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Location: International : Australia : Mount Arapiles : The Watchtower Faces : Watchtower Crack (5.8+)
By: david goldstein When: May 21, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: While I disagree with RK's assertion about WC's rating, SS's comment is complete nonsense. I've never heard anyone else call WC less than Australian 16 (~YDS 5.8+), nor have I ever heard anyone say it was easy at that grade. Furthermore, if memory serves, I've done it in two pitches with a single 50M rope and anyone for whom the grade is a remote challenge would feel grossly underprotected relying on only fixed gear -- I don't think the first pitch has any while the crux remainder has perhaps... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Elephant Buttresses : Third Buttress : Left Wing (5.10c)
By: david goldstein When: Sep 22, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: I'm pretty sure the bolt has been there for at least 20 years.
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Location: NY : Adirondacks : Keene Valley : The Spider's Web : Dacker Cracker (5.10c)
By: david goldstein When: Sep 16, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: This route whose crux is close to the ground and strenuous to protect, is significantly harder than TR which is a better introduction to the crag.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Blob Rock Area : Blob Rock : Upper East Face
By: david goldstein When: Aug 11, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: This is a great place to while away half a day doing pitches in the 11+ range: Conan, Extreme and Erki Nool are all excellent and of comparable difficulty.
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Location: CO : Estes Park Valley : Lumpy Ridge : The Book
By: david goldstein When: Aug 9, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Brian, the route you're asking about sounds like Shinbuster.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Bowling Alley : Main Crag : Digital Divide (5.10d)
By: david goldstein When: Jul 16, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: More like 1.5 stars. TB acurately describes the pitch's strengths and weaknesses.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Bell Buttress Massif : Aquarium Wall : The Future of Life (5.11d)
By: david goldstein When: Jul 16, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: This is a pretty darn good pitch, as are Nowhere Man and Huck Finn. Once again Bob D impresses with his ability to unearth gems from the unlikeliest of mines.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : Narrows Proper : Snap, Crackle, Pop (5.10)
By: david goldstein When: Jul 8, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Move for move, the best thing I did in this area. Continuous, contemplative and steep climbing on solid rock.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : Narrows Proper : The Village Idiot (5.11+)
By: david goldstein When: Jul 8, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Doesn't quite justify the rave it receives in the 2008 Rifle guide, primarily due to a loose jug near the start of the lower crux. The upper half is pretty good and will improve with traffic and buffing.
I recommend puting a full length runner on the bolt to the right of the arete in order to keep the rope from running over the fairly sharp edge.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : Narrows Proper : Chiroptophobia (5.10+)
By: david goldstein When: Jul 8, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: If in addition to dealing with copious lichen and choss, you want to harass wildlife, this is the route for you. The first 30', through the roof are ok (though even there I stemmed off right to some very dubious wedged flakes), but then it goes downhill. The middle section of pure grunge and then you hit the promising looking upper cracks, only to hear piteous bleating coming from the best looking one so you'll probably end up detouring around this part.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : The Watchtower
By: david goldstein When: Jul 8, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: The locals have done a nice job of terracing the steep slopes at the base of this crag.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : The Front Porch
By: david goldstein When: Jun 30, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: The routes on the left left side offer some engaging climbing with thoughtful, intricate sequences, but they are quite squeezed -- on every pitch there are points where you wonder if you've drifted onto an adjacent climb.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : Narrows Proper : Screwheads (5.12+)
By: david goldstein When: Jun 30, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Great route name -- some of us old timers get the allusion without the footnote.
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Location: CO : Carbondale : The Narrows : Narrows Proper
By: david goldstein When: Jun 30, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: The 2008 edition of the Rifle guidebook, which includes the Narrows, indicates a 70 meter rope is required to lower off some of the prouder lines in this area, including Village Idiot.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Animal World : Threshold Of A Dream (5.11d)
By: david goldstein When: Jun 18, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: Much more enjoyable now that the flake has been secured.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Eldorado Canyon SP : The West Ridge : West Ridge - Verschneidung ... : Pork Chop (5.9+ PG13)
By: david goldstein When: Jun 15, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: My take: if you bring enough gear, this pitch does not merit the R rating. Crux #1, right at the start, can be protected with a decent grey TCU (#00?) though without a piece in this range, you'll be bouldering these slippery moves. The runout ground mentioned by Wayne Crill is so much easier than the cruxy sections of the route that an R is not warranted here. The rest of the climb has decent pro. That said, without a double set of #2, #3 and #4 Camalots, the pi... more >>
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Location: International : Australia : Mount Arapiles
By: david goldstein When: Jun 10, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: The late January / early February period is likely to be quite hot with highs consistently above 100. There is a good chance the flies would be out in force then too. You could get lucky and catch a cool spell, but the odds are against this.
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Location: CO : South Platte : West Creek : Thunder Ridge : The For Real Canyon : Is This For Real ? (5.10)
By: david goldstein When: May 27, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: There are two starts to this:
1. Start just about where you would for The Real Thing, boulder up a move to a roof/undercling, then traverse left until you can reach back right to a #3 Camalot crack which leads directly into the line.
2. Start about 4M left of the line, then boulder up onto a ramp which leads easily right to the corner. It is possible to place an RP and/or yellow Alien to protect the non-trivial move getting onto the ramp.
We did #2. I found it to be the crux of ... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Animal World : Animal Magnetism (5.11c)
By: david goldstein When: May 19, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: This is one of my favorite pitches, trad or sport, in the whole canyon. The section from after the second crux to the anchors is as good as it gets. The fact that I can speak so highly of this pitch despite the fact that it has historically given me trouble is a testament to its quality.
Note on the rating: anyone below a certain height (185 cm??) will find AM's rating quite solid as the second crux will not involve a long reach to a great jug, but instead popping to the jug from a nubbin w... more >>
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Animal World : Wine and Roses (5.11-)
By: david goldstein When: May 19, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: I agree w/ Tony's remark that this would be classic if the good part were maybe twice as long.
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Location: CO : Golden : The Quarry Wall : Silver Bullet (5.11+)
By: david goldstein When: Apr 14, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: A great crack for the Front Range, sustained and thoughtful. Would be four stars w/ better rock.
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Location: CO : Golden : The Quarry Wall
By: david goldstein When: Apr 14, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: There must have been a lot of pent up demand to comment on this "secret" crag. The day of the area's initial submission may still be young, yet an impressive 17 posts have proceded this one.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Indian Creek : The Bridger Jacks : Aging Salesman (5.11+ PG13) : Photo
By: david goldstein When: Apr 8, 2008 | view comment >> |
Comments: If memory serves, on our 1995 ascent of this line, Dougald and I took the right side of the pillar at the start of P2 which this photo indicates Zack went up the left side of. I don't remember the right side being bad at all. Future ascentionists might consider the right side option which might eliminate the part of the route that Sam found unpleasant.
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Location: International : Australia : Mount Arapiles : Castle Crag
By: david goldstein When: Dec 10, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: While not a brilliant crag by Arapiles standards, Castle Crag does merit agenda consideration, primarily as possibly the most convenient crag at Araps: it's close to camp, has fixed rap anchors and has routes facing N,S,E and W so you can almost always find something climatically appropriate. CC is also pretty stacked in the 25-26 range (lower half of 5.12).
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Bihedral Area : The Bihedral (Upper Tier) : Sands of Iwo Jima (5.11c/d)
By: david goldstein When: Oct 13, 2007 | view comment >> |
Comments: Four star climbing, but 50' is a very generous estimate of its length. Crux is at the 3rd bolt, though there is not a single gimme move; its continuousness reminded me of High Test at Sport Park. The grade seemed tough for an onsight, but not too bad for a redpoint.
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