Humdinger Dome. No Zukes follows a small, easily visible dihedral on a dome just southwest of P 9053. When the left-facing dihedral merged into a shallow groove, we climbed right past a bolt, left past a bolt up to the crack. From here Alan and I climbed one more pitch and unroped. (NCCS II, F9.) A few days later, still in August, I returned with Gerri Dayharsh and climbed Crooked Neck. Traverse right past a pine growing horizontally out of a narrow ledge. Climb a flake, then face-climb, and follow a crooked crack up and left. The route continues for a few more pitches to the summit. (NCCS II, F8.) In 1981, the day after climbing the Burt Miller route, Alan and I had a few hours to look at the southwest of Power Dome. The armed guards at the Helm’s Creek Power Project construction site let us know which approaches to this dome just below the dam would be acceptable and would be out of the blasting zones. From the top of the first pitch, the intimidating steepness of the second and third pitches made us glad there would not be enough time until the next year to make a full-fledged attempt. Helm’s Deep follows a line in the area of the right margin of a prominent black water streak which drops from near the summit straight down to a huge ledge at the base of the dome. In August 1982 we returned and reclimbed the first pitch, passing our bolt and fixed pin just above the huge ledge. From the belay on a steeply sloping ledge, we traversed right to a thin flake and then up (bolt) over a small roof. We continued up and slightly left (bolt) to a double-bolt belay. On the third pitch we traversed right and then climbed straight up for about 50 feet to a small flake. The next 80 feet of climbing up and right to the end of a large sloping ledge were steep and unprotected, though not as difficult as we had anticipated. After traversing left on the ledge to a ten-foot-high flake, we face-climbed the fourth and fifth pitches up the water streak to the summit. Careful route-finding allowed some protection and probably only one F9 move on these last two pitches. (NCCS III, F 10.) On the right side of the southwest face, a faint light-colored water streak can be found on a line directly below where the summit meets the sloping south side of Power Dome. On a hot, sunny day, Gerri and I started Solar Energy from solution pockets in two large white dikes and climbed three pitches up the water streak, placing three protection and four anchor bolts. The third belay was in a right-facing, sloping ramp. We continued up and left for four more pitches to the summit. (NCCS III, F9.)

Stephen McCabe, Manx Mountaineers