A gnarly 5.11 boulder problem start (cupped hands or fists and awkward tight fingers, can be aided) leads to stellar 5.10 hands up a gorgeous vertical wall. This route is as good as the best desert splitters and is on some of the best rock in jtree. In my opinion, the best route in the park by a signifigant margin and one of the best routes anywhere.
Protection
Take a good selection of .75" - 3" cams, mostly in the hand size. A big piece or two might be nice to protect two short offwidth sections but aren't totally necessary. At least one thin piece (TCU) if not a couple are needed to protect the gnarly boulder problem start.
How a route with a hard-V3 boulder problem off the deck can still be called 10c is beyond me... but such is tradition I guess. I think one of the guidebooks calls it 11a. This area can be very cold in the winter as it faces NE.
By Chris Owen Administrator From: La Crescenta, CA Jan 7, 2003 rating: 5.11b
A very powerful route with a problematic start, let the tall guy lead, but make sure he's butch.
FA: Tobin Sorenson, Jim Wilson, Dean Fidelman, Gary Ayres, 3/75. Tobin was wild man on and off the rock (but seemed a real decent guy). The early to mid seventies was the start of the real exprolation of Joshua Tree (other than Hidden Valley C.G.) for climbing posibilities. An early and obvious classic.
The right hand face start (with cheat stones) is one move of 11a sure, but the rest of the climb is 10b/c. Calling it 5.11 really doesn't tell you the difficulty of climbing this route.
Not to quibble about such matters, but a route with a 5.11-move is a 5.11 route. Obviously this isn't as demanding a route as a sustained 5.11 pitch, but such are the limitations of the YDS. A route like O'Kelley's practically begs for the more complicated British grading system where a grade is given for the technical difficulty and then a subjective grade for seriousness, continuousness, etc... (e.g. 6a E4)
Randy/anyone - Wasn't there a climber named O'Kelly? Was this named after/for him?
By Chris Miller Administrator Jan 20, 2003 rating: 5.11a
Don O'Kelley was an early Josh climber who apparantly either aided the route or tried free-climbing the route unsucessfully. There is a picture of him hanging off the route in the old Wolfe guide.
By Chris Owen Administrator From: La Crescenta, CA Jan 31, 2003 rating: 5.11b
I'd scan it and post it but that would be bogus, so I'll describe it:He's hanging from a swami belt that's pulled up his shirt, staring at the camera looking rather dazed while licking his lips. Looks like he fell along way. There's got to be a story to it, does anyone know?
I liked the old guide, it had a lot more character and heart than the new guides, we could learn a lesson or two from it. Just don't use the F grades!
I recently went back to this route. I think that the direct start up the crack is not that bad - maybe 5.11-, certainly looked better than the crimp start, and who wants to use a cheat stone? Overall I would still give this route 5.11a or 5.11b, starting and climbing the crack via a cuppped hand or fist to the finger locks. Still my vote for best route in the park.
Josh grades were made much clearer to me when someone mentioned their theory that the climbs are rated without the first 10 feet in mind. Sounds like it applies here.
In general I would agree with the statement about ignoring the first 10 feet. But then again, without the first 10 feet, Butterfly Crack at Trashcan Rock would be 5.9 instead of 5.11b or so. Humm....
It seems like a lot of the classics would be 5.9/10a if you forget about the first 10 feet (a few that come to mind are O'kelleys, clean and jerk, perpetual motion, and Red snapper). If it's a two move wonder on the ground or 20 feet up, the route should get a rating that reflects those moves.
O'Kelley's is one of the premier routes I've ever done anywhere. The rating is just part of the mystique. Also, I think the cheatstone start is in the neighborhood of 10c, at least for a tall person. The direct start is definitely harder.
Finally got on this thing. Stout. Even past the starting couple of moves it felt harder than anything on Wangerbanger. Calling this "hands to the top" after the start is very misleading, it does have a short section of slammer hands, but also fingers, liebacking, face, and a wide move or two. Save some juice for the last bodylength. Best route in the monument? Not even close, but probably in the top 10 and a must-do classic.
Rusty Wall
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