Sub 5.12 and STILL testpieces.

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Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Jan 29, 2014 - 09:34pm PT
Bigbird, listen again, it doesn't sound like that's what she's saying.

I've followed it, [edit, not free! by a long shot! especially the thin, crux]t's amazing, it captures an era, and would likely have a different rating today, but that's not the point she's making....


And muscle & Fitness, I think I did the second ascent, (as well as squat, new maps of hell, third of pretzel logic) def solid for the grade. Bob routes are full value! Though I don't know how squat jumped from .11b ( a sandbag) to .12b ( a little much)!! Once you get the idea of inverting, it's at the .11d / .12a cusp, a bit easier than trench warfare (.12b/c)
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Jan 29, 2014 - 09:41pm PT
Astroman is softcore. Kids from my high school -- bolt-clippin' prancers -- used to come to the Valley and hike this, no prob. All the time.

Astrodog is another story. That's a sub-5.12 'piece that eats prancers.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Jan 30, 2014 - 12:16am PT
NO bolts at all has stood the test of time.
I tried that one time (albeit onsight). It's way over-rated.
tarallo

Trad climber
italy
Jan 30, 2014 - 04:03am PT
freestone for me is a testpiece. it is intimidating when you look up...
i think astroman is much harder ,more phisical but i love the place...
bigbird

climber
WA
Jan 30, 2014 - 04:52am PT
I've followed it, it's amazing, it captures an era, and would likely have a different rating today,

Please elaborate.... Explain how it "captures" an era? I was not around when this took place, so i'm out of the loop...

Question for the offwidth gurus....

I've been told that basically any offwidth that Bob Scarpelli, Craig Luebben or Jimmy Dunn put up above 5.10 is worthy of testpiece status... Is this true?
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
Jan 30, 2014 - 05:23am PT
the cleft, cookie.
5.9, chuck pratt.
cultureshock

Trad climber
Mountain View
Jan 30, 2014 - 01:20pm PT
I think StahlBro nailed it:

Test pieces force you out of you comfort zone, regardless of the grade.

This means that a testpiece for some could be easy for others. This makes a lot of sense, but doesn't help us come up with a list.

Per a comment above Freestone is a route I've been nervous about getting on. Hard to say more until I've climbed it.

If you are looking for test pieces in Red Rocks I would say that WML hints at some good ones.

Adventure Punks, Drifting, Rock Warrior. All should provide some excitement.

Levitation is pretty awesome but would only qualify as a testpiece in my mind if you did the whole route on gear. No bolt clipping at all. That would be a good show and way scary!


Ryan,

I'd say that Freeway is not really a testpiece. It's not as intimidating as Astro-man (IMO).

I would say something like Cerberus would more fit my definition of a testpiece for Squamish. It's something that I would need to spend some time working up to. A bunch of the slabs you listed above also sound pretty damn exciting. I'm hoping to be up your way in September if things work out.

With Freeway I just went for it with a solid partner and wasn't really concerned about getting hurt. The pitches are pretty stacked but everything is safe and goes down easy with an extra helping of try hard.

Luke
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
Jan 30, 2014 - 01:43pm PT
Damn Luke, that photo of Harding slot makes it look VERY intimidating…
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Jan 30, 2014 - 02:43pm PT
Luke, thanks for your comments regarding the relevance of OW skills. Having "grown up" being very YV-centric in the days of pitons, I needed OW technique good enough to lead with poor or no protection to do many of the most appealing lines and climbs. Modern technique and equipment, as well as the much greater geographic range of American climbing, make the necessity of OW technique far from universal now.

I also think you hit the nail on the head for defining a "testpiece." Thanks again for sharing your insight.

John
ydpl8s

Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
Jan 30, 2014 - 03:13pm PT
Here's a photo of a Taylor Canyon, Gunnison - used-to-be test piece - the deceptibly flaring trough that even though it looks like a crack from the bottom, you pretty much have to face climb on the outside of the flare and put small stuff in the back to protect - Whiskey Crack 5.10d - Nowadays younguns probably wouldn't think of it as a testpiece (as you can see, the pic even shows a "girl" climbing it, please, I'm kidding).

StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
Jan 30, 2014 - 05:41pm PT
I thought Desert Song in JT was stout at the time.
Evel

Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
Jan 30, 2014 - 05:46pm PT
Agent Orange @ the New

The Oddessy @ Looking Glass

The Prow @ Cathedral Ledge

.....

I know there's more than a few here from the right coast. This thread is a little left centric. Let's even it out people.
bvb

Social climber
flagstaff arizona
Jan 30, 2014 - 06:45pm PT
Has anybody here actually done Entrance Exam at Arch Rock? My guess is I'd have to call it stout 5.11. Done pretty much everything at Arch and EE was the only thing I thought I might die on. Then there's P2 of Reed's. Those were different times.
lucander

Trad climber
Shawangunks, New York
Jan 30, 2014 - 07:42pm PT
Leaving mountains out of it, focus on crags - here's choice of eleven (get it, less than .12)

Yellow Wall (.11), Gunks
El Matador (.10+), Devil's Tower
Grand Wall (.11-), Squamish
Magic Carpet Ride (.11), Squamish
Leave it to Jesus (.11), New River Gorge
Vertigo (.9), Cannon
Intimidation (.10), Cathedral Ledge
Modern Times (.8), Gunks
Tits and Beer (.9), Looking Glass
Great White Way (.8), Stone Mountain
Figures on a Landscape (.10), Jtree

eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jan 30, 2014 - 07:51pm PT
I didn't plan on posting to this thread, but then, while reading some posts...bam!...The Flakes, 5.10+, in the Black Canyon. Sub-5.11 even. The pitch that scares them away is an unprotected, 5.9 bombay chimney. It's an adventure climb.
Johannsolo

climber
Soul Cal
Jan 30, 2014 - 09:35pm PT
Anything harder than 11c at Suicide.
bvb

Social climber
flagstaff arizona
Jan 30, 2014 - 09:42pm PT
No sh#t man. Suicide is way oldschool. +1.
Dingus McGee

Social climber
Laramie
Jan 30, 2014 - 10:08pm PT
...and 5.14 relatively commonplace
to whom? Must be hundreds of climbers on this site that just crank 14's off? And they would have the answer.

For you [5.14 climbers only] which sub 5.12's are a must for you to do? You know to test yourself against what what was done decades ago.

Donini,

I think you are trying to pitch that soft ball in the wrong stadium?

"We don't do no stinkin test pieces; we wrk R projects."

And from another side: The Lander Climbing Guide by Steve Bechtel boasts of 111 climbs at 5.13. Go there and you will find no one on them. Climbers of this level must be working the 15's or seeking the famed testpieces?
bjj

climber
beyond the sun
Jan 31, 2014 - 01:53pm PT
As far as RR testpieces, again, testpiece is relative. Levitation is definitely considered to be one, although the hardmen all babble and detest the bolts, as they clip them. Routes like Adventure Punks and the hardman sh!t up on the Challenger and Jetstream Walls are supposed to be warm-weather testpieces here. Cloud Tower another testpiece for 11+. Desert Reality is a cool roof for 11+.

I've only climbed Levitation of that bunch, but hopefully at least Cloud Tower will go down for me this spring. Maybe pay a visit to Desert Reality if I can get my core strength to "burl dawg" level.

Have not yet done Levitation or Cloud Tower. However, in the last month or so I have been on Adventure Punks, Drifting, and Jupiter 2, which are all out at Jet Stream and Challenger.

I would not call Adventure Punks a testpiece at all, except possibly for the OW pitch 5 (though not really a true OW like you get in Yosemite). Besides that, it's very moderate. Really really excellent rotue, though. Disclaimer: We did not have time to do pitch #5. Another party was above us, and we ended up running out of daylight. I guess if you're a newish 5.10 leader, then it could test you. But not in that "mental control, keep it together or you might get whacked" sort of way.

Drifting is a much more testy, but bolts or solid gear protect all the hard moves very nicely. So, that one is testing of physical skill, with a variety of different / hard crux moves.

Jupiter 2... This one could possibly qualify as a test solely because of pitch #2 which was crazy hard (and felt like an absolute sandbag at 11c) and rebuffed us severely.

bjj

climber
beyond the sun
Jan 31, 2014 - 01:58pm PT
WTF

climber

Jan 30, 2014 - 12:15pm PT
Imaginary Voyage. Donner Summit.




^^^^^^^+1..


Seldom done in completion. The only route at Donner i ever lusted for and did in fine style. GOOD call. A Hudon/Jones vision..

About 15+ years ago we did the whole thing. I led every pitch. The memories have faded, but what I do recall best was struggling badly with (I think) pitch #1 which was a left angling thin hands splitter that was way harder than it looked.

Every other pitch I managed to onsight. One of them, I recall possibly as, a roof (possibly with splitter crack?) that ends abruptly with a jug over the lip. I remember reaching for the jug and snagging it just as my feet cut off. It's entirely possible that the rope came tight slightly to keep me from swinging outward too much.

Anyway, at that point, I did a one arm pullup for the first and only time while actually climbing, as the fastest solution to what was going on. Never before, and never since (not that I can do one anymore) was that the solution to anything.

I can't even remember the names and grades of all the individual pitches anymore, but IIRC they are all roughly 5.11b/c?

Can you fill in the gaps in my memory?
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