Mesa Rim Mira Mesa - Dihedral Project

Looking for any beta anyone has on the “5.13+ dihedral project” at MR Mira Mesa (Route A on pictures below). Past sends, possible beta on the upper section, etc… is this thing even possible? Folder at the front desk says nobody has sent it, but the folder is old and rumor is it has seen one ascent.

Any info on the ring lock crack (Route B below) right by the front desk would be cool too.

Pete Whittaker’s book may hold some answers for you

The setters didn’t climb it clean?

Li Hu wrote:

The setters didn’t climb it clean?

Cracks and dihedrals built into walls are rarely forerun, unless the builder was feeling saucy

I'd always set a ring lock by the desk when I walked in and one time the attendant said Brad G was the only person he'd ever heard of climbing it. Rest in Ring Lock Power !!

Do you have photos of the other pages from that guide?

Crotch Robbins wrote:

Do you have photos of the other pages from that guide?

John Clark wrote:

Pete Whittaker’s book may hold some answers for you

Pete Whittaker and Kent Pease do have tons of great info in their books, but they haven't helped me make any progress on the top quarter of crack A, the dihedral stemming project, once it opens up to (and slightly past) 90º. Below that, the left side flares inward, creating an acute angle that is tiring to stem, but not terribly hard. I'll go back and take another look in the aforementioned books, but I am curious about whether the top section has seen any ascents, or if anyone knows of any tips specific to this line beyond the helpful, but general, strategies outlined by Pete and Kent. I am thoroughly stumped!

Crack B (short line of rings/rattly fingers), on the other hand, should go for me pretty soon, now that I've figured out the foot-less start.

I've heard that the dihedral has never been sent, I've also heard that it has been sent once by some unknown Yosemite legend, and I've heard that due to the nature of the concrete used to form the Mira Mesa location's walls, that it may simply be too worn down now to ever again be climbable (easy cop-out, or real possibility?).

I will say stemming is my weakest climbing skill within cracks/weaknesses, so maybe I'm simply out of my league here, but it is the last natural-feature climb left in the three San Diego Mesa Rim Locations for me to climb cleanly (pending the imminent send on Crack B). The top quarter of the dihedral still feels quite far from the send though, and I have yet to find others willing to work it

I have heard that brad gobright sent it. Didn’t see it just heard it. I saw Charley Barrett fall off the other finger crack that’s easier and goes at 5.12 so it’s p hard lol. 

Bridget Tye wrote:

I have heard that brad gobright sent it. Didn’t see it just heard it. I saw Charley Barrett fall off the other finger crack that’s easier and goes at 5.12 so it’s p hard lol.

Maybe he can get a work release to give it another shot!

Tradiban wrote:

Maybe he can get a work release to give it another shot!

Considering the charges he has against him, I hope not. 

Vishal Bobba wrote:

Thanks!

This is the corner in case anyone is wondering.

The talk for years has been "only a handful of people" had ever led the J crack, Brad being one of them. I've never heard of anyone projecting or attempting the dihedral project. The top 20' seem to be quite ridiculous, at least at this point, after so many years of the textured walls becoming porcelain slick. That said, Bob K ("Bob's No-Holds Chimney" at MV) is not a hard man to get ahold of. If anyone knows, he probably does. 

Thanks for posting the OG MRMM Guidebook! I've never seen that before! 

DionAkers wrote:

The talk for years has been "only a handful of people" had ever led the J crack, Brad being one of them. I've never heard of anyone projecting or attempting the dihedral project. The top 20' seem to be quite ridiculous, at least at this point, after so many years of the textured walls becoming porcelain slick. That said, Bob K ("Bob's No-Holds Chimney" at MV) is not a hard man to get ahold of. If anyone knows, he probably does. 

Thanks for posting the OG MRMM Guidebook! I've never seen that before! 

I have now sent the J crack a handful of times (on lead and TR), and it is now feeling fairly consistent! It is tough, but certainly possible with some work (arguably less work than the Mission Valley location's 12+ finger crack took, in my opinion). But if that is the case, then it must be an even smaller subsection of that "handful of people" who have also sent crack B, which is a shorter, but slightly thinner, off-fingers alternative to J. B doesn't even have the usual plaque indicating a name/grade, or anything else indicating that it is an official route! But crack B is now my current project, and seems well within the realm of possibility, but it unfortunately sounds like some of those in charge are not willing to let people try to climb it, for one safety reason or another.

I'm inclined to agree about the top quarter of the dihedral project, as it feels incredibly difficult to find any sort of stable position after the left wall flares out to 90º, and impossible to move from such a position if one can find it. Curious if it has any sends from when the wall's texture was fresh! And I never bothered to question who Bob actually was from his namesake chimney (also a very tiring climb!), but the founder of Mesa Rim itself makes a lot of sense! I'll have to see if I can get a hold of him and pick his brain about notable ascents of these hardest natural features! Thanks for that suggestion!

Theoretically, every location has a similar guide to all the natural features! Just have to find a knowledgeable front-desk staff member who knows of its existence and whereabouts! This is the only one I have seen, but over the next couple of weeks, I'll have to make it back around to the other locations and inquire about it! There are definitely some interesting variations to some features that are listed in the MM one that I had not previously considered (like a lieback ascent of the offwidth/squeeze - gross!)

Tradiban wrote:

This is the corner in case anyone is wondering.

Guessing the holes for the bolts are “part of the climb”?  
My partner and I TR to the 4th bolt of a 5.13b and even that certainty didn’t look this thin assuming all the adjacent holds are off.

Fascinating times we live in.

DionAkers wrote:

Is this the crack in question? Looks like a really difficult TR problem.

Cool “old style” gym. Saying “old” like I’m not ancient  

We may make our way down there sometime!

Li Hu wrote:

Is this the crack in question? Looks like a really difficult TR problem.

Cool “old style” gym. Saying “old” like I’m not ancient  

We may make our way down there sometime!

that is one of the cracks in question! Crack B, rated at 5.13, short, but off-fingers all the way through (up to 1”). crux seems to be getting off the ground, but after that it seems like it eases up as you can start getting your feet in the crack

and this Mira Mesa location is the only one with this style of concrete walls! But they’re all worth checking out

Vishal Bobba wrote:

that is one of the cracks in question! Crack B, rated at 5.13, short, but off-fingers all the way through (up to 1”). crux seems to be getting off the ground, but after that it seems like it eases up as you can start getting your feet in the crack

and this Mira Mesa location is the only one with this style of concrete walls! But they’re all worth checking out

Fun facts, the first Mesa Rim was built by Rockwerx which was originally the owner of the three old SD gyms, but got out of gym owning and into gym building at some point, that’s why all those gyms have similar builds and texture. That was back when it was cool to have faux rock but as you can probably tell that idea became lame and psychedelic colored wood panels became vogue.