What famous crag do you least want to visit, based on its reputation, and why?

As somebody who loves the gunks, I would not enjoy climbing in the gunks if my grade was 5.8 and under, unless you like conga lines on rap stations, interwoven rat’s nests of dubious and bizarre anchors on belay ledges(arrow wall is hilarious and scary on a weekend) and hearing couples loudly arguing as the boyfriend/husband begins to shake out on spicy 5.5, among a background babbling of exclamations of 5.7 badassery. World class climbing in the low grades but brutal experience. Bomber experience on any day grades of 10+.

Rumney is even worse IMO, flocks of “young and free” douchey sport climbers with questionable ethics who are all majorly depressed but act like they don’t care about anything in the world, huddling in packs to watch beta vids on soft 5.12s with everybody, literally everybody, talking over everybody else from a crag’s length away to outdo eachother with whatever route they decided to hang their way up even after wiring the beta on the ground. Any newcomer to the area you’re climbing in will proclaim they’re projecting the hardest softest route on the crag and then look around for reactions to establish their tier in the hierarchy of bros(this includes the sisters too). I love the climbing there, but I’m never excited for the experience of climbing there.

Considering the hundred other areas in the US and abroad I’ve traveled and climbed at, I’ve never had a bad experience anywhere. Really even in the gunks or Rumney, just wry observations of different types of humans. Overall I don’t think I could find any particular area I wouldn’t want to climb and would really be psyched to climb anywhere. Maybe Devils tower? Looks sick but also doesn’t, idk.

I’ve never had an desire to go to Devil’s Lake. The leading sounds jank because of how slick the rock is, and going somewhere just to top rope doesn’t interest me- not to mention the obnoxious anchor situation. Not saying I’ll never climb there, but there’s a lot of places I’d rather go first

Places I have been that i wont go back to #1 is Rumny. great climbing too many people.  same thing with the Gunks. great climbing, too many people. I would love to go to the gunks to climb with RG but other than that I will say away.  Probobly wont go to New River Gorge again. Somersville was fun but other places we went were humid, greasy, not enough moderate climbs in one spot and had security problems. . I love Seneca so if I am in that neighborhood we will just go to Seneca. Never seen busted window glass in the parking lot at Seneca either. 

Places I have not been to and probobly wont go to.   Devils lake. By the time I get to Wisconsin I have my sight set on  The Black Hills or the tower. Not stopping for top ropeing....  J Tree. sounds hot,crowded, either slippery or cheese grater. they seem to pride themselves on sandbagged dangerous climbs.. Why would i want to go there... 

J tree, gunks, anywhere close to a metro area with plentiful moderates these days

Edit-ten sleep, fuck trends and soft grades

I don’t know why, but this post reminds me of a scene in the old movie, Say Anything. Lloyd Dobler is answering the question posed by his girlfriend’s disapproving father, “What are your plans?”

“I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.”

I can almost hear: “I don’t want to climb anything long, polished or crowded. I don’t want to polish anything climbed, or crowd anything polished, etc…”

The Diamond, it seems like an alpine junk show.

Eric Marx wrote:

Rumney is even worse IMO, flocks of “young and free” douchey sport climbers with questionable ethics who are all majorly depressed but act like they don’t care about anything in the world, huddling in packs to watch beta vids on soft 5.12s with everybody, literally everybody, talking over everybody else from a crag’s length away to outdo eachother with whatever route they decided to hang their way up even after wiring the beta on the ground. Any newcomer to the area you’re climbing in will proclaim they’re projecting the hardest softest route on the crag and then look around for reactions to establish their tier in the hierarchy of bros(this includes the sisters too). I love the climbing there, but I’m never excited for the experience of climbing there.

Nailed it

Kip Kasper wrote:

Not strictly an answer to this question but I spent an afternoon in the gunks and while the climbing itself was interesting and unique enough, the inescapable groups of loudly spraying people constantly shouting gear beta, what they were going to solo, and seemingly anything that popped into their heads seriously made me want to kill myself.

Often, you also hear people breaking up mid climb. It happens a lot more than you would think. 

Interesting how this thread has now gone entirely toward the human element - which crags are crowded with annoying people.  

Going back to the climbing itself (plus weather), here's another on: the English gritstone. 40 feet tall, constantly raining, ground fall potential? No thanks.  

Yea, everyone definitely stay away from Yosemite, Indian Creek, the Black, Rocky Mountain National Park, Vedauwoo, Index, Squamish, Eldo, Joshua Tree, and the Wind River Range for that matter... All are absolute shit shows. I would never…

Lincoln S wrote:

tas for crags that I least want to visit: probably the gunks. Everything I've heard about the gunks tells me that it would be a local pile if it weren't the closest rock to the densest popuation center in the US. also people raving about this "classic 5.3" or whatever... really? it's that good, at 5.3? oh, but it's a gunks 5.3 as if that means something. who knows maybe i'll climb there one day and love it

Here's the thing about that "Gunks problem" at the low grades - try to find any other area with 5.3s and 4s of similar or better quality than what the Gunks offers. Forget anything with "gorge" in the name. Seneca? NOT a good choice for the new i.e. 5.4 leader. NH or ADKs? You got one multipitch friction climb; what are you going to climb the rest of the week?

5.3 and 5.4 basically doesn’t exist out here. You start on 7’s (maybe) or 8’s, for trad - and for sport anything below 9 is hard to find. Thus, we have no conceptual model for a worthwhile 3 or 4. 

Gunkiemike wrote:

Here's the thing about that "Gunks problem" at the low grades - try to find any other area with 5.3s and 4s of similar or better quality than what the Gunks offers. Forget anything with "gorge" in the name. Seneca? NOT a good choice for the new i.e. 5.4 leader. NH or ADKs? You got one multipitch friction climb; what are you going to climb the rest of the week?

Flatirons are the best contender to the Gunks in terms of quality routes at those grades. Very different climbing style and rock angle though.

Ezra Henderson wrote:

Often, you also hear people breaking up mid climb. It happens a lot more than you would think. 

That’s gotta be an awkward rappel!

This whole thread reads like those one-star national park reviews.

I'd wreck my wrists after more than a day climbing the slopers in Fontainebleau, so I guess that? Even that looks fun, though - I love areas with moderate bouldering circuits and it seems so chill even with the popularity and polish. The hard stuff looks so grunty and kind of miserable but the cruiser problems look awesome. 

JCM wrote:

Don't worry about this. The rock quality in Yosemite isn't anything mind blowing. It's in the same league as any other good granite area, and there are various places with better granite. Especially if you value friction.

What sets Yosemite apart is the scale of the rock. The quality is plenty good enough, the walls are huge, and there are some nice crack lines. Plus the scenery and history. This is what makes the climbing great, not really the rock itself. It's good quality granite, but nothing magical.

Ok, as long as it’s not going to ruin boulder canyon for me then I guess I’ll go

Yeah, Rumney is terrible, no one should go there..... Please?

This thread is predictably amusing. Someone will post ‘dissing’ an area, but quickly some local ‘knight in white armour’ will spring up to defend its honor. I have already seen several of my favorite areas treated in this manner.

I've never had a bad day climbing due to the actual climbs being bad. But the crowds really can drag me down. When I think of the best days I've had climbing, there weren't crowds, and the least fun days were very crowded. However, I was part of the problem , now I try to be part of the solution by avoiding crowded places (for the most part). So, I'd say Rumney, Gunks, and the Sport climbing areas at red rocks (black corridor) are placed I generally avoid during peak season 

Rummy is really not that fun compared to our private crags.  just too many people and dogs.