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the danger of going Off-Route

Ralph Swansen · · Boulder CO · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 761

The Gunk's are short and the routes are close together. The terrain is easy to read & there is always another moderate a little down the way.

Go off route 1000 feet up in Vegas or on some alpine route where the terrain is very different and it could be a shitstorm.

rgold · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 526
Ralph Swansen wrote:The Gunk's are short and the routes are close together. The terrain is easy to read & there is always another moderate a little down the way.
I just tried to explain that this isn't true a few posts ago. The short and close together part is true, but that's about it. I've climbed with world-class climbers who have noted how hard it is to tell ahead of time how difficult a section will be---so much for the "easy to read" part. There can be a 5.9X route within a few feet of 5.3 routes, and there have been fatalities when people get just a few feet off some of the 5.4's. The next moderate route "a little down the way" could require climbing over fifty or a hundred horizontal feet of 5.8 to 5.10 ground.

The "problem" in the Gunks is that even the easy routes can be vertical, and if you go a bit astray on vertical rock, you can get into nasty trouble within a few moves. The fact that the route is short means nothing once this happens to you. In some ways, the verticality makes the Gunks more demanding than, say, Vegas, where the easy routes are more broken and less steep.

Please understand this isn't Gunks chauvinism. I'm all in favor of folks making their own way. But please don't tell them they can't get into trouble doing it.
Bill Lawry · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 1,812

I think this was a great thread to start ... specifically asking for input even better.

GabeO wrote:...learning to read the rock, and being able to visualize the way to connect features, is really the solution. Whether you get off route or not.
I agree

If you aren't cultivating your capabilities at first ascents while preserving the team, traditional leading of even known routes is not for you ... especially multi-pitch.
Eliot Augusto · · Lafayette, CO · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 60

So I don't have a lot of experience. But because I am a beginner I figured I would post my POV. Also, I'm sure a lot of people here would say I'm jumping in over my head.

I've been climbing for 2 months and I've been leading for a month and a half. The guy I climb with has been climbing for 3 years. I started trad and learned leading on trad. I think I'm a decent climber with no technique, form, or experience yet. I've lead only up to 5.9. And have lead routes which I have done no research on but my climbing parter has. I try not ask about anything except where the route goes. And him trying to explain sometimes leaves me a bit confused due to not seeing all of the defining rock features at the bottom.

This has also given me some of the most enjoyable climbing I've done. I've had more fun, and climbed harder stuff when I know nothing of the route, except generally where to go. I also feel like I'm getting better quicker since I have to think about how and where I'm going to balance on the wall before I even start climbing.

I think you should focus more on climbing, than climbing exactly how everyone else does. Look up, find what you want to climb, and mount the rock instead of reading this every time to find out what to do: "Good flake for a layback up about 20ft, use #1s or lower. Follow flake to crack up middle of dihedral stemming and jamming to anchors. Accepts up to #2s. This leads into a great face after 40ft or so for the 12d variation. Use 1s, 2s and 3s for nuts. Rap from tree."

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Trad Climbing
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