanensee

This route follows cracks and a chimney, which are completely to the right of

Schvondelagunst

, joining that route for the last 20 feet. It is really the antithesis of a ballet, such as “Swan Lake.” The initial crack is the burly crux, which I ignominiously dry-humped, fighting to get my right toe into the severely undercut crack. The face to the left has zero useful texture; the uniform roughness just crumbled away as so many ball bearings. With my stomach high-centered on the bulge and my rack stuck against my right hip, long reaches with my right hand struggled for handjams and fistjams. I placed a old-style #3.5 Friend, a #9 Trango Flexcam (equivalent to 3.5 Camalot), and then a #2 Camalot.

Atop the short chimney is a crumbling mushroom cap, which I slung. I continued up lower-angle cracks in decent rock. The exit is shared with that of the route to the left. I belayed from its two-bolt anchor and brought up Grant.

It is ten feet right of

Schvondelagunst

.

A standard rack through #4 new-style Friend. Big hexes can be helpful.