"top ten sandbags of the west"

We were having a lunch discussion at Whole Paychecks:
"Top Ten Sandbags of the West"
Obviously, it turned out to be more than ten, and there was plenty of disagreement.
Here, I'll start with three:
-Reeds Direct, 5.9 Yosemite
-Bumblebee 5.9 Rifle
-Osiris 5.7 Lumpy Ridge

please contribute....

walt bailey memorial 5.9 devils tower wyoming
wasp 5.9 mt.rushmore natl. park. south dakota
howling at the wind 5.11b lumpy ridge colorado

Come on - Osiris - nah..... Reed's Direct I agree with, maybe not the biggest sandbag though

• Hammer - I think it was a 5.7 in the book (Zach O's) - Vedauwoo
• Left Torpedo Tube - 5.10a (Zach O's) - better rated in Rob K's book as 5.10d - Veduawoo (if Mainstreet is a 10a, Left Torpedo Tube certainly is not)
• Tiger's Tooth - 5.9 - Lumpy Ridge - seemed more 10a (compared to other 10a wide I've climbed)
• Straight Edge - 5.9 - Vedauwoo - overhanging and pumpy

I'm a tried and true JTree climber for 20 years well schooled in the nuances of JTree face routes... but...

I still contend Solid Gold is a fricken' sandbag at 10a. Compared to other "10a's" like Loose Lady, Heart & Sole, and even some 10bs (Dog Day, Run for your Life)... it's harder.... IMO.

But I still love it, and the 2nd pitch rocks!

It seems to me that any of the older set routes are more difficult than new ones. Not always but as a general rule. Kor's routes in RMNP and lumpy. Caldwell's older routes in the same location. Just a bit stiffer than a lot of the newer stuff.

My personal choice for a sand bagged route is Fantasia 5.9 in Vedawoo. I know I'm not good at off widths but come on 5.9?

Osiris in my opinion is just a lot more exposed than other routes in the area (White Whale, M.S.A.C.E.S., Manifest Destiny) at the 5.7 level. Not necassarily sand bagged.

Will anyone console my hurt ego by calling Double Cracks in the City of Rocks a sandbag at .10a?? While we're in the City, how about Stan's Roof, also ".10a"?

The Lowe Route on Angels Landing was rated 5.7 A2 when I went up there in 85. I asked Jeff about this sandbag rating. He told me it was a bg pile of sand anyway and laughed at me.

Solid Gold is stout for 10a, compared to some of the others you mentioned Andy.

A route that comes to mind I was on earlier this summer in Eldo is Mellow Yellow. It's old school 11d. Big bag-o-sand.

One vote here for the Left Peyote Crack. 5.10?? Come on...

And the Vulture Direct, whaddya know, it's at Vedauwoo, and it's a tad stout for .10a.

Not a well traveled route but "The Equinox Roof" on the Sunshine Wall in the south platte. Trout's guide calls it 10+... no freaking way!

Got to add just about anything at Turkey Rock to the list. How about the Bloody Englishman at the Perch for starters...;-) Just reading the introduction to the guidebook by Cheyney makes my teeth feel a little gritty...

The first pitch of Rewitten from the deck to the Red Ledge on the Redgarden Wall in Eldo, 5.6

Little Old Crack, Vedauwoo, 5.5

And the greatest over-rate of all time, The Third Flatiron. Will someone please show me where the 5.4 move is located? (It is the most wonderful ladder though.)

I will have to second the Fantasia vote, felt like 10 above a tipped out #5.
I also have to add Handjacker (5,7) and Hamburger Crack (5.5) both on the Nautilus.
The Straight Edge has quite the reputation as well (probably why I have never done it.)
And what about The Umph Slot? (orig .8)

Black Orpheus, Red Rock. People say the last two pitches (the lieback and the bolted face pitches) go at 5.6.

The Central Chimney on the twin owls. That squeeze chimney feels a whole hell of a lot harder than 5.8, or maybe it's just that you're scared you're gonna' just slip out into nothingness.

I'm suprised nobody has yet mentioned Crack of Fear.
I second the nominations of Oomph Slot & Mellow Yellow.

Proposed subcategory: Hardest climb that's not a sandbag. I'll start the discussion w/ FF2 at Fin Wall in Indian Creek. The climb is rated 10+; it's 50M long and has four different boderline 10+ sections, each a different type of crack climbing.

Having done it, I feel Mellow Yellow is probably an easy 5.12, so it is sandbagged a letter drade or two. It is HARD, but hardly in the running for the worst sandbag around.

However, Oomph Slot (5.9+) on the Dome in Boulder Canyon is 5.11... call it 5-6 number grades sandbagged, and certainly one of the worst I have encountered.

Another major sandbag is the Left Payote Crack (5.10?!?!?) in J-tree. I concurr, it is 5.11 or harder and actually took me more tries than Mellow Yellow (3).

Mignight Trundler, up on Cadilac Crag in Eldo is a Holy-Smokes sandbag, rated 10a, but being 10d or so. And then there is Gates Of Eden (also rated 10a) on Bell Buttress in BoCan, and that comes in at 5.10d as well.

Hmmm. the first few pitches of Moonlight Buttress in Zion. 5.7? Really? Who are you kidding? OWCH! 5.8+.

Quiver and Quill ostensibly a 5.10 (Turkey Rocks, S. Platte) also gave me a headache, but I hear I missed a less obvious move.

Oh, and whatever that damn face climb is at Nip and Tuck next to the arete... Supposed to be 12a and I can not even do the move. FAR HARDER than Mellow Yellow and only graded a number higher, so I guess it must be sandbagged more. Height and Weight are factors there, and if you are short or heavy, that thing is more impossible than hard.

What are the most "gimmie" graded climbs in the west? I'm going to make a list, but it's mostly going to be Red Rocks.

After a taste of Eldo climbing, I know what you mean about soft ratings at Red Rock. I thought White Whale in Lumpy was a gimmie though. It felt like some Red Rock 5.6s.

I would call these Red Rock sandbags, if you're going by R.R. ratings.

Nadia's Nine

and another beauty,
Intestinal Flu

and another one,
Atras

So if anyone needs a break from the gimmie routes in R.R., try these on for size! ; )

All Joe Herbst routes.
I would say many Joe Herbst routes are old school Red Rock ratings, or... not a gimme, if you compare them to other areas...not like I've climbed in a lot of other areas, but I'm just guessing.

One more thing...... Red Rock routes are great for learning route-finding skills on long, wandery "adventure" routes.
A+++ for Red Rock, Yay!

G

I thought Turkey & Perch were pretty fair for the Splat -- I would offer though the Overleaf & Pine Away are a little more difficult than rated & Talus Food Crack has to be the hardest 5.9 in the country. (but, as the REAL alluded, the "plus" could mean a few different things.)

For Eldo, I think the moderates are pretty fair in relation to other US destinations.

How about the approach to Irene's in Grand Teton NP, 3rd class?? Either direction scares the piss out of me. The Rodeo Wall ain't no picnic either. But, my biggest little sporty route I've had troubles with is Shadow @ N Table -- Bubb, how is this a .10? I must keep missing something, or you've got smaller digits/hands.

Another one that I see getting people in trouble is the Ellingwood on Crestone Needle; it could be route finding & protection though.

There is a route on the north face of North Tower in Valley of the gods called Serendipity and is rated .10a. The first 35' is a overhanging splitter at .75 camalots. Then the route is cuts left onto a blank slab with 1/4inch studs for pro. We did not try to free climb this but i would guess by the lack of holds and steep angle .12d(if you followed the bolts), then more aiding for the second pitch.
The first 35' i would call .11b/c and after that way harder. but maybe that was more of a guide book error then a sandbag.

Mark Nelson wrote:How about the approach to Irene's in Grand Teton NP, 3rd class?? Either direction scares the piss out of me.