Subject: Dark Matter
Rating: V9/10
Quality: 5 stars
Location: Underground, JTree
Notes: Awesome moves

Dark Matter is one of the jewels of the Underground. The problem was originally done, by yours truly, matched on an undercling rail under the roof. Then Fred Nicole came along and extended the problem to the lower shelf. This start is now considered the standard start. The climb is beta intensive, and has an excellent and varied sequence of moves.

Start sitting at a pockmarked sidepull sloper, move in to the cruxy undercling and then head out the roof to slopers. From there, a few tensiony moves and a cool jug leads to the infamous Darkmatter dropknee! Sink down into that baby until your heel touches the back of your head, then fire through the cruxy shield of patina. Angle right on a couple of sloping rails to some jugs and top out at approximately 15 ft.

Climber: Kyle Owen
Photos: Christina Anastasi