VERTIGO DIRECT FINISH

In 1973 a young hotshot from New England named Henry Barber came through Boulder and shattered a few ceilings. After doing the Vertigo dihedral, still considered a test piece, “hot Henry” launched out the huge intimidating overhang above the corner to establish the Direct Finish, or Vertigo Direct. It never occurred to any of us in Boulder that this would go free, but Henry saw something we didn’t. Apparently, Henry’s partner, the very famous John Stannard, did not want to try free climbing this overhang with a top rope because a fall would leave him hanging in space on his swami belt, far above the ground. He used a few points of aid to get up it.

Henry’s send really blew us away, and all the top climbers in the Boulder area were eager to tick this one. Here I am in 1974, with a hat like Henry used to wear, brute-ing my way up. I always found this short pumper of a pitch very hard, but Derek Hersey free soloed it in about 1990.