[Hide Comment] Three of us did this route yesterday evening and all agreed it was harder than 5.7- the first move stepping into the steeper hands size portion of the crack (last 12 feet or so) was pretty tough. The jams are great, but the face is very steep and thin. Fun climb though.

5.7? I think that's a bit of a sandbag, at least compared to other 5.7s in the area. May 22, 2003

[Hide Comment] I climbed this route for the second time, because I couldn't belive how spanked I got on a 5.7. And I also climbed the 5.8 to the right (origional route). It's funny, I cruised the 5.8, but when I got to the overhanging off-hands start to this climb, I found myself struggling a bit.

Here is my question? Richard, have you even climbed this route? Or, did you just look at the Hubbel guide? Did Hubbel do his homework?

This would not be a safe climb for a 5.7 leader, this would not be a good climb for a 5.9 sport leader either. If you want to attempt this climb, have your jams dialed, and a nice selection of hand sized pieces. I think that a 5.9 rating is a better reflection of the difficulty of this climb.

After all that, this is a sweet line that makes you wish it was only longer. Beautiful crack moves on bomber rock. Aug 18, 2003

[Hide Comment] I would have to agree on the 5.9 rating. The route takes a bit of thinking on how to attack it. My friend Brain stemed up most of the way and then climbed the remaing moves just using the steep head wall. I had to take a different approach to the crack, because I am a lot shorter so I had a few more lieback moves. Great climb wish it were longer! Aug 26, 2003

[Hide Comment] We did this climb last night thinking it was 5.9 (Gillett's rating) and felt that it might even be 5.9+. No way is it 5.7! Gillett indicates it is a fist crack, but I climbed it using cups and my forearms (btw I don't trust fist jams). Apr 30, 2009

[Hide Comment] This route is definitely all about style - if you don't have the jams down you will get in trouble (as I did). The crack is right leaning and off-hands (depending on the size of the meat hooks - for Scarpelli this would probably just be hands). I climbed it with three people and each person seemed to climb it a little different - I wasn't able to get a good fist so I had to arm bar, the guy following me used fists and his wife said forget the crack and just laid the thing back the whole way. The latter option seems like a difficult position to plug pro.

I think a C4 #4 and a couple of C4 #3s make this route comfortable. And the "runout" at the top really didn't seem all that bad. May 30, 2009

[Hide Comment] I second the notion that the route is a major sandbag at 5.7. It is considerably harder than Original Route (5.8-) to the right. If you've got big hands, 5.9 is a fair rating; felt more like 9+ to 10a for me. Gillett lists it at 5.9 I think.

By the time you finish the crack, the runout will seem trivial. An extra #2 and #3 are helpful if you want to sew it up. Jun 29, 2009

[Hide Comment] Used cupped, cammed hands and forearm-jams to get up this one. BD #3s or WC #3.5s are the way to go. Bring several.... Sep 29, 2012

[Hide Comment] There is not much of a run out after the crack. It is a ways between pieces but not too bad. A small C3 works down low and a medium cam higher. Jan 29, 2016