[Hide Comment] The guidebook says 11c, a lot of other folks call it 12a, so I compromised by calling it 11+. Whatever it is, expect it to feel harder than other 11c's you've done. Jul 15, 2008

[Hide Comment] I should give the first ascent to Wolfgang Leeb, because he bolted it, but. I actually did it first, so we'll split it, but most of the credit goes to the guys who tr'd it. We did, however, establish all the other routes here, some of which are well worth doing.

This route appears on the cover of my guide, btw. I'll agree it would be a tad hard at 11c, even if it were at the Tor fer crissakes. May 18, 2009

[Hide Comment] I broke a good smiley faced sidepull hold off of a pocket, might be a bit harder now, high elevenish, great climb. Aug 5, 2010

[Hide Comment] Okay, I'll be the punter and just say it: Caveman should be rated 5.12a. After said breakage, the upper headwall is noticeably harder, and thus I think it's fair to suggest bumping this already 5.11+ route into the 5.12 universe.

Had a great time out there on one of the last "summery" weekends of the season. Oct 16, 2011

[Hide Comment] Sooo good! Feels harder than the few other 11+ I've done. A wild foot-lock maneuver behind a flake above the lip of the cave was the key to unlocking the crux. Feb 28, 2012

[Hide Comment] It's rated 12a in my guide and it was no giveaway at that even before the breakage. Not many of the climbers I've been there with have done it all I think all of them could easily do 12-. Mar 14, 2012

[Hide Comment] I would still call it 11+. The crux is bouldery but it's over quick and then its only a couple more moves to the top. If there was more sustained climbing before the crux no doubt it would be 12-. Great climb! Jul 15, 2013

[Hide Comment] I flashed this today on lead and have never sent a .12 anywhere on gear or bolts. Recently Ive tried leading and hung on Fun Terminal and Drive By Shooting in Yosemite and Silverback up Pine Creek and this climb is wayyyyyy easier than those .12a's. I'd say .11c/d is about right. There is no way this is the same difficulty or harder than the .11d direct finish to makunaima. Having said that this climb is SOOO FUNNNN!!!!! Jul 29, 2013

[Hide Comment] I agree with Timbo's comment. My comment here is quite similar to my comment on The Nose ( mountainproject.com/v/the-n….) This route was originally rated 5.11c - granted that was as a TR, but there is a clip right before, and right after the crux, so that doesn't account for a full letter grade in my opinion.

It is also important to place any route's rating in context of other routes in the area. Is this route noticeably harder than the easy finish of Makunaima? Or Spiderline in Joshua Tree? How does it stack up against Power of Eating?

Letter grades are major - not minor - changes in difficulty. Let's start with this assumption (definition?) that I think everyone will agree upon: as rating go up, fewer people should be able to climb the grade. That is: more people climb 5.12a than 5.12b, than 5.12c, etc. So ask yourself: if 100 people climb 12a, how many will climb 12b? 12c? 12d? In my experience, maybe 60 will climb 12b; and 60% of those, or 36, will climb 12c; and 60% of those, or 22 will climb 12d. I think this if helpful to keep in mind when rating routes.

The only reason to change a route's rating is because it is out of line with other routes in the area. Usually, this is because the original ascentionist got it wrong, or something significant broke. Makunaima is the benchmark 11c for Santa Barbara - let's evaluate similarly rated routes in relation to it. Jul 29, 2013

[Hide Comment] No idea what's broken or not but back when it was bolted, Wolfgang didn't get it in a day, and we'd all done Makunaima in Teva's (granted we could do it blindfolded, too). So something was hard about it. Comparing it to Drive By Shooting isn't really even the same sport, since that's a glorified slab. DBS is super hard to sort but, once you know where to go, kind of casual if you're good on your feet. This has a move that's always a move, which at the time felt a lot harder than the crux of Power. Maybe a height thing, since I've been there with Wolfie and two other solid 12 climbers who didn't do it, all short. Apr 1, 2014

[Hide Comment] Insanely hard crux over the roof. The face is pretty chill. Mar 30, 2018

[Hide Comment] Maybe I'm a soft gym climber but I think this is at least 12a. Took me many more tries to figure out the crux over the lip on this climb than it did for me to figure out Omega Glory. How I get over the lip on this climb: with a right hand heel match in the hueco and leaning way left I can just barely get the bottom of the flake...then I go left hand to a 2 finger slopey dish and desperately bump the right hand to the way better part of the flake....from there the climb is not bad, but it is not a gimmie May 22, 2020

[Hide Comment] I mean, if you use Becca's beta and climb the thing by avoiding all the good holds, maybe it's 12b. (I watched her do it the standard way - grab the jug, throw to the big gaston crimp, and she cruised it). Awesome route, though! May 10, 2021

[Hide Comment] open shut anchors and top route bolt replaced June 5 2021 with bomber 4.5" half-inch stainless sleeve bolts and hangers courtesy of the ASCA. This means that you'll have to hang draws on the anchors, but the anchor bolts are easily reachable by walking around the back and leaning over the lip. Jun 8, 2021