Index Toe 

I believe the correct spelling is TOE, not tow. Possibly the hardest "so-called" 5.8 in the entire Lump Ridge Area. I've seen a rather respectable line up of climbers hanging all over this crux. More like 10a, or REAL old fashioned 9+. FA: Douglas Snively & Bernard Gillett, 1996.

Pheeew. Thought I was just plain WEAK until I read Rick's comments. Yes indeed, this one's hard for 5.8 - I hung on this baby for a while and had to lower to let my partner take a stab.

It's really not that *Hard*, but until I saw the right sequence I was S-T-U-C-K.

This climb is indeed 5.8 you just need some route finding skills to locate the correct holds. Fun! Please do not pass this one by because of claims of a sandbag. It's not.

I would say that this climb is definitely 5.8 - but it is kind of tricky at the crux... not hard though... also - we ran out of rope so we had to do some creative bouldering/downclimbing/sketchy rope trickery. pretty much everything here requires a full 60 m. all of the climbs downslope from this one were much better... and the 9 next to this one looked better too although i didn't get a chance to hop on it

The first part is a respectable, fun arete but the crux is no way 5.8. From to crux bolt to the next would be hairy for a 5.8 leader. The rest of the climb seemed like 5.6 on out sections. The view at the anchors made all the cursing at the crux worth while. If you top rope, there is lots of drag. :)

A little harder than 5.8, I think.

Fun route with a lot of required smearing and faith in friction- tough on a hot day in the sun. It stays sunny most of the day, until late afternoon.

Very fun and long, not an easy lead for 5.8 leaders, consecutive insecure and committing sequency moves at the crux. A bit runout but easy at the top. The first bolt and the bolt below the crux have spinning hangers.

Fun route for sure. Definitely need to trust your feet on this one as the hands are thin at the crux (bolt 6?). Also, a 60m rope is a must, esp if you pass the achors and extend to the anchors of the adjacent routes.

This route has its own anchors -- no longer shares anchors with Middle Toe, as once noted in the route description.

Interesting selection of comments.
After leading this again last weekend, I think I see what's going on.
The route has a 5.8 crux move, but an irritating 5.9 stretch to clip the bolt that protects this move. This bolt (#7?) is placed too far right, and too high. Move this bolt down and left about a foot or so, and the route could be an enjoyable 5.8 lead, and the comments on this fine route would be more uniformly favorable.

Just don't clip that bolt before making the move. I'm a shorter climber and had no shot of making that clip until after making the move (the last bolt isn't much further down, so the fall wouldn't be bad). It is a rather committing, balance move, but aside from that the rest of the climb is rather mellow. After making the step, I wouldn't say it was actually harder than 5.8, but mentally it might seem harder since you are making a high step onto a small foothold without very good hands.

I would say this is definitely not 5.9... it is no where near as hard as Edge of Time(5.9). I would say it is also substantially easier than Joint Venture (which also gets a 5.8 rating)

Fun! If you're checking out the bolts from the bottom and it seems run out between the second and third bolts, have no fear -- there's a bolt between that you can't see from the ground.

PS, bolt number 4 jiggles a little. We didn't have a wrench with us to snug it up, sorry.

#7 bolt is loose. Someone bring a wrench next time up.

Hey, does anyone know if the flaring crack to the left of this route is an established line? I did the crack on trad lead last summer, and can't find anything about it.

The move at the crux is quite tricky. I fell here (damn!). I saw several people lead other 5.9s in the area and struggle mightily here. I definitely found this harder than Middle Toe to the right. I would call it 5.7 with a 5.9 move.

The leader doing this route before us (while we were on Middle Toe) also struggled at the crux and took a couple falls; he thought the crux was harder than Middle Toe's crux. I tried it next and struggled at the crux with very balancy moves trying to hang on with high, thin holds, hugging the arete to stay on, thinking it was surely harder than 5.8. Then my wife (who is shorter than I), cruises up. Turns out I missed a move (hint: sidepull) I had to try it again and sure enough, it suddenly felt like 5.8 at the crux. Too often I think a pitch is harder than advertised, only to find out later that I was making it harder than it really is because I missed a hold. Not as sustained as Middle Toe, but certainly a fun route!