November 26, 2009
Pamela Pack: 5.13 Offwidth in Zion

The indefatigable Pamela Pack has redpointed a 65-foot, overhanging offwidth and squeeze chimney in Zion National Park that she rated solid 5.13. The crack exits a sandstone cave on the south side of the Angels Landing formation and is 6 to 12 inches wide for its entire length, following a nearly horizontal roof for the first 40 feet and then an overhanging “old-school offwidth grovel” up a headwall to finish.

“There's not even a [relatively secure] double fist stack on the monster,” Pack said in an email. “Arm bars, knee bars, crazy pivots, chicken wings, and a nearly full inversion for the entire route. It takes 7 to 10 minutes to climb it-it's very strenuous.”

Pack first tried the route about 18 months ago. The line was a well-known target for offwidth aficionados in Zion, and it's possible it had been climbed before her ascent. Regardless, both Pack and her climbing partner, Patrick Kingsbury, said it was the hardest route either had ever attempted.

Pack, who stands just 5-feet-3-inches tall, has climbed more extremely difficult offwidths and chimneys than any other woman, including most of Vedauwoo, Wyoming's notorious granite testpieces. In 2008, she onsighted the famous Lucille (5.12+) at Vedauwoo.