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Greg Barnes
climber
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hey dave, that 10d is Raked Over the Coals, appropriate name and even better since it was Rob Raker & Charles Cole.
Tons of awesome routes listed, missed one of my favorites - Friendly Hands 10b (maybe friendly hands if you're Lynn Hill, but fun route). Also the crack corridor behind Bird of Fire has some good stuff. And Cut Thin to Win 10c fingers, way around to the left from Zebra Dihedral.
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TW#T
Gym climber
san diego, ca
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yo greg, how is that climb next to friendly hands - fiendish fists? i hear thats supposed to be a good one also, have you done it?
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Cross These off the "Best of Best" List:
Cut Thin To Win is way too short to make any classics list.
[Such A Line aka Momentary Lapse of Reason] is by far the best route at the Zebra Cliffs; which goes to show you, don't always trust the number of stars.
Friendly Hands is OK, but far from a classic.
Fiendish Fists....wasn't the post about "classics"? Not even close.
Some Better Candidates:
Hook And Ladder...I seem to remember a ladder you have to climb up to reach the crack (or 12b boulder problem); not 4 stars [IMHO].
Heaven Can Wait...Very good, but not quite 4 star material.
Poodle Smasher...Maybe, but I'm biased.
Knight In Shining Armor...Murf, is it really that good?
At last but not least:
Toe Jam... This route is classic, but not for the quality climbing experience. FA in 1952 by several famous climbers, one who was part of a VERY significant FA in the Valley...
Any guesses?????
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TW#T
Gym climber
san diego, ca
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fine, stay on 5.7 routes done in 1957, i think we've come past that these days. keep the good routes without crowds. Thats why they call you the seamstress, when you take an aid rack up "The Bong".
over and out.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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looking sketchy, you've got a great list of top routes, just suggesting a few more fun crack climbs that people might want to check out - "second tier" if you will - especially since your list is a bit thin on 5.10.
Hey TW#T, Fiendish Fists is OK, and it's hand size not fist. Also, start way down and right from where the Vogel guide shows and you get a fun lieback direct start.
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bobh
climber
Bishop, California
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Here are two I haven't seen mentioned yet:
Black President
I can't rember the name of the second one -- it's a splitter in a corridor
behind flake about a half mile north of Ryan CG, toward Ryan and downhill
from the Oyster Bar. About 10+/11-.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
LA, Ca
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I know this is a little late on the thread, but just to set the record straight, the routes to the right of Pope's Crack are:
British Airways (anyone really think the last face moves aren't .11a?)
London Calling - joins British Airways for the finish - 11+
FA Gaines and Gordon, I think...
Rule Brittania - Starts in a flake, traverses past a pair of bolts and finishes up steep patina and slab. Woodward gave this one 11d but it's for sure harder than it's neighbor to the left..
in another area:
That Knight in Shining Armor is pretty good.. So's the stemming "Warrior Eagle" around the corner, but like 29 palms, I find it hard to call that one a crack.
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TW#T
Gym climber
san diego, ca
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what about o'kelly's crack?
hmmmm sounds like a lot of sport climbing going on at josh these days.........ask my buddy cdub about loose lady
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Hey Bob, that's Heart of Darkness, dave mentioned it above.
How about some more easy cracks? Popular Mechanics is the closest you get to the Needles for Josh 5.9. What's that fun 5.9 thin to offwidth on Foolproof Tower near Astro Domes? And tons of nice 5.7-10 range thin cracks in the Hemingway/Freeway/Tiny Tots/Rock Garden Valley/Shorter Wall area.
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bobh
climber
Bishop, California
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Right! Can this thread really have gotten this far without mention
of White Lightning?
Regaring Heart of Darkness. I was sitting around Ryan one afternoon, last
day of a week there. This guy walks into my site and says, "Want to go
climbing? I just found the best crack in Joshua Tree." Needless to say, I
was skeptical, but I kept it to myself, grabbed my stuff, and away we went.
I was still doubtful right up to the base of the thing, but not after I had a
look at it. We TR'd it, and sure enough, it rates as one of the best *crack*
routes in Josh.
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Vanessa
Trad climber
Phoenix
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Greg, if you're looking for more gracious "cracks" I would also include Lazy Day (.7 and good first lead?), Exorcist (.10a okay the first twenty feet), Diamond Dogs (.10a okay just the flake) and Nurn's Romp (.8 watch rope drag and descent) all roughly in the Hall of Horrors. If you're over at Lost Horse/Tiny Tots/Freeway (yikes!)/Shorter Wall don't forget Smooth as Silk (.7 great fingers to hands and fantastic position). Yum, I can taste the grit now....
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Murf
climber
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Sketchy asks:
>Knight In Shining Armor...Murf, is it really that good?
Granted I did it recently, but I really think it's that good. Shorter than some, but still respectable for Josh standards.
I think that the fingers section on Hook and Ladder is as good as any out there. For pure oddity ( and fear ), the ladder adds interest.
How about Scary Poodles? Protects like a crack, climbs like a face?
Winds of Whoopee is cool, and goes through a lot of sizes.
How about The Rattler for the 5.10 range?
Appendecytomy Crack for low 5.10 ( too short for classic? ).
Ontology Recapitulates Phylogeny ( also too short probably ).
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Hey Vanessa, yeah Lazy Day is a blast, last time I did it by moonlight. I like to lead Perhaps as well, it's kind of a "warm up to runouts" climb. Exorcist is good (my first 10a lead), but I prefer Bird of Fire & Taxman. Diamond Dogs ain't no crack climb, but fun. Nurn's Romp & Smooth as Silk are OK but not my favorites - I think the best crack below 5.10 is Touch & Go, I do that every trip at least once.
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TW#T
Gym climber
san diego, ca
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I thought bird of fire was pretty standard, nothing to write home about. If you want a great offwidth in that area, go bust out the dolphin, 5.7 but shuts many people down. Right to the left of bird of fire.
Oh yeah and dont forget about the comic book route, my buddy skinner led that one last week with a set of stoppers. What an animal
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funkness
climber
So,Ca.
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Speaking of the Comic book area, Frontal lobotomy is pretty good.
Toe Jam... This route is classic, but not for the quality climbing experience. FA in 1952 by several famous climbers, one who was part of a VERY significant FA in the Valley...
Any guesses?????
Hey Sketchy, my old red book says the f.a. was by Ken Smith and Dick Webster in 1959.
We give up, what was the significant valley route??
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bernd
climber
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In the Pit!!!!
great place, great crack and what a top out!
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Bishop is DEAD, long live JT
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It's all about the Living Conjunction and Emotional Rescue..... all the rest are just face climbs.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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If one were to include "2nd Tier" quality cracks (e.g.: 3 of 5 stars), the list would quickly devolve and become unmanagably huge. I tried to limit choices to the idea of the original post, being the "Best of the Best."
The 3 star routes are very good, but may suffer some "negative" factor keeping them from a higher score. At Josh, this usually means it is not quite long enough to get 4 stars. Heart of Darkness (11a) is a classic example. Cool moves, great rock, but about 1 body length of hard moves and maybe 3-4 body lengths long.
There are a good number of great 5.8s, 9s and easy 10 cracks in Josh. However, most are not 4 and 5 star routes. With over 6,500 climbs, it is reasonable to make a distinction between the good, great and mega classics. Such distinctions may not make sense in an area with only hundreds of climbs.
It is my observation that there has been a growing trend toward a more "egalitarian" assignment of stars to assuage the sensibilities of climbers who may be climbing at more moderate grades. This may make popular moderates even more popular, but really amounts to a less than honest appraisal.
Maybe some of you misread my take on Toe Jam. It is NOT a classic as a climbing route. It is classic as a historical climb. And, be braced for a complete rewriting of the "history" of early Josh climbing. The route was first done in November of 1952 (not in 1959 and not by Smith and Webster). I even have a cool color photo of the real FA.
Most of the FAs done in the 1960s were in fact not the FAs (or even first FFAs). Most these routes around HVCG (and elsewhere) were done during the period of 1949 to 1958.
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Demented
climber
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..probably appropriate that I am recommendeding a moderate…
Hex Marks the Poot… 5.7 splitter crack to 5.7 sqeeze w/ an alt. finish underclingy 5.8 2nd pitch
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Murf
climber
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Dave, what i think Sketchy is saying is that there may not be any 5 * 5.X climb ( that may be 5.7, 5.9 or anything else ). With the number of routes in JT, the best of the best should be truly elite. Length, position, number of moves at the grade, personality should all align for those 5 * routes.
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