most memorable sport climb for you...

your first lead? your hardest route?... biggest project... successes, failures, inspirations... you get the picture what is your most memorable sport climb? why?

i need to ponder this one my self then ill add one...

Most memorable sport climb?! I thought you'd never ask. My first sport lead...Damn, I think that was way back in the year 2000! It's hard to believe I've been climbing that long, and I'm not still not sending 5.12s, cough, 5.11s, sneeze, and hardly any scary 5.10s yet. I'll blame it on my first sport lead, really! ; )

Here you go, Lee! True story.

Cow Lick Co Crag

Running Man at Red Rocks. At the time (1994) it was at the top of my ability. Somehow managed to grit through without falling. It was not pretty though. I think I required 2 rest days after that ascent.

All of them were kick ass, coming straight out of the gym.

But then I was introduced to trad climbing...and then following a line of bolts wasn't so fun anymore.

Eiger Direct at Little Eiger in Clear Creek Canyon. Not the hardest or even the best climb I've done, but meant the most personally to me. When I latched the crimp after the crux, that moment exactly, was the moment I considered myself a climber.

The last one I actually made it to the top...

tooTALLtim wrote:All of them were kick ass, coming straight out of the gym. But then I was introduced to trad climbing...and then following a line of bolts wasn't so fun anymore.

Thats because to you the total devotion to athleticism is not as important as the view. To each his own. 90% of MP'ers enjoy both sides of the fence, this arrogance about trad is so tiring. The best part is that all of the primary sport developers around these parts are also capable and have a history of high-end trad.

As for me, I have a project that was 3-4 letters beyond me that I came within 4" of sending on my last, best attempt just by relentless training and having it ruthlessly wired.

Getting on Rumor Has It while still brand new (1-2 weeks), after a couple hours of walking and staring at what was yet to come; thus confirming the wild-eyed stories bursting out of Richard the entire preceding week.

Private Idaho the day it went in after a 2 hour no trail bushwack thrash (long way around the backside), another first route for the area it is in. The look in Dave Fields' eyes when he first glanced over the top and saw how much stone was there, underneath us.

Figures on a Landscape, in J-Tree. By far my favorite.

The most memorable sport climbs...
Route of all Evil, VRG. Because others said I couldn't, and so I climbed it for the wrong reasons.
The Event Horizon, Sandia Mountains. Because I wanted to, and so I climbed it for the right reasons, my own.

Ro Shampo, RRG, KY. 2nd trip to the Red, 2nd trip outdoor climbing anywhere in my life, ever. 1st trip leading anything, sport or trad, ever. Friend clipped bolts 1,2, and 3, and let me take over. I managed the send and nearly shat my pants (due to excitement not fear). I recall hitting the 2-3 finger pocket below the jug on the crux move, somehow holding on, and bumping to the jug. I was so stoked to send the crux I almost fell due to excitement. Fell in love with climbing that day right then right there. Moved to Utah about a year later, moved to Yosemite after that. Stoked.

My Route, a 5.6 multipitch bolted climb on Table Rock in the Linville Gorge, NC. First complete lead of a multipitch climb - and we brought along a bong to pull tubes at belay ledges. Oh the idiocy of youth.

The closest I could come to a memorable sport route is Birds of Fire on Chiefshead. Hard to call this a sport route though...36 bolts over 1000' with occasional gear. True sport routes memorable? None. Sorry Mike Lane and the likes. No offense. Not trad vs sport. Jusy my experience.

Mike Lane wrote: Thats because to you the total devotion to athleticism is not as important as the view. To each his own. 90% of MP'ers enjoy both sides of the fence, this arrogance about trad is so tiring.

Kind of lame to bash Tim. That is just his experience. Tim is a super nice guy, super excited to climb. To the best of my knowledge, a public forum solicits public opinion. Like assholes, everyone's got one.

As far as 90% of mp'ers enjoy both sides of the fence. I don't know. I haven't taken a poll. But, I bet many of the sport only climbers would love to cross the fence to trad, then do both, or maybe trad only.

Mike Lane wrote: Thats because to you the total devotion to athleticism is not as important as the view.

So the only reason to prefer trad climbing is because you like pretty views? Pretty snide remark from a post lecturing on arrogance.

+1 Gregg
+1 Aaron

I happened to start out as a top-rope/gym climber. My first trips outdoor climbing were at the Red. Now (3 years later), I consider myself to be primarily a trad climber. This post allowed me to reminisce how my first 2 trips involving outdoor (sport, at the time) climbing introduced me to the sport.

Forum= Public place to discuss thoughts/feeling/knowledge
(minus arrogance or ego, preferably)

There is no definition saying sport climbing is about numbers, bro-brah's, strength, or girls in tight clothing.

There is no definition saying trad climbing is about run-outs, gobies, cheap beer, whiskey, stellar views, or being cheap and crusty.

Let's all just enjoy climbing and be able to share experiences regardless of using draws, #6 Camalots, offset Aliens, or Pads for protection.

sport routes... The scariest sport route... Run for your life, at Joshua Tree. bolts all the way brother, and scary as scary.

Crest Jewel in Yosemite. Superb rock, gorgeous views. We were climbing as fast as possible trying to outrun an impending storm. Sumitted North Dome around 1:30 after 25 combined pitches on Royal Arches and Crest Jewel; wasn't much time to sit up top because of lightening risk but it was a fantastic day.

Humanality in Thailand. Really neat climbing.

wow... the excuses people come up with to argue about sport vs. trad... the reason i posted this thread in the first place is that there are never threads that interest me on the sport side of things... if this turns out to be an arguement of whats cooler it will have missed the point compleatly...

i dont know what my most memorable sport climb is for sure...

Aquarius 5.12d- went down easier than i thought it would and was really fun to climb...

Defenseless Betty at Rifle.

This is a really fun and continuous 11d/12a, certainly not the hardest route I ever did but there were extenuating circumstances...

I remember getting up this thing clean, clawing tooth and nail and feeling like it threw everything but the kitchen sink at me...but I made it and I came down with a huge smile and a wicked pump. Great line with immaculate steep limestone and awesome pockets! Beautiful spring day with green trees and blue sky and lots of water in the creek and that perfect 60-something Rifle sending temperature.

Then my good buddy Patrick was up next and he made it up like 2/3 of the way and then got suckered out left and was too pooped to get back in the bolt line. So he followed a line of weakness and kept trying to lean right to clip but couldn't quite reach the bolt, shaking like a leaf on a tree all the way.

Finally he gives up and skips that bolt and follows the unprotected line of weakness up another 6-8 feet. Keeps leaning right to try to clip the next bolt, pulling up gobs of slack between his legs, but everytime he leans he starts to shake and swear. Animal noises coming from his throat.

Finally, after struggling for like a full minute to clip and with the biner literally a quarter-inch from the bolt, he peels off and screams and takes a full 40 foot fall. He stops about 15 feet off the ground, and of course since it is Rifle it is so steep he doesn't hit anything.

So I lower him down and he just sits there and shakes for a while, exhausted and a little freaked out, and we were both cracking up. I am so distracted by all this that I pull the rope without warning him, and it comes down and fully whips him right across his shirtless back, leaving a 2 foot long bright red welt that would have made one of these Haji self-flagellators proud.

That's one I will never forget! Get on it!

Time Wave Zero