Epitaph, 5.9+

3rd Pitch- 45m- 5.9+/ This pitch could easily be graded 5.10. It involves a sustained fist crack up to the roof. Directly off the hanging belay, place a C4 #5 in the wide flake and traverse left into the corner. It starts out C4 #4 and gives up #3’s intermittently. If I led this pitch again, I would take at least four of each and save one 3 for the traverse and one 4 for the roof pull itself, otherwise place most of them in the wide crack up to the roof. When traversing the roof, the crack allows you to place a few medium sized pieces. Every placement must be well extended to avoid extreme rope pull when pulling the roof and continuing for another 30’ to a fixed belay. Otherwise you will have to set up a hanging belay at the end of the roof on one piece (#4). Epitaph, 5.9+, 3 Pitches, Flying Buttress, Sedona, AZ, 2012