“I wish some day to make a route, and from the summit let fall a drop of water, and this is where my route will have gone,” said Emilio Comici, the great Italian climber who later coined the term “direttissima.”
It seems The Line, at Lover’s Leap in the south Lake Tahoe region of California, formed from Comici’s vision; it defines “splitter crack,” rising without curving, until disappearing into the pines. After 15 minutes along the old Pony Express Trail, you’ll notice Lover’s Leap, a sheer granodiorite cliff stretching nearly one half-mile from end to end, blazened with a boxwork of horizontal dikes — or sills — on exceptional, surreal rock.
Aside from the first 15 feet of spicy face climbing (5.9), the route eats gear (up to 2.5 inches) for its entire three pitches, though these pitches are long and the rests are few. Stem, jam, and layback with an occasional dynamic move to jugs (protruding pizza-box sills) leading to the first belay stance. Save some small/medium cams or nuts for the anchor; in this era of retro-bolted routes, you must craft your own belays on The Line. Pitch two brings more stemming as you navigate a 5.8 bulge into steeper territory, still following gravity’s path. Pitch three (5.8), roughly 60 feet long, climbs through huge, horizontal jugs to the overhanging finish and a spectacular view.
When summitting this supernal route, you’ll undoubtedly feel overwhelmed, just as TM Herbert (the famed climber and notorious wordsmith behind Don Lauria’s “Letters from Herbert,” Climbing No. 119) and Doug Tompkins did when they plucked The Line’s first ascent, in 1966. (It was freed by Tom Higgins and Frank Sarnquist two years later.) Its quality of rock and singular path, extending 400 feet from cliff base to summit overhangs, is a true direttissima, just as Comici dreamt.
> Guidebooks South Lake Tahoe Climbing, by Chris McNamara; Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe, by Mike Carville > Guide Services Lover’s Leap Guides; (530) 318-2939, loversleap.net > Gear Tahoe Sports Ltd.; (530) 542-4000, tahoesportsltd.com
Show us your classic photo of the Line and win a free Reversino from Petzl! Log on to climbing.com’s PhotoPost, submit your The Line images to the Classic Climbs folder, and on November 15, the photographer Andrew Burr will pick his favorite. The winning shooter will receive a Reversino (valued at $27!) from Petzl.
