The Y Crack - 5.9

Pinnacle Peak - The Y Crack Boulder

If you are new to rock climbing, you probably have numerous questions swirling around your head, like clouds around the summit. There is a lot of vocabulary and terminology you may not understand right away. What is a crux? When do I get an onsight? Am I top roping, sending, or hang-doggin’? You are probably wondering, how do I jam, crimp, and thrutch. Lastly, if you are climbing in an area that is notorious for sandbagged climbs, you are probably asking yourself, who the hell rated this 5.9!


The Yosemite Decimal System is the rating scale most commonly used in the US for both indoor and outdoor climbs. An interesting blend of both letters and numbers, plusses and minuses, and occasionally even a roman numeral for good measure. This complicated and imperfect grading scale has been in the works for over 6 decades and still keeps expanding. At the time the Y Crack received its first ascent in 1977, by Pete Noebels, Dennis Abbink, and Larry Trieber, the hardest route in the world was rated 5.13a. By today's standards, 5.13a is a warm up for the professionals, with cutting edge climbing being graded in the high 5.15s. Giving a particular route a rating can be a difficult task, and some of us would rather off say “It’s Pretty Damn Western”.


All climbs and all climbers are different. A 5.9 first done in the 1960s will feel different than a 5.9 at the newest crag. Routes of the same difficulty on different types of rock will have a similar level of skill required but challenge the climber with a totally new set of techniques needed. A 5.9 sport climb is going to be nothing like an old school 5.9 offwidth, and with that said no climb done on top-rope will feel like it will on lead.

So of all the great 5.9’s around Phoenix, why did I choose a horrendous offwidth? A climb I still have never led. A climb I’ve actually only topped out once. There are a ton of reasons not to like the Y Crack. For one, it’s an offwidth crack, too big for fist jams but too tight to chimney. Offwidth climbs are known to give the climber a good fight. An unrelenting battle with rock and gravity. Most climbers will avoid offwidths as often as they can. These climbs require strange techniques such as armbars, chicken-wings, stacked jams and heel-toe cams. Nothing comes easy in offwidth climbing.


For me, the Y Crack was always something to strive for, and still is today as I think about going for it on lead. This climb is located in Scottsdale, AZ at Pinnacle Peak Park. Pinnacle Peak is a pretty funny climbing location. If you’ve never climbed there, picture this, multi-million dollar homes and golf courses, a perfectly maintained trail with signs identifying a variety a desert plants, hikers galore from soccer moms to snowbirds, and sweet granite all around. This park was nearly lost completely to the climbing community when it shut down in 1994 due to development in the area. An unfortunate fate that neighboring Troon Mountain faced in 1995 when luxury homes took over. Lucky for us climbers, the park was reopened in 2002 and rock climbing access was again granted to most of the mountain, the Lower East Wall is still off limits.

The quality of granite, variety of climbs, and ease of access had me climbing at Pinnacle Peak a lot in my early days. We would scamper all over the place climbing routes such as Birthday Party (5.7), Mickey Mantle (5.8+), South Crack (5.3), and Turtle Piss (5.6). Turtle Piss was the first climb I did at Pinnacle Peak and on our hike to the route, there is no missing it, the big, burly, beautiful Y Crack. Immediately I asked my friend Simon, what is that? He told me the name and the grade and said we would be on top of that rock soon. Turtle Piss climbs up the backside of it and he said we could try the Y Crack on top-rope. As we hiked around the boulder to access our climb for the day, I stood under Y Crack with the feeling of intimidation. This thing looked hard! We had a great day climbing and to finish it off we each gave the 5.9 a few tries. I didn’t even get off the ground that day.


Almost every time I went back to climb at Pinnacle Peak, I’d always find myself running over to Turtle Piss to set up a top rope on Y Crack. I don’t know how many attempts it took before I finally unlocked the sequence that would work for me. This route made me a stronger climber through repeated shutdowns. I started to enjoy the challenge and process it took to climb something way beyond my current skill and strength. I can definitely say I was very happy to be on top rope.

The moment I finally made it to the top was a memorable one. I have seriously never felt so nauseous after topping out. I was so psyched but felt so shitty. I gave it every last bit of energy I had to pull through the crux, and it was a struggle. It felt awesome to finally get to the top without weighting the rope. I was proud of my accomplishment and excited to move on to the next challenge. As I write this now, about 7 years after the day I climbed it, I realize how defining that moment really was. It is climbs like the Y Crack that bring me back to the crags over and over. The beauty of the route, the challenge of the moves, and the non-stop pursuit of your goals. Topping out on the Y Crack that day was only the start...whos got the big cams?!?


I hope you have enjoyed reading about my favorite Phoenix 5.9. Check back next week for my favorite 5.10! Get out there, have fun, be safe and climb hard! Until next time....
Thank you.

-Ryan Myers