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Who likes runout?

Original Post
Brent Butcher · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 275
100
Tradster · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 0

If you climbed trad (what else was there back then) in the 1970s, you had to love run-outs. My longest run-out was 100 feet on a 5.7X pitch. Forces you to keep cool, calm & collected. Now-a-days, not so much into the run-out. Probably cuz I'd piss my pants from an ancient and less than perfect bladder.

Tom Fralich · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 0

Looks exposed. What route is this? It looks like it would be a clean fall.

Muscrat · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 3,625

I have a tendency to choose to runout....but many conditions prevail. Assess the fall, i never ever, almost never, runout w/ground fall potential. I have climbed After 7 (valley 8, easy 6 after the first pitch) and placed 4 pieces of gear on the last 5 pitches, but i am on familiar territory, and am comfortable. I tremble on new routes running out at >5.9, but then...oh, it just depends. The picture in this post looks fine, but is there a ledge below? And then sometimes, it is just what there is.
There are routes on this badboy
mountainproject.com/v/10950…
with 150' pitches and no protection, fall potential 350' with rope stretch. Not for this boy!
Yes...and no

krzy Courkamp · · Rapid City, SD · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 5

People that climb here mountainproject.com/v/custe…

Brent Butcher · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 275

Exposure is great, it's a fun route. I just didn't have a nut big enough or an extra 1'' cam to place in a few cracks, it sews up pretty well. The fall would be clean and into nothing if there wasn't a large ledge about 20-25 ft below my last piece of gear. Route is called 'Right to Flight' on Mt. Magazine in Arkansas

eli poss · · Durango, CO · Joined May 2014 · Points: 525

its amazing how much stronger you are when you don't want to fall. i've completed a couple of boulder problems above my level because the crux was at/near the top and i was too scared to fall. if the crux was at/near the start i probably wouldn't have forced myself to send it.

marty funkhouser · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 20

Hard to tell but it looks like that horizontal crack at your knee is a jug. When you reached it with your hand out-stretched your feet were what, 4' above your piece? No problemo. But you can never tell by pics alone. Maybe that horizontal crack was a heinous sloper.

Mike Collins · · Northampton, MA · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0

It's amazing how tight your butthole can be when really running it out... makes you wanna keep a couple pieces of coal on hand.

alannamal Theoret · · Campbell River, BC · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 0

I like it when it's over and I've pulled it off! Always wanted to figure out that zen mind set that gets you through those crazy runouts and bring it into the rest of life, but haven't figured that out yet!!

ZANE · · Cleveland, OH · Joined May 2011 · Points: 20

I love running it out on things I don't feel stressed on, and I love the point after slamming through a couple hard moves with no energy to place pro....

But I tend to sew routes up if I have time to think about it.

Mark O'Neal · · Nicholson, GA · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 3,323

Come climb in Western North Carolina if you like scary run outs on slab. We've got loads of those climbs.

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

The runout in this picture is totally unnecessary. I've climbed this route twice. You can place cams in all the horizontals. The last piece is a .75 or 1 Camelot and it's about 8 feet below the anchors.

Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203
C. Archibald wrote:The runout in this picture is totally unnecessary. I've climbed this route twice. You can place cams in all the horizontals. The last piece is a .75 or 1 Camelot and it's about 8 feet below the anchors.
Funny, the OP noted the same thing in the comments: mountainproject.com/v/right…
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

How is that photo a runout? That is around 5-10ft short of a well protected NC trad route. That fall is great compared to sliding down 60+ ft of slab.

Brent Butcher · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 275

Viper: I completely understand! There are a lot of routes in SW OK that offer 40ft+ fall potentials and lots of 'X' rated routes. I hear the runout is very similiar in both of our states. This fall potential in the picture was a guesstimate of close to 30' maybe even 35'.

Peter D. · · Fairfield, OH · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 25

One runout climb that sticks with me was Quciksilver on Middle Cathedral (5.8 or 5.9) I climbed this in the late '70's or early 80's, the 1st pitch takes plenty of gear but the other 3 pitches have maybe 3 pieces per lead. I was looking at a good 30' fall, just shy of the next bolt (1/4" rawl drive) or maybe even the anchors when this guy climbing Free Wheelin' (I think thats the next route to the right, could be wrong) took a whipper, all I saw was a jet stream of chalk and arms flailing. My partner, Tony (British chap) yells up, "hang in there lad we don't need another whipper"!

Of course the routes like Rawl Drive in Toulume meadows were runout as well. And again on 1/4 in rawl drives. But the thing about not falling back then needs to be put into context of the harnesses we had. I started with Whilans Sit harness with the center crouch strap, fall in that sucker and you where looking at a slap shot to one's nuts. I don't recall any of the women climbers back then using said harness. So then we graduated to 2" tubular webbing swami belt with no leg loops. Again not going to fall in that either, lowering hurt enough. Forrest then came out with integrated swami belt and leg loops, hanging in this was relatively comfortable for the days standards.

So getting back to runout routes, it played into the style and ethics of climbing back then. And you learned to downclimb, which essentially is a lost art. People are to quick to take or fall now, personally I've made some breaks thrus by not "taking" and forcing myself to either work the moves or downclimb to the last rest. Once you get conditioned to "taking", the last thing you would consider is running it out.

Think about the early ascents in Indian Creek, pre Friends, those had to be runout due to the nature of the climbing. The old mantra - "When in doubt Run It Out"

There definitely is a sense of satisfaction staying calm and relaxed, just climbing moving letting things unfold when well above a piece. May just have to work on this more.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Guy Keesee · · Moorpark, CA · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 349
Peter D. wrote: So getting back to runout routes, it played into the style and ethics of climbing back then. And you learned to downclimb, which essentially is a lost art. People are to quick to take or fall now, personally I've made some breaks thrus by not "taking" and forcing myself to either work the moves or downclimb to the last rest. Once you get conditioned to "taking", the last thing you would consider is running it out. Merry Christmas Everybody!
Good topic.

Thoughtful answers from all.

Tradster, Peter D explained it better than I could.

When I am really feeling IT I fall into a place of relaxation.

Sort of like free soloing, but with some sort of life insurance.

Merry Christmas to all.
Jonathan Dull · · Boone, NC · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 415
ZANE wrote:I love running it out on things I don't feel stressed on
If you read Accidents in North American Mountaineering, that thought process is a large contributing factor to many people get injured or worse.

"I was climbing well below my limit and didn't put in as much gear as I usually would have...then...."

I know we're all guilty of this but I try to stitch it up (within reason) even on easy routes. Sometimes you have no choice though, like on a lot of routes in WNC.
Christian RodaoBack · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 1,486

For me, it's a cost-benefit thing. If I'm motivated enough and there's some practical benefit to doing so, I might do it.

On the hardest trad route I've done, around 11c, I skipped a placement near the top when I sent, adding another possible 12-15 feet of pendulumy type fall potential. The anchors are probably about 8-10 feet left and 12 feet up from the last piece I placed, the last piece I skipped is about 6 feet directly below the anchor. There is one last, I don't know, 11- ish deadpointy move in this final runout. Stopping to place gear near the end would be pretty expensive.

Other than the pendulum aspect, the fall is clean (one friend of mine cracked her head on the rock when she took this pendulum though).

But, by the time I sent, I had the final moves so wired, I never considered it particularly bold to run out the end.

The route in the OP does look harder than 5.6 for sure, but it's impossible to tell just how hard, maybe 5.9? If the guy in the pic is an 11+ trad and 12+ sport climber, it just doesn't seem that bold either.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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