Big Kahuna 

For those quietly stepping back and pondering how a 12d could be that hard: Rejoice, for the new guidebook has it at 12d/13a.

haha :)

I had heard a lot of great things about this route; it sounded stellar, exciting, and worth a good effort. In hindsight (not that I could've known), I regret wasting time even thinking about it, let alone wasting part of a day climbing on it. If this route were at any other local crag in the US, it would be totally worth while. But at Waimea this thing is j.v. material. It's "little" brother to the left, Tsunami, is about a 150,007 times better. Tsunami is more aesthetic, is longer, has better moves, is WAY harder, and is far more worthy of having draws hung on it year round. Big K is a slutty one-move wonder. Oh yeah, and the bottom's not that hard either.

Feel free to begin the flaming.

well i do like Big K but i would totally agree that Tsunami is way better, but not harder... i still havent sent Big K and i did Tsunami in a couple tries with little to no drama... i think that means that im not super strong (as for Kahuna's crux) but im good with technical climbing (which helps on Tsunami)... If you have a short time at the crag pick a route that fits your style and have at it...

12c Chris? Yeah right. It might be 12c in your home state of Minnesota, but out here, we've always called this very hard 12d. Are you saying this is the same difficulty as Whip Tide, Restless, etc.? I don't agree that it is.

haha, wow, i WISH i was so strong to feel this thing was 12c... nice work WALKING a really hard route!

A. Lee, thanks. I wish I had enjoyed it as much as I hoped I would.

B. Jay, I'm not from Minnesota; though that would be something I would brag about (I just lived there last year; great state!). Sandbagging is a sport out there for sure.

C. Yes, 12c. I've been on Tsunami like 10 times now and still have had no luck (you can email me any secret beta...). I guess I would also call it a sandbag, and definitely weigh it in at 5.12d. I thought Restless Native was harder than Big K (and about 150,008 times better), even though I didn't flash Big K. Haven't been on Whip Tide yet; haven't been here long enough! But it looks sweet.

D. I love this crag, and Big K is a cool climb, just not nearly as cool as everything else here. Really, there are 2 hard moves: clipping the crux draw, and deadpointing to the jug, which just isn't enough to constitute a 12d in my book. Hope I can climb w/ you guys sometime!

While we're here, having watched Chris show this route who's boss, I think he's using different beta than many/most. See, for example, the photo above of the unknown climber. He's using the better hold out left and making a long deadpoint. Chris used worse holds that made the move shorter (he also used the lower foot). Looks like a totally different move that way.

Seemed like technical 11 minus corner to a great rest to a V5 bulge. It is two hard moves; one being the clip the other being the big move.

I didn't have too much trouble with it, but I don't have any other "hard" climbs at Rumney other than Butt Bongo Fiesta, which I realize is 13a, and that took me way longer.

I think the big move just really fit me. I kept my feet really low and did more of a dyno to the hold, unlike in the picture of Zach Landis, who has his right foot high. One of funnerest dyno's I've done on a sport climb.