Twitch 

Nate Weitzel re-set the anchor on this route in the early Spring of 2001. Now the anchor consists of a double bolt system below the lip and at the end of all of the real climbing. And as a drop-in anchor, this is much more convenient. The new anchor has not made the route any easier, however, it has certainly improved the the top rope options once the damn rope has been thrutched to the top!!! For those climbers looking for a crimp strength work-out, Twitch is the Clear Creek Crimper nonpariel. Climbing on Twitch starts easy and finishes easy. The real difficulties can be reduced to a small sector of the climb comprising no more than ten feet of very thin crimps on a very overhanging wall with difficult foot work. This is what gives us pleasure (?????).

Not that anyone cares about grade debates anymore but if this is 12d then a whole bunch of other 12d and 13a routes in Clear Creek and Boulder Canyon should go down in a hurry. I TRed this again recently for the first time after leading it 5 years ago and thought it was stout! How could Ten Digit Dialing have been graded remotely the same? Chaos? Even Anarchitect is clearly easier and if Sonic Youth is 13a then Twitch is for sure 13a.

Peter: Good to hear that you think it is a stout 12d. I did think that the crux was quite thin, but it is short lived. Hard to tell what it should be rated, 12d/13a for sure.

I heard that someone stole the anchor biners I put in. Does anyone know about this?

Nate, they were in the weekend before last. Unfortunately, whatever tape you left to secure it was looking pretty feeble. Why people steal fixed gear, especially on anchors is a perennial question. I guess they just have to have one or two more questionable pieces on their rack. I would recommend adding a couple of quicklinks to the anchors. They are cheap, reliable, and not very removable. After leaving biners on a route in Boulder Canyon, I've learned my lesson.

When I was working this route last spring I developed a chronic muscle twitch in the index finger of my right hand. My finger twitched once every 10 seconds for three days. I'm just glad the route wasn't named Ball Buster, Brain Tumor, or after some heinous medical condition that only Nate would be aware of.

Quinn sounds like you better stay off Psychosis or Dementia or - God forbid - Necrophilia!

I am glad to hear that this route's anchor has been fixed! Thanks to whoever took the time to do that....previously the poor anchor was the only knock on this great climb! I do still think the route is harder then 12d.

[This last week I replaced the old quick draws with some new spectra runners. I have only started to project this route. However, upon initial tries, I think this is pretty stiff for 12d. I haven't sent the route clean yet, but I feel a rating of 13a might be more appropriate.]

Sandbag

Rick, dude quit pounding yor chest and telling us how hard you are and how easy Twitch was for you. There is a fine line between .12d and .13a... for somene to say Twitch felt like .13a is a reasonable comment. In other words saying that this route felt hard for .12d does not automatically translate to "I'm trying to pad my climbing resume by adding another .13".

Twitch is a great route that sits right on the edge of a grade.Some people might find this angle and style of climbing as being more suited to their style then others. Hence a conflict in the grade.

Climbed this route about 8 years ago, albeit on TR, when my friend was working it. It was late winter/early spring, and I hadn't been climbing all that much. I hung on it a few times, but felt that it wasn't too bad. There was one move on it, probably about 3rd bolt or so (?) that you can't twitch on, or you'll peel. There is no way in hell that it is 13a. At the time, I would have given it 12a, tops. Maybe some holds have broken off, or something, but I would have recommended it to any 5.11 climber who wanted to brag about climbing 12d/13a. I have just zipped up my alumafoil asbestos fire suit, so feel free to flame away. Also, I hope that spoot will note that I have refrained from using the caps lock key in an effort to balance out the gravitational effects that Micah's comments have made to our monitors. It seems that an excess of capitals makes my screen sag slightly to the left, thus making pictures of certain slab routes seem much steeper than they probably are.

Concerning Montay's 12a rating, interested readers might note that of the 30 or so routes submitted to this site, not one even comes close to 12d or 13a in difficulty. And most are at Shelf, hardly a stiff grade area.

Nice work on COF, stephan. I thought the second bitch was a real pitch, if you know what I mean.

As far as the Boulder pose-off goes, I never even made it to the second round. I guess you have to be able to climb 5.9. I did hear, however, that the gold medalist never gave their name.

Either way you slice it, Twitch is a fun route and certainly attainable by motivated climbers.

I've got to agree with Chris. It's funny to hear people from Boulder saying that Shelf has fluffy grades, considering that the Boulder area (except for Eldo) has some of the softest grades in the country. If you don't count Cactus Cliff, almost any 12a at Shelf is hard than most 12c s in Boulder Canyon or Dream Canyon.

Fun route. Different, although about as hard as The Beast, imo.

Difficult to rate. One single move is harder than any on Sonic Youth or other enduro 13- routes I've been on, but the rest is much easier. Similar to but harder than 'Power Broker' at Shelf. Thus I'd give it 12d. Great line.

Did it via microcrimp matchy beta. Also thanks to those who rigged the anchors and draws.

Twitch is a beautiful yet short line that I think is one of the best I have climbed. I projected it for a little over a month. There were many strong climbers who worked the line with me but were cut short every time in the crux sequence. This is one of the most powerful yet technical climbs I have finished. I sent Sonic after 4 tries and this took me literally 14 tries (with a minimal and somewhat unhealthy rest schedule) so this should be rated 13a/b no doubt. A lot of people [disregard] it because it is all alone with no other routes nearby. I left all of my fixed draws on the route in case anyone would like to project it. There is very intricate footwork needed as well as strong crimp power. I actually thought is was like a long hard boulder problem probably v8/v9 crux and forget the onsight unless your a badass!!!

I replaced the last bolt on Twitch about one day ago and found out upon inspection on said bolt that I would really like to replace all of the lines bolts... and with out doubt replace the bolt that bares the brunt of all the big falls from the crux of the line the most.

The bolt that I 1st checked out was so rusted and worn I had to beat it lose with a wrench and my wall hammer!!!! Rust fell out of the hole, people!!! Scary!!!!!

If the community would not mind, especially Pete... if you're out there, I would like to re-bolt the whole line. All bolts would be located in the same place as the old ones and holes patched. I would replace the existing bolts with 3/8 inch 3 inch stainless steel bolts and hangers. They will be bomber, folks.

I believe such an old C.C.C. classic such as "Twitch" needs this kind of attention!! Because as of now.... the bolts on this line have become, large in part, scary!!! I also think the anchors need an update as well!!!

If there are any real objections, and I mean real objections!!!... to my proposal to re-bolt please speak up now!!! I want to re-bolt A.S.A.P., so please speak your peace soon, please.

I would really like Pete as well as the community to be fully behind my re-bolting of this classic line. Thanks to all that respond.

-Luke Childers

The chances that Pete will mind anyone rebolting this climb are infinitesimally small. Go ahead and do it.

That's a yes from Peter Beal... anyone else???

Hearing another yes... at least for the main crux bolt any way. But if you're going to replace the one... why not just re-outfit the whole hog?? I just think the job would be safer and it would just look better.... newer.... feel safer... and the fun factor will be off the charts. Don't you think??

I haven't climbed Twitch in a long time, but if they are indeed Rawls, there's a good way to replace those old bolts re-using the same hole. PM me and I'll give you the details.

I would be interested to learn about the Rawl replacement process as well, especially any good tricks for extracting the sleeve and cone so that the hole cane be reused.

Go for it.

Hey Luke, did you end up re-bolting the line?

If not, I vote you do it. A good, clean job would make this popular climb safer, and IMHO that's a very good thing.

Last: if you have not done it yet, please let me know if I could join you. I would be happy to help out.

Hey Keith, Luke has not re-bolted this yet.... The last bolt is new, but the rest are still old. She's about due for the rest. Maybe I'll have time to do it next time I'm out there. If anyone does re-bolt this, please use 1/2" Stainless Rawls or something beefy, so it doesn't need a re-bolting for decades!

Does anyone know what the alternate finish to Twitch is? It looked like there was a line of bolts that split off right after a few shared bolts down low. I don't think it is red tagged like the other independent line to the right, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

The alternate finish to Twitch has not been done, it is an open project. It was originally bolted by Luke Childers, but he has opened it up. Feel free to give her a whirl... pretty stout though, send it!

Yeah, Jason is right. I bolted that thing and gave it just few tries and felt it was much more that I could handle at the time!! Never really gave it much more attention, and now it's open. The moves are there and could be done, but it's a stiff sequence heading out to the right!! Good luck! Would love to know if anyone does send this one!! The climbing on this line is good!

Thanks for the info, guys. Cool on the open project too, Luke...though if you guys didn't already send it, I'm not sure I'll be capable either. But I'll give it a shot some time, and if by some stroke of luck I manage to claw my way up it, I'll let you know! Did you bolt the red tagged line to the right, too? That thing looks pretty stout as well.

Steve, that thing to the right of Luke's variation has been an abandoned project for quite some time... if I remember right, it could use a couple more bolts. I think Mark mentioned it in one of his books.

I bolted the project to the right of Twitch that goes through the roof about 2 years ago. I was giving it good attempts and got nearly all the moves, but there are about 2 moves in the middle of the roof that are there, but really hard (maybe in the 14 range). You are more than welcome to try it. I thought I had removed that red tag but will do so the next time I'm there. Enjoy.

Cool, thanks for more info and the open projects!

... now I just have to get really strong I suppose.

I was on this route yesterday and had noticed what seemed to be an obscene amount of tick marks all over this thing. I was wondering if it would be too difficult to brush off your tick marks when you are done with the route for the day or even done with it all together? Thanks, That's all.