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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Those Climb photos are absolute classics, Tar, thanks for posting them. That book was a landmark.
Less classic but kinda historical in their way, here are a couple more of Dudley Chelton's photos -- you might call these outtakes from Climb. The route is Black Walk, in 1972.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Happy 4th Werner!
What's for dinner?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Chiloe,
I did BlackWalk with Jim Logan & Paul Sibley.
Cool moves; only route I did with Logan & he is a jewel.
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WBraun
climber
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Thanks Roy and same to you.
Dinner, Hahahaha, is Tabouli.
109 degrees F in the Valley today.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Some local dirtfarmer,
Prancing up the Birdwalk pitch on Redguard:
And Chiloe,
What is it, Adventures in Snowdonia?
The book which inspired CLIMB!
I feel this is a perfect example of the style:
(Birdwalk again)
..and the boots which many Eldorati used,
Including 'dude in the above B&W photo,
& dudes in the B&W's throughout Climb!:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Here's an honorary Eldo Prancer,
Sir David Yerian:
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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...Yerian tried his hand at dirt farmin' with me,
But din't much take to it:
So off we went to Eldo:
Where we took that dowgie fer a walk,
&cracked off Yellow Spur in an hour and a half:
(Kor was probably faster...)
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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From CLIMB!
The Yellow Spur's 5th or so pitch:
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MisterE
Social climber
Across town from Easy Street
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CG's banana hammock solo shot set the new standard for Eldo Prancing
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Can you believe it is now 43 years since Royal and I did the first free ascent of Yellow Spur?
I promise you I did not teach Christian that vanity, that banana hammock stuff. He learned it on his own.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Shoot Oli,
43 years.
Some stuff got done eh?
Here's a guy with skills,
David Breashears, yah, prancing Krystal Klyr:
(epitome of run out...)
...I have no pictures of my own to match this one.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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And Chiloe,
What is it, Adventures in Snowdonia?
The book which inspired CLIMB!
The book is Rock Climbers in Action in Snowdonia published in 1966, written by Tony Smythe and illustrated by John Cleare. Both the text and the photos are excellent. I'll scan a few photos later today and post those if somebody doesn't beat me to it.
Nice work keeping the Eldo magic going in this thread.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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I would have to say that Eldorado ratings are the hardest of any area I have climbed.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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I would have to say that Eldorado ratings are the hardest of any area I have climbed.
Which routes are you thinking of? The traditional ratings from Oli's blue guidebook have puffed up a wee bit since Ye Olde Days, back when Bastille Crack was 5.6, Grand Giraffe was 5.8, and Umph Slot just 5.9.
Gunks grades seem to have held the line well, leading some folks to complain that they're sandbags. But I'm not current about Eldo.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Here's a few off the top of my head:
Black Walk: 5.10c
Rosy Crucifiction: 5.10a
King's X: 5.10d
Evangeline: 5.11b
Center Route (Rincon): 5.11a
Super Slab: 5.10d
I'd say that all of these climbs would be rated at least a letter grade harder in most areas.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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You don't have enough 5.9+ on that list Grug, er, eeyonkee.
Let's go do one to confirm, you know, just to be sure.
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Oli
Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Honestly I don't think those climbs named would be rated any different in any other area. I've climbed enough 5.11 in Yosemite and Tuolumne and enough 5.10 to have a pretty good sense. But each area has its own exhilaration factor, if you want to call it that. If you're not used to the rock, or the kind of steepness presented, it can seem harder. If you've never been to the Gunks and show up unawares, even easier climbs done by the great early climbers can seem pretty amazing. Then again, if you're used to using those flat holds of the Gunks and come to Eldorado, where holds are every which way, sloping, round, undercut, curled in, curled out, pointy, polished, pschedelically varied to infinity, it's going to catch some off guard and seem too wierd for words. If you climb 5.11 in Eldorado all the time but have never done a 5.10 off-width in Yosemite, that off-width is going to feel like 5.12c. It's all about taking the time to get oriented to each area, getting tuned into the kinds of secrets of technique that certain types of rock inspire, although a few climbers are so good they naturally orient to wherever they go... You there, John B.?
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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I personally thought Rosy was pretty underrated (for 10a) and I'd just climbed Outer Space the day before without too much problem.
Eldo tends to offer up a different kind of climbing than a lot of areas out west just in terms of holds and movement. Always seems to take me a little bit of time to get my mind wrapped around the different style there and feel comfortable.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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I suppose it could mostly be the fact that I grew up climbing on So Cal granite, but even after living in the Front Ranges for years, I find the Eldorado ratings stiffer than anywhere else. On the other hand, I find most wide cracks overrated...so there you go.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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I agree with Oli.
When I came here from Yosemite/JTree, I found the Eldo ratings consistent with good solid trad ratings. I had a good background in bouldering as well as long enduro leads and I found that kind of experience fed into Eldo sequences and made them feel just right for the grade. JTree, some would say, is stiff, because it is rounded and pumpy, with lots of laybacks, but that's just what it is. Rosy always feels weird, a lot of it is the fear factor on that traverse, where you always want bigger (or any) footholds to compensate the stunning position.
Soft sport climbing ratings have always tugged at the prior trad standard.
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