LEAP OF FAITH

Climbing the crag known as Lover's Leap can feel a little like shoving off from the shore of Lake Tahoe in a small open boat.

The size and vastness of this massive chunk of granite, located a stone¹s throw away from U.S. Highway 50 behind the hamlet of Strawberry, 40 miles east of Placerville and 18 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe, dwarfs the human form.

Its steep, north-facing walls are at least a half-mile wide, and several routes on its main and western walls rise dramatically to 600 feet. Rugged points of rock form a cliffband that separate into two distinct dark and forbidding bluffs.

That's part of the reason why some of North America's most famous climbers have made first ascents at Lover's Leap, including Warren Harding, Galen Rowell, T.M. Herbert, Eric Beck, Jay Smith, and John Bachar.

Since Phil Berry and Robin Linnett recorded their first ascent in 1954 on the central wall of "East of Eeyore" (5.8), close to 140 other routes have been free-climbed on the Leap's formidable wall.

A large part of Lover's Leap appeal is its unique rock, which long ago, before it was even exposed to the Earth's surface, was intensely fractured along horizontal planes.

Flows of a molten mass from below were squeezed into these fractures, later to solidify into veins geologists call "dikes."

Climbers love dikes the way a wino loves Muscatel. Rich in feldspar and quartz, these outcroppings are slow to erode and are great edges to grasp. They can range from a fraction of an inch to a foot wide.

"They're almost like grabbing a dinner plate," explaind Truckee climber Gene Drake. Drake has made seven first ascents at Lover's Leap, including the popular "April Fools" and "Vanishing Point."

In 1968 Tom Higgins and Frank Sarnquist free-climbed "The Line" (5.9). It ushered in a new era of possibilities in free-climbing: a climb that had been first by T.M. Herbert, but with aid ( Aid climbing is in which progress is made by using pitons, bolts, and other devices for supporting body weight versus free-climbing which emphasizes using only naturally occurring handholds and footholds, and which avoids using climbing hardware for progress.).

"The Line" is foot-for-foot one of the best climbs in North America," says Royal Robbins, one of North America's most renowned climbers. In the early 1970s Robbins headquartered his climbing school at Lover's Leap and also made the first ascent of "Fantasia", another of the Leap's most classic climbs.

With such a variety of climbs, Lover's Leap remains a world class climbing areas, attracting sometimes an overdose of recreationalists at the area's small, low impact campground. Installed in the mid-1980s, the campground contains 16 sites with pit toilet, water, and circular pavement. For more information call the Placerville Ranger District, Eldorado National Forest: (916) 644-2324.

LOVER'S LEAP CLIMBS

Getting Started - One of the most popular climbs "Craven Image," is rated 5.6 and was put up by Royal Robbins. It's a four-pitch climb on the east buttress. Other 5.6 and 5.7 climbs include "Bear's Reach" and "Corrigation Corner."

Experienced - "The Line" is rated 5.9 and it's definitely a classic. Two great 5.8 routes are "The Travelers" and "Haystack."

Expert - "Surrealistic Pillar" is a 5.10A route and considered the finest jam crack climb at Lover's Leap.