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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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bump for a great thread. i'm getting sorta burnt on saturation politics and finance noise.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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sweet bump
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dogtown
climber
Where I once was,I think?
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Largo wrote;I'm telling you, a lot of folks would be in for a very rude awakening if they went to Suicide and jumped up a couple of those Henny routes, done about 25 years ago now.
Thats no sh!t !!!
Darrell Hensel is king of Suicide.
I have done most all of his lines,But Someone You're Not 5.13A is for sure the Hardest slab route I have ever been on.And should be called Someone I'm not.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Thanks for bumping this post. When I first started climbing (early 80s) that's mostly what I could lead, as I had no upper body strength then to speak of. All those great routes on the Apron and in the Meadows, done in Fires and wearing brightly colored purple paisely tights, with my ample butt up in the air. (Clint Cummins was my partner on a lot of these routes and he had the rather disconcerting habit of taking photos with one hand whilst belaying with the other, so I have an excellent collection of butt shots...I'd post a photo but don't know how.)
I still love slab climbs and never pass up an opportunity to do them when I find them. If you like them, check out Trenchtown Rock in the Reds Meadow area sometime. Routes put up by Bruce Sato, Malcolm Jolley and Urmas Franosch in the 90s. The routes aren't that hard but they are on beautiful rock and not run out at all.
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Porkchop_express
Trad climber
Gunks, NY
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I am pretty new to leading but I really enjoy slabs, partly because they are scary and they definitely make tap into creativity. Its better with bacon in Tahoe has a pretty nice 5.6 slab with only a tiny crack for pro on the first pitch. While this is less than paltry in terms of what most of you folks out there can climb, I was far more proud of getting up that slab than some harder leads i have done on bolts. Even slabby boulder problems are pretty sweet- at least if I fail I know its more a lack of mental dexterity than physical strength.
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Slab climbing's not dead...
And it never will be
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rhyang
climber
SJC
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Ah, Tollhouse and Courtright :)
Slab climbing was the first kind of outdoor climbing I learned how to do. Not that I am good at it or anything (lead 5.7 on a good day), but it will always have a fond place in my heart.
I remember being coached that first day .. "stick your butt out, weight on your feet .. pretend you're mooning us !", lol.
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Not too many longish slabs up here in Montucky--been putting in some multi-pitch easy cruisers to add to my repertoire. There's a few .6,7,8,9,10 and .11's here to hone the skills on, though I remember getting my ass kicked on a Croft .11 at the Smoke Bluffs on a trip with the family to Squamish, making me realize that the long lost art that is practiced here by some commands respect.
edit: How to rate a slab climb ? Kind of like how to rate and off-width if you ask me. Hard to quantify, but some generalizations can apply.
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Thanks to The Chief for posting Stone Mtn NC photo: memories that brings back!! I guess it dates me that R and X didn't exist then - but you knew what you would be getting yourself in for if you went to Stone.
Also, somewhere in this thread should appear huge huge appreciation to Roger Brown who is basically as we speak (or is just finished) rebolting a big area on Glacier Point. Having done a 65-footer in the piton era off the last Coonyard 5.9 pitch (excuse: off route), and NOT dared to fall on Monday Morning to Patio or Patio to Coonyard some years later, I'd love to take advantage of his labor and revisit the spot.
And Calaveras Dome area bears mention in the litany of fabulous slab areas in CA. A few routes still need loose flakes broken off, but there are some diamond-solid ones too that should get lots more ascents, in particular the two stance-bolted 5.11bR/X routes on Hammer (Lo-Cal) Dome. Only merit "X" for damage to your mind, because the rock is so smooth you can go a looooong way without consequence. Slab-lovers, don't miss Cal Dome.
Great topic, gold star. Number of posts certainly shows slab/thin-face is not dead!
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Just gotta post one of the lesser known slab locations. I'd planned to spend a week out there this summer, but got hosed by the weather, too much snow early in the season, too much rain later on. Here are some pics provided by a buddy.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Yikes! My feet hurt just thinking about all those slab climbs. Stone Mt has always seemed a cool crag, even if scary. Nice pics. Great thread.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Phyl!
> All those great routes on the Apron and in the Meadows, done in Fires and wearing brightly colored purple paisely tights ...
Yeah! I remember in particular your leads on Green Dragon and Hogwash (lowly rating, but I couldn't touch those glassy moves). I still have the slides, but no slide scanner yet. I do have a regular scanner, or if you have .JPG files, I can tell you how to post photos.
I didn't have much upper body strength then, either - Sundays I often headed over to the Apron, as my arms couldn't take more pump. Too bad my footwork never got to where I could climb slabs at your level, but did complement each other's strengths.
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Dr. Rock
Ice climber
http://tinyurl.com/4oa5br
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Nobody looks for you on a slab.
They think you are out climbing something interesting.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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Coz wrote: "I climbed with most of the best brits of my day and they couldn't climb slabs."
Umm, Woodward and a little number called Hall of Mirrors? Wouldn't that fall under best brits of your day and hard US slab?
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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There are big slabs in The Gorge of Despair...
Medium slabs at Courtright...
and teenie slabs at Josh...
Girls like slabbin' too...
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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yeah, woodward and hensel made a deadly slab team. and ron fawcett was no slouch when it came to cashing in a dime or two.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Nothing like having slabbin' as a subject to make me go overboard...
Some of the best slabbin' anywhere can be found at Dome Rock. Rob Brown got this shot of me latchin' dimes on that old Yaniro gig called Pipe Dreams...
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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More Stone Mountain drift. I got memories of that place too; some of my earliest multipitch leads were at that place during a Spring Break road trip. We got snowed/rained out and eventually made a pilgrimage to the Jack Daniel's distillery.
The thought of jumping off that tree ledge to catch your leader on some antique bolt, though - too scary for us, especially back then!! Luckily for us beginners, it wasn't all pure friction slab. Here I am back in the day on some super-easy something or other with my Big Dog shorts, a rack o' hexes, and a tightly cinched chalkbag (and a goofball photographer) - stylin'!!!:
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