EBGBs

EBGBs is legend, it's bold and beautiful, an old classic. The kind of thing found in only a few places in the world, the mark of an era when men were men and rock climbing was dangerous. It's a bolted trad climb, when it was first done it may have been one of the very hardest routes climbed.

It sits on a block above the Echo area in Joshua Tree, daring everyone who sees it to climb it. I've wanted to climb it for ten years, since the first time I read about it in Lynn Hill's book. Now I can definitively say one thing:

EBGBs is a vision quest.

While I was 20 feet above my last bolt at the very top of the slab I had an experience. I had a conversation in my head for the first time on a route, it went something like this:

• 'My hand is slipping, I'm going to be falling now.'
• 'That's going to fucking hurt, don't.'

EBGBs is on the front of the big block above Leigh.

This is the opening 'ledge', you mantle onto this sucker. It seems scary, but that's only because you'll take a nasty little swinging fall into a wall. In the end it's not bad.

Note the position of the last bolt, a good 20 feet down the face.

I only got this one picture of me on it, hanging off the anchor glad to be alive.