Contributed Comments |
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Sport Park : Surprising Crag
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 28, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: The grades here seem very soft compared to the rest of the Canyon. Presumably bolted for the convenience of visiting climbers who can't climb cracks.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Dome : East Slab (5.6)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 28, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Very good climb. UK grade mild VS (just) 4b.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : The Dome : Cozyhang (5.7)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 28, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Distinctly undergraded - more like 5.9 in my estimation. P1 technical move past overlap with polished rock, P2 very awkward, P3 a struggle. UK grade HVS 5a, 4c, 5a. More pigeons than Trafalgar Square!
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Location: CO : Golden : Clear Creek Canyon : High Wire Crag : Cracker Jack (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Was this area of Colorado settled by totally unethical French immigrants? Bolts next to a good crack-line are very, very naughty.
VS 5a in UK grades, F5.
Carry a wire (Rock 4 or 5) as there's a good crack by the silly bolt without a hanger!
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Location: CO : Golden : Clear Creek Canyon : High Wire Crag : Poker Face (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Steep but with big holds at the start - UK technical grade 5a but very safe due to bolts.
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Location: CO : Golden : Clear Creek Canyon : Left Wire : Show Nuff Wall : Show Nuff (5.10a)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Great climbing, surprisingly open, but the "approximate grade" of 5.9- in the book I was using seemed a bit unlikely. Crimpy moves up the arete were worth UK E1/2 5c, F6a+ or Pex Hill (centre of the bouldering universe) 5b.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Elevenmile Canyon : Arch Rock : Mighty Young Joe aka Captai... (5.8)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Very like Yorkshire gritstone! VS 5a.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Elevenmile Canyon : Arch Rock : Arch Rock Route (5.8)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: As usual I'm struggling to understand US grades. Start of this climb was worth 5.9+ but after that the climb is at most 5.7, though enjoyable - "a good mountaineering route". UK grade would be Hard Severe with an optional 5b start.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Elevenmile Canyon : Arch Rock : Village Idiot (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Seemed hard for the grade but I may have missed the easiest line. Hardest moves were near to bolts but I had to resort to Mr. Micawber's POV that "something will turn up" in between. Tried to avoid the strong gravitational pull rightwards where the climbing looks easier....
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Potash Road : Wall Street : Puppy Love (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Well worthwhile. Cams can be used to plug the occasional gaps between the drilled pegs. Obvious advice: look for the footholds, even if they are a bit sandy! In UK terms this would be worth E1 5b. Fortunately, the trickiest moves are next to the pegs.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Potash Road : Wall Street : 30 Seconds Over Potash (5.8)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: I hate lay-(lie-)backing and found this desperate for a 5.8. My mate also fell off the start several times, so I think it's a case of hard moves close to the ground being under-rated. UK hard 5b. Or maybe I'm just getting too old.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Potash Road : Wall Street : El Cracko Diablo (5.10a)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Easier than some 5.8s! Treating the v-groove as an offwidth, ignoring the finger crack except to place gear, makes it almost trivial (gritstone Severe) but it's best to keep moving on the top section.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Indian Creek : Blue Gramma Cliff : Unnamed 9+ (5.9+)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Brilliant, even if short. I only had 2 3.5 Friends so had to use a DMM No. 4 in the upper section which inevitably got stuck. Whoever gets it out is welcome to keep it - and it's nearly new! Hard to grade this route as you keep repeating the same straightforward move all the way up but this gets more than a bit tiring after a while - in UK terms E1 4c perhaps? It's like a much more sustained version of Flake Crack at Helsby.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Turkey Rocks : Turkey Perch : Gobble Up (5.8)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Cracking route, Gromit. Thought this was maybe the best single pitch I did on this US trip. Hard to grade, as there isn't any really difficult move but it's all pretty sustained and surprisingly varied. Personally I found the wide finishing crack more awkward than the main hand/fist section. In the UK it would be rated HVS 5a and be considered a real classic.
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Location: CO : South Platte : West Creek : Sheep's Nose : Lost in Space (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Oct 27, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Very nice. Trickiest route-finding was getting correct level for traverse right at start of pitch 2: apart from that it's simply a matter of following the most obvious line all the way up. Tree stump on P1 is not visible from the ground. It's easy enough to take a belay before the tricky move at the end of P2 is you've run out of right size gear. 5.9- seems fair, though actually easier than some 5.8s at Turkey Perch! UK grade HVS 4c, 5a, -, 4a (.8, .9-, .4, .6). Not being sure where the ea... more >>
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Location: International : Spain : Costa Blanca : Penon d'Ifach : Valencianos (5.9+)
By: Rob Davies UK When: Jul 2, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Basically 5.7 or less with one slippy move (maybe just 5.9?) right next to good gear. A bit of a ramble but nice views at the top of the big slab.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Potash Road : Wall Street : Flakes of Wrath (5.9+)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Rock in this area has been trashed by rope-grooves created through people lowering off and top-roping from fixed anchors. Try looking at the photos to figure out which are the more recent ones! There are some very popular small sandstone outcrops in SE England that have been badly abused in the past by climbers top-roping, but even there it's rare to find rope damage as bad as this. Guide-book needs to state emphatically that, to avoid further damage, climbers should belay at top of pitch, th... more >>
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Location: CO : South Platte : Pine Area : Bucksnort Slab : Buck Fever (5.9 R)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Crack section on P1 is OK and good, at 5.9 (UK 5a), with a move of maybe UK 5b just before the end of P1 (5.9+/5.10a?). As a naive Welshman, in view of the number of hostile signs in this area, I was expecting a gun-totin' land-owner to appear at any moment, a thought which is a lot more scary than the climbing.
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Location: CO : South Platte : Elevenmile Canyon : Elevenmile Dome : The Overleaf (5.8)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: In the UK, we would call this an "outcrop grade". Surely a harder rating would be given if it were on a longer route or protection weren't so good, as the move round the overlap is a real pig. Even in Yorkshire this would get VS 5a. Easy enough to belay on nuts / cams below the overhang to avoid rope drag on the crux, so fixed gear is unnecessary.
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Lembert Dome : Lembert Dome-West Face : Left Water Crack (5.7)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Quite hard bridging, sorry stemming, moves but each one is above a big ledge. Weird and wonderful
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Stately Pleasure Dome : Great White Book (5.6 R)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Without big cams you could fall a long, long way on the groove pitch. Found this a lot more frightening than most 5.9s!
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Stately Pleasure Dome : South Crack (5.8 R)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Brilliant. Maybe R at the top but not the scary sort. UK grade VS 4c.
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Pywiak Dome : The Dike Route (5.9 R)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Even more R when you can't clip the bolt on the very polished upper part of P4 (really difficult to see because all the crystals glint in the sun, just like bolts) and your belayer gets the rope jammed. E1 5a in UK terms.
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Fairview Dome : Regular Route (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Tremendous. P1 is climbable by bridging, sorry I mean stemming, even when there is a wet streak down the groove.
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Location: CO : Estes Park Valley : Lumpy Ridge : The Pear : Right Dihedral (5.9)
By: Rob Davies UK When: May 8, 2009 | view comment >> |
Comments: Meaty! Considering that the angle of the cliff lies back why is this one so awkward, sustained and strenuous? In UK terms, traditional gritstone HVS 5b.
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