The following is a post by Peter Haan from the SuperTopo forum about preparing to climb Twilight Zone. The original thread is here.
Hi wade et al There is no road to the Twilight Zone, for most climbers. It is a sophisticated 5.10d offwidth with some significant perils. Even with modern wide protection techniques, it is likely to command the full attention of any climber regardless of level. I did the fourth ascent of this route in 1971, and know it well. It is 3 pitches. It enjoys a unique place in the history of Yosemite free climbing. There is a sharp guillotine flake in the vicinity of the belay for the crux, so as you are climbing it, your prospect is maybe landing on the thing at speed. I think Pratt said the worst thing that could happen to you on the crux is that you would live. It is quite continuous, but if you don't get tunnel vision---many miss these--- you will see crucial edges for your right foot that intermittently help you develop a lot of pressure against the book with your back; you are left side in and your left knee is fitting in the crack some or most of the time. There are better sections than others. The crux narrows, and for me it became sort of fists/forearm jams for a few moves, and is overhanging. Fortunately the rock is quite good and the crack has a defined edge. And in general, it does not look real friendly; it's a hard climb in a scary place. We used to do it with a couple of bongs, one at the little pod and one in the overhanging crux, which we had to climb over while doing the hardest moves. The last pitch by the way is serious also; there have been some wild falls on the surprise lieback! You have to be in superior cardiovascular shape to climb offwidths of this sort, and have an awfully powerful core, as it is mostly counterforce climbing with few if any real holds in the usual sense and rests that are hardly that for most climbers. I think everyone is of the opinion that it is Pratt's most important offwidth. Advice: Do Generator crack many times (TR) using both left side and right side in approaches, get to the point that it is easy, almost so you feel you could unrope it---we sure did. As Karl said, you can toprope Chingando, but it is a gross, granular thing that is not likely to encourage you to return often. Develop a list of ascending difficulty of the following climbs: Pharoah's Beard; Secret Storm; Moby Dick left; Rixons East chimney; Cookie Center; do Ahab a few times; Edge of Night; Absolutely Free right; Peter Pan; Peter Left (first pitch is offwidth); Slack left side; worst error both sides; Hourglass right; Narrow Escape; Crack of Despair; Crack of Doom; Lost Arrow Chimney. If you can do these reasonably well and still want to do TZ, you are ready. Offwidths equal to or harder than TZ are: Steppin out, Cream; Basketcase; Hourglass left; the first section/pitch of Sky (TRable), for example. I would recommend Basketcase as the finest offwidth climb I have ever done, and it is actually safe. Its crux is surprising too, insanely smooth and clean. It just has a big approach. Other tips: wear about half an ace bandage on each of your knees, under your pants. Tie in long or in such a way you can shift your knot from in front of you (various schemes like old fashioned swamis which were just wraps of webbing around the waist). Harnesses don't work in squeeze/offwidth climbs, especially with gear loops. Don't climb it with shoes that are not stiff enough to do oblique heel&toe and edging with real power. You have to wear a tight long-sleeved turtleneck type of shirt. I recommend fairly loose cotton pants that have some friction and structure, but not too much, and with little bulk. In climbing offwidths, many make the mistake of trying to move upward either too quickly or with upward movements that are too large each. There is usually a very delicate balance of friction and freedom that you have to monitor very very carefully. With too much friction and pressure, you can't move or will exhaust yourself to the point of failure. With too little friction, you will come flying out of there. So the challenge is to set up systems of pivots and pressure points that can be caterpillar-style released and set as you make maybe only 1/2" movements towards the top of the pitch. Be happy with these tiny moves---they are all you can do in the circumstances. This is counterforce climbing and requires lots of practice to work as second nature while you are in these big cracks with yourself essentially really in the way. Best PH