First ascent:
Dave Bircheff and Jim Pettigrew, 5/76
Notes on the route:
Rumor has it that this route was originally called Heliopolis,
and the name was then changed to Lurking Fear sometime after the
4th ascent. Lurking Fear has become one of the most popular routes
on all of El Cap. It offers some fine pitches, good location,
and is low angle enough to keep a neophytes lid from popping off.
The fatal flaw with Lurking Fear is first, finding the start,
and lastly getting off the route. The last few pitches involve
gardening, bad hauling, and the mother of all slabs to get to
the summit. Regardless of these drawbacks, it is still a fine
route. Recent action by Steve Schneider (96?) at what appears
to be an attempted free ascent has littered the route with big
fat 3/8" bolts. For the most part these will help you out.
In some cases, they may lead you off route for a while, and can
be confusing. The blue anchor points on the topo are these new
bolt stations, that in turn can be rapped all the way to the ground,
although 200 ft. ropes are recommended.
Gear:
This route has been done clean, and is the preferred method.
2 sets of stoppers with extra small/medium
2 to 3 sets of cams including #4's
TCU's or Aliens, 2-3 of each
all hooks
10 rivet hangers
a lasso?
Info provided by: Kevin Thaw, Russ Walling, and others.