Beautiful Cascades Testpiece Free-Climbed 
Jens Holsten and Sol Wertkin have free-climbed Dragons of Eden (5.12a R) on Dragontail Peak in the central Cascades of Washington State. The route was established in 1989 by Bob McGown and Wayne Wallace, who free-climbed up to 5.11 but used some aid. Last summer, Holsten and Wertkin repeated the route, likely completing the first alpine-style ascent, in a 20-hour round trip from the car. After eight pitches of steep climbing, with a roofy three-pitch headwall, the route ends on the northeast buttress, which climbs another 2,000 feet to Dragontail’s summit. The two men free-climbed several of the pitches, but found the cracks too dirty to attempt a full free ascent.