The Classic 5.7
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| Type: | Trad, 3 pitches |
| Consensus: | 5.8- [details] |
| FA: | Scott Baxter, Karl Karlstrom, Lee Dexter, Spring 1968 |
| Season: | Spring or Fall |
| Submitted By: | Orphaned on Jun 15, 2007 |
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Baxter leading The Classic, pitch 3.
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Description The Classic is pretty much just what it's name implies. It is also the longest, relatively easy, route on the Mountain. As a result, it tends to draw a lot of climbers, so don't be surprised if you have to queue up for this one. P1) Start over on the left side of the Flying Buttress where it meets the wall. Climb easy ground up to a ledge, then continue in a corner until a band of rock allows a traverse right to more ledges and scramble up to a platform with a tree in the corner. P2) The Classic Chimney - climb up blocks in the corner to gain the chimney above. Continue up to a nice belay above. P3) Move left and climb up the crack formed by the flake against the wall, atop the flake, move up and right to gain a foot-wide ledge that runs up the wall. Tiptoe up the ledge passing a couple of small bushes to it's top, then move over to the corner, and pull over into a crack system that runs up and right across the Flying Buttress to it's far top corner. To get to the top, take either the High Exposure Exit (5.6+) or the Beaver Cleaver (5.8+) exit. You can also work your way down off the top of the Flying Buttress from here to gain the Coke Bottle Rappels, but this is tricky. Please rope up if you do this! Note: A lot of folks choose to start this route with the first pitch of Reunion (5.7), which is a nice left-facing corner about 20 feet right of the first Crack Lover's Variation pitch.
Location Starts near where the left side of the Flying Buttress meets the main wall.
Protection Standard rack to 4"
Jim Donini traversing the top of the Flying Buttre...
| Anna on the 3rd pitch ramp of the Classic
| Heading up pitch 2 - the roof ahead is super fun!
| At the roof on pitch 2. Good stuff.
| My wife in front of Granite Mtn. Classic is in th...
| High Exposure exit, 5.6
| Mark Sargent at end of 3rd pitch, The Classic
| Clearing the first roof of pitch 3 (Karl's Korner)...
| BETA PHOTO: The start.
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By ccmski From: Prescott, AZ Oct 17, 2009 rating: 5.7
| Due to the number of climbs weaving in and out of this corner, there are a number of variations of the "Classic". Arguably the finest way to climb the Classic is the 1st pitch of Reunion, the 2nd pitch of Cracklover's, the 3rd pitch of Karl's Korner, and the High Exposure exit. Anyway you role- its Classic! |
By jayci From: Flagstaff Nov 1, 2009
| I linked the third pitch with the High Exposure exit for a really nice long pitch. The HE exit is one of the most difficult 5.6 rated pitches I have done in a while. Expect something that feels like solid 5.8. The approach is long and the climbers trail is easy to lose your first time as I found out yesterday. Good climb. |
By Mike Schen From: Phoenix, AZ Dec 22, 2009
| ccmski is right, 1st pitch of Reunion, 2nd pitch of Crack Lover and 3rd pitch of Karl's Korner, then 4th pitch on High Exposure is pretty impressive. Both the Climbing Arizona and Weekend Rock books describe Karl's Korner for the third pitch. Found Karls Korner 3rd pitch hard for 5.7 with the off-width and roof. On the other hand the High Exposure Exit I thought was easy for 5.6+. Its certainly not runout if you have a small cam for the crack. Oh anyone rapping off Coke Bottle with a 60m rope should put a sling on the anchor so its about 3-4 feet lower. That rap must be 105ft to 110ft because I didn't make it to the ground! |
By Joe Lee From: tucson, az Nov 1, 2010
| Got lost on this route. If you want to do the third pitch of TC, don't make the same mistake as I. At the start of the third pitch, I looked up at the obvious corner crack and figured this was the route. I had the Cramer guide in my pocket but I didn't consult it because the line was obvious. WRONG. Only after re-reading this thread and looking at the Cramer guide very carefully did I realize that I went up the third pitch of Karl's Korner. I think pitch 3 of TC follows a parallel line above it. Still pretty fun. |
By Andrew Z Jan 28, 2011
| I'd forgotten this fun climb. I did it over 30 years ago. It was great fun to look at these reminder shots. As I recall the Beaver Cleaver exit is appropriately named. |
By Adam-phx-trad From: Phoenix, AZ Aug 27, 2012 rating: 5.8+
| so we attempted this climb over the weekend and man what an epic it turned out to be. first the comments about losing the trail are indeed true and a bit understated as was this climbs difficulty. i led pitches 2 and 3 and pitch 3 was a bear for a 5.7 it felt more like a 5.9 to me with that roof move. I fell at least once trying to pull it. it took us several hours to complete the hike plus the climb up to the 3rd pitch and it was getting dark soon so we had to bail from the 3rd pitch due to exhaustion and slight dehydration only brought 1 liter of water each and ended up out there for 8 hours. so long story short there is a partial rope hanging from a quick draw on pitch 3 and a fixed partial rope hanging from pitch 2 whoever does this climb next the gear is all yours and sorry for the mess left behind. we lost 2 ropes and a few minor pieces of gear to this climb but everyone made it down safely with no injuries barring the multitude of scratches from bushwacking out after losing the trail near dark. all in all i feel like a learned a great lesson from this climb and i will be back to complete it in the proper style |
By BCramer From: Prescott Sep 27, 2012
| Adam-phx-trad, You wrote about the third pitch, "...it felt more like a 5.9 to me with that roof move" This sounds like you might have strayed up Karl's Korner (5.9) like others who have posted here. Same thing happened to me on my first trip to the Mountain! |
By JJ Schlick Administrator From: Flagstaff, AZ Sep 28, 2012
| It may be the Classic, but the description here is not so much. Since this page was "orphaned" I could reassign it to anyone interested in fixing up the pitch descriptions. It is after all one of the most climbed lines up there. Let me know. |
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