We had a wild hair and decided to give an early season attempt on the 8 pitch standard route of Slickrock Face outside of McCall. It is a classic granite slab with a well established bolted route. Ben, Travis, Peter, Amy and I made an early morning drive from Boise to get there with enough time to climb. The weather looked ominous, but we pushed on and crossed our fingers.
A 5.10 approach across a newly felled tree from a winter avalanche. By mid summer you can jump the rocks, so we were lucky for the newly fallen tree. 
Started off sunny and beautiful. I think we were the first on the climb this year. No sign of anyone else in the snow. 
First pitch is a pretty gradual, blocky slab climb.
Ben running up the slab.
Plotting the fifth pitch. The bolts are well camouflaged and the route is notorious for getting climbers off route. 
Ben with his first lead in years. 
Amy nearing the belay station at pitch four. 
And then the weather moved in. Snow fall hard enough to cause the holds to get filled with new snow.
Peter pushing through the snow fall. A 5.6 friction pitch turns into a 5.11 slip and slide. After much contemplation, we decided to back off the slab after the 5th pitch. After the 5th pitch you are committed to the top, so with the weather getting worse we spent the remainder of the day backing off the mountain. Bummer, but turned out to be a good idea.
