Little Lark Crack

Nice straight-up hand crack that my friend Pete talked me into doing after we did the classic Spire Four route in August 2005. It is such a nice crack that I'm sure someone else has done it, and it may be in some guidebook, but it hadn't been recently climbed.

It was a bit dirty and there were a few loose rocks, but I intentionally knocked most of them out. Plenty of secure jams. Maybe a couple of wide spots, I rested on a knee jam at one point, but it doesn't climb like an off-width. It was extra fun because we didn't know what we were getting into but it worked out well.

At "the top" is a good irregular ledge. When you are on the ledge there is an overhang above you, but daylight from a slot/chimney at the back. To descend we slung a low wide spur (that represented a significant part of the ledge) with a cordelette and rapped off.

Unexplored possibilities: from the ledge there may be a thin and sketchy traverse left to the Spire Four route, or there is a slot/chimney going away from the Spire Four route that may lead to some kind of real top out (but not on the main spire).

I'm curious if anyone else has experience with it. Does it have an original name (I made up Little Lark Crack)? Is there a top out with a good way down?

This is just to orient you - Start on the saddle for the 5.4 Spire Four route. In the alley, facing the Spire Four chimney, there are 2 obvious cracks that start out big at the bottom, they start up a ramp. The one on the left is the crack up to the Spire 4 route, to the wormhole. The one on the right is nothing I know about.

Turn 90 degrees to your right, this is the face Little Lark is on. That face is almost vertical, but irregular. Roughly 20 feet out (10-30 ft) from the 2 cracks on the ramp, you should see an obvious crack going up.

Eats up pro, finger to fist size. Bring rap ring and about 20 feet of webbing to sling spur.