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zeta
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 14, 2009 - 03:47am PT
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despite today's torrential weather, i'm still planning to head to the valley this weekend, forecast looks good for Fri-Sun. Friends can't take Friday off (but I can!) -- if you'll be there and wanna climb, drop me a PM
I'm breaking into leading 5.8s this year--Bishop's Terrace, Harry Daley, Nutcracker and Commitment are all fun, wondering what are other people's favorite 5.8s...wondering how stout/steep Nurdle and Braille Book really are?
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martygarrison
Trad climber
The Great North these days......
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Oct 14, 2009 - 04:23am PT
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I think you already named the best ones......
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wildone
climber
GHOST TOWN
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Oct 14, 2009 - 07:30am PT
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Nurdle is the best-don't skip the second pitch (though I think the second pitch is a different route-but it still feels like a continuation of nurdle)
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Wack
climber
Dazevue
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Oct 14, 2009 - 09:11am PT
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Skip "Hershey Highway".
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Two Pack Jack
climber
The hills
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Oct 14, 2009 - 11:20am PT
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braille book 5.8, high cathedral rock.
Arrowhead arette 5.7, (out by the lost arrow spire) very exposed and fun.
do those two and your weekend is spent.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 14, 2009 - 11:50am PT
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Braille book is pretty tough for most 5.8 leaders and somewhat of an approach. Arrowhead arrete is a fun climb (only one really great pitch but the location if fantastic), but I remember the approach as long with some loose, ugly spots.
If you've done commitment did you finish up with Selegenella? I think that is my favorite 5.8 in the valley. I don't know that it dries out very quick.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 14, 2009 - 12:06pm PT
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Admittedly there is a scarcity of 5.8 in the Valley; so much of the climbing is a bit higher level.
Gollum right side 5.8; Pharaoh's Beard 5.8; Little John left 5.8; Little John right 5.9; Pine Line (5.7); After Seven 5.8; Sunnyside Bench Jamcrack Route (5.9-); Church Bowl Chimney (5.6); Royal Arches (5.7 a1 pendulum); Washington Column Direct Rte 5.7; Arches Terrace 5.8; North Dome south face 5.7; Half Dome: Snake Dike 5.7; Monday Morning Slab: Harry Daley rte 5.8; Elephant Rock: Real Error 5.7; Bridalveil Falls: Aqua variation 5.8.
Although others above have mentioned Braille Book 5.8, I would caution you as it might be intimidating as it is longer, steep, a bit continuous and a little sophisticated for a 5.8. Long approach there too.
You can also try some of the shorter safer 5.9's while you are at this stage.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 14, 2009 - 12:17pm PT
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Here are some starred 5.8s. My favorites are Nutcracker and Braille Book.
4. Hayley Anna 5.8 *
161. Elevator Shaft 5.8 R *
324. Nurdle 5.8 *
356. Makayla's Climb 5.8 *
359. Suds 5.8 *
378. Golden Needles 5.8 *
551. Bongs Away - Left 5.8 *
596. Mockery 5.8 **
598. Keystone Corner 5.8 *
804. Little John - Left 5.8 *
811. Little John - Right 5.8 ***
840. Gollum - Right Side 5.8 *
1034. Sorry Poopsie 5.8 *
1076. After Seven 5.8 *
1081. C.S. Concerto 5.8 *
1085. Nutcracker 5.8 ***
1087. Nutcracker Lieback Start 5.8 *
1098. Split Pinnacle - East Arete 5.8 **
1202. Cid's Embrace 5.8 *
1325. The Caverns 5.8 *
1326. Try Again Ledge 5.8 *
1401. Jamcrack p1 5.8 **
1494. Black is Brown 5.8 *
1498. Church Bowl Lieback 5.8 *
1515. Bishop's Terrace 5.8 ***
1628. Arches Terrace 5.8 R *
1934. Cow - Left 5.8 R *
1985. Harry Daley Route 5.8 ***
1993. Point Beyond 5.8 **
1996. Point Beyond Direct 5.8 *
2200. Tilted Mitten - Right Side 5.8 *
2219. Pharaoh's Beard - Regular Route 5.8 *
2289. The Sequel 5.8 *
2293. The Braille Book 5.8 ***
2331. The Pedestal 5.8 *
2332. Stand and Deliver 5.8 *
2403. The Flakes 5.8 R *
2473. Bridalveil East - Aqua var. 5.8 *
30. Stonequest 5.8+ R ***
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olivier
Social climber
Hood River, OR
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Oct 14, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
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Bishop's Terrace is really fun. Is that the one with the parallel cracks?
I'll second the Braille Book opinion: save it for after you've done a few single pitch 5.9s. It is a physical climb and the effort adds up. The crux is fairly high up, and has that spooky "aura" that only the Valley can provide.
Don't neglect Tuolumne either. Hobbit Book (5.7), South Crack (5.8), and West Crack (5.9) are a good progression and well within the abilities of a 5.8 leader.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 14, 2009 - 12:50pm PT
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Let me second Peter's mention of Pharoah's Beard. It's a good intro to OW's and chimneys. The right side of Little John has tremendous variation, and is a wonderful climb, too. Arrowhead Arete has a fantastic position, tremendous historical significance, and is a great climb, but it is much harder than 5.7, and it's quite sustained. It also has a long, strenuous, and sometimes dirty and rotten approach and descent.
Of course you can't go wrong with the old chestnuts mentioned in the initial post.
John
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SilasCL
Boulder climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 14, 2009 - 01:53pm PT
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Just followed a friend on Golden Needles. It was fun and tested my limited jamming skills.
Why not head over to Pat and Jack Pinnacles and tick off that, Nurdle, and Suds.
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zeta
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2009 - 02:31pm PT
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awesome, thanks for all the beta!
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 14, 2009 - 03:00pm PT
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Bishops Terrace
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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Oct 14, 2009 - 03:02pm PT
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Trial By Fire.
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aa-lex
climber
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Oct 14, 2009 - 03:03pm PT
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Ejesta!
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Oct 14, 2009 - 03:04pm PT
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Thinking about trying to lead Harry Daley this year .. how much do people use offset nuts / cams on the first pitch ?
I followed that pitch twice in 2006, and am a little intimidated .. I'm also interested in leading Bishop's Terrace and After Seven.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Oct 15, 2009 - 01:09am PT
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my comments on 5.8's I have done that are in the Reid guide
After Seven I like this climb as a better start up that buttress. Good for an early 5.8 lead.
Bishop's Terrace Valley classic, I frequently do the single pitch variation which is a bit tricky. Take two ropes to rap!
Black is Brown Never really thought I found this route, not recommended for an early 5.8 lead.
Bongs Away, Left Oddly difficult start, which is the crux. Maybe you could do it with elegance, I never have.
Braille Book Great climb but something you should do after you've been leading 5.9 a bit.
C.S. Concerto Another nice route on Manure Pile.
The Caverens Great climbing on the Five Open Books, definitely worth doing.
Church Bowl Lieback Do this when you are confident in your small nut placements, slick!
Church Bowl Terrace Strenuous flare, protectable, short.
Cid's Embrace Tricky start, chimney, do the first pitch only.
Ejesta Do this, great climb, fun position. First pitch is odd mixtures of moves. Second pitch is great!
Elevator Shaft Back-feet chimney, very steep, some runout (but not bad) and often seeps water (which is ok 'cause the rock there is sooo slick even when dry). Take to ropes to rap, better yet, rap over to the top of p1 Outer Limits and play on that if you're alone there.
Golden Needles This is a great climb which looks like it's going to be harder than it is.
Gollum, Right Side Good and obscure, some interesting strenuous moves.
The Hanging Teeth Like this climb, a bit run on one pitch and loose on the exit.
Harry Daley Route Be careful on the start, but another one you should do. Get in Chouinard's Crack too.
Keystone Corner Nice winter climb an a good early 5.8 lead.
Knob Hill Rapist This is an amazing crack feature that protects with modern wide gear.
Little John, Left Super polished, good introduction to the Offwidth Circuit.
Little John, Right An exercise in route finding. Another good one but maybe get a few 5.8 leads under your belt.
Movin' to Montana Confusing because if you follow the bolts in an obvious way it's more like 5.10a but worth working.
Notably Knobular A death route, really, don't even think about it.
Nurdle Good to get your jamming dialed. Do the first pitch and then set a top rope on Sherry's Crack
Nutcracker All time great climb, do the layback start pitch. Don't forget to use all the holds you have available on the mantel!
Point Beyond Direct Remember this as being a typical run out route on the GPA, probably sports ASCA bolts now.
Selaginella Great old school route up a weakness. Develops route finding skills, and helps if you have some!
Squeeze-n-Tease As a great 5.6 OW finish (really!) but probably not worth the hike out. Once you're a 5.10 climber you'll go out there for other business and get on this one for fun.
StonequestWhat a freaking adventure! The bolts were old in 1998 when I did this, probably 11 years older. Love that place though.
The Surprise Pitch 2 is the business if you only go 5.8, the 5.10a finish is much much better, and doing Werner's Ant Tree at 5.10c to start makes the 3 pitch route a 156.75 star DWMC (ask Russ for acronym)... however p2 is an advanced 5.8 lead.
Trial by Fire A good introduction to OW technique... protects well... after you scrape yourself up there you can kill you toes by TRing Demimonde at 5.11c
I've done a lot of other 5.8's and put up some (though the ratings might be controversial). There are some obscure routes to do too... perhaps I can show you some of them sometime... and I'm always up for repeating!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 15, 2009 - 02:34am PT
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Ed,
> Point Beyond Direct Remember this as being a typical run out route on the GPA, probably sports ASCA bolts now.
There is a bolt on the starting slab, but not placed by ASCA.
Somebody bolted direct variations on p3 and p4; those were not replaced by ASCA.
We did replace bolts on Angel's Approach to Lucifer's Ledge. We removed many added bolts in the process and only replaced original bolts.
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dougs510
Social climber
down south
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Oct 15, 2009 - 03:11am PT
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Braille Book spooked me. the OW is weird if your not used to that sort of climbing. Though my rope gun made it look easy, I trashed, to say the least to get through it.
Nut Cracker is IMHO, straight forward 5.8. Awesome,
Also, the Grack center is cool, but the rockfall scare makes me want to climb fast and get out of there.
TM.... Cathedral peak is one awesome climb. I can't say enough about that route. Totally inspirational.
Jamcrack, Munginella, and fooling around the little climbing area around C4 was cool. Also, Royal Arches has some really cool jamming stuff. I liked that alot. All being said, some of the 8's and 9's are scary stuff. I want like crazy to do the SS on Sentinal, but NO WAY am I going up the narrows. And I hear the "Wilson???" roof is totally sandbagged. Nevertheless, that rock wants me to climb it. Hopefully... someday.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 15, 2009 - 01:44pm PT
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I remember Pharoh's beard being a fun route with a pretty friendly wide section and Trial by Fire is a good intro wide route.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend Nutcracker to a 5.8 leader because the mantel is stiff and the landing is bad (its broken some ankles along the way). Harry-Daley route is great and it is secure after you get the first piece in. The first move is a bit rough.
Steck Salathe is in a completely different league, but in response to the comment above: I weigh 150 lbs. Getting into the narrows was a C1 move off an old style #4 camalot and the narrows itself was seriously like 5.7. Now if you weigh 180 or more, I could see upward progress being hard, but you are not going to fall out of it. The Wilson overhang is hard if you stay in deep (more secure). I seconded it much further out and 5.8 is a bit of a sandbag, but not too much. But as got talked about in a recent SS thread, the hard lead pitch is the flare below the narrows.
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