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Location: OR : Smith Rock : The Christian Brothers : Ring of Fire (5.11d)
By: Toby B When: Jul 3, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: While I disagree that this could be a good onsight--the crux is incredibly cryptic--if you put in the work to figure out the moves it climbs really well. Lovely route.
Be very discriminating in your choice of holds near the crux, there's a lot of worthless crap up there in addition to the few holds that are juuuuust good enough.
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Animal World : Animal Magnetism (5.11c)
By: Toby B When: Jun 13, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: While I can see this route becoming vastly easier once you have the beta dialed, the lower crux is quite sequencey and the long sustained nature of the upper section can really wear you down if you don't do things just so. I actually think that, in contrast to routes like Free Willie which are obviously soft, that Animal Magnetism felt to me more like 11d while I was attempting to onsight it.
Regardless of the grade this is an amazing climb and absolutely worth getting after!
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Location: CO : Boulder : Boulder Canyon : Avalon : First Tier : Mists of Avalon (5.10a)
By: Toby B When: Jun 6, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Route still has some spinning bolts as of today. 2nd bolt from the top is especially bad; probably just needs a wrench to tighten it, but I didn't have one with me.
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Location: CA : Tahoe Vicinity : South Lake Tahoe : Lover's Leap : Lower Buttress : Pillar of Society (5.12a)
By: Toby B When: May 13, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: How in the heck do you start this thing?! I spent five minutes just trying to get off the ground! The handholds are there, but the feet start a few feet off the ground...
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Indian Creek : The Optimator : Anunnaki (5.11c)
By: Toby B When: May 7, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: While the crack climbing is easy, the moves near the top, especially the final layback and moves on the jugs and into the last finger crack, would warrant a 5.12a grade at most sport crags. I know grades are stout at the creek and a lot of people who climb here are crushers, but I think this is a fair albeit slightly soft 5.12.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Castle Valley : Castleton Tower : North Chimney (5.8)
By: Toby B When: May 4, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Agreed that this is considerably harder than 5.8 by my usual standards. Just be advised that towers have their own standards of grading! Beautiful route. #5 Camalot was perfect for getting through the offwidth--there are some footholds inside the offwidth you can use to get the thing set, and then use it as a point of aid to get into a nice secure position if you're a punter like me.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Castle Valley : Castleton Tower : North Face (5.11b)
By: Toby B When: May 2, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: If rapping with a single 70, you'll wind up downclimbing a ramp that is VERY exposed at the end of the very first rappel. Probably 5.5-5.6 if you're going up, but felt 5.7ish going down. You're not above a ledge or anything either -- mess up and you're 300 feet down and dead. I found this extremely unpleasant. Not a recommended rap route with a single 70 m rope IMO.
You could conceivably leave your ends un-knotted and rap off the end of your rope to the ledge with the rap station, but that woul... more >>
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Indian Creek : Battle of the Bulge Buttres... : Ruins Crack (5.10+)
By: Toby B When: May 2, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Crap. Accidentally climbed this the other day... didn't realize it was off limits. I don't recall the plaque for the Fremont Culture Dwelling mentioning the climb -- maybe it could be updated?
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Indian Creek : 2nd Meat Wall : Tube Steaks Tomorrow (5.10+)
By: Toby B When: May 2, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Seconded, not sandy at all.
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Location: UT : Moab Area : Fisher Towers : Ancient Art : Stolen Chimney (5.10)
By: Toby B When: Apr 24, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: First bolt of the upper bolt ladder still missing. Felt like 5.7-5.8 moves at most to reach the second bolt; not hard. However, yesterday someone fell before reaching said second bolt and grounded on the belay ledge below them. Had to be helicoptered to a trauma center in Salt Lake.
Be careful out there folks. If you have any concerns, bring a stick clip. To be frank, though, if the 5.7ish moves to that bolt are difficult for you, actually gaining the summit tower is going to be a bad... more >>
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Location: CO : Canon City : Shelf Road : Cactus Cliff : Muscle Beach (5.11a/b)
By: Toby B When: Apr 15, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: A huge chunk of this pulled off yesterday just above the first bolt. There is a bit of the rotten block remaining which presently has a giant X on it. What is left of that block seems OK to me, but it may not be. You can avoid using it as a hand, but it's tough to avoid stepping on it, so be cautious.
Doesn't change the grade at all, though.
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Location: NV : Red Rock : Second Pullout : Sweet Pain Wall : Slave to the Grind (5.11c)
By: Toby B When: Apr 1, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Like a harder version of Glitter Gulch. Fairly sustained, the climb just gets harder as you go up and the wall tips back. The holds are all fairly good if you can get the correct body position; like Glitter Gulch the abundance of large feet will save you from the pump!
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Location: NV : Red Rock : Sandstone Quarry : Holiday Wall : Fast Moving Train (5.11c/d)
By: Toby B When: Mar 29, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: The route isn't too bad as a top rope problem, although the anchors are in a terrible place. It is god-awful to lead, though, because there are absolutely no clipping stances. Pretty unpleasant, honestly, and certainly not 11a.
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Location: WA : Vantage (Frenchman Coulee) : Sunshine Wall : Twin Cracks Area : Snooze Ya Lose (5.11a)
By: Toby B When: Feb 20, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: I heard someone today talking about trundling a block off of this route recently. I had toproped it a year or so ago, and I have to say, it felt substantially harder than I remembered. I'd be interested to hear other opinions on the grade of this route from folks who have climbed it recently.
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Location: CA : Yosemite National Park : Tuolumne Meadows : Fairview Dome : Magical Mystery Tour (5.8 R)
By: Toby B When: Feb 6, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: I just about shat myself watching my partner lead this in one of my first few days at Tuolumne. I realize that Tuolumne is known for its runouts but to give this route anything other than X is misleading. There are a few gear placements on the first pitch, but you're still facing 50+ feet of climbing where a fall would mean certain death.
For those of you who (unlike me) are well-versed in the way of climbing on nubs I'm sure the climbing is mellow. But the protection definitely deserves an X.
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Location: OR : Trout Creek
By: Toby B When: Feb 2, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: As of today, the BLM has closed Trout Creek for eagle nesting. The closure is slated to be seasonal each year, from Feb 1 to August 31, but may be lifted in May if the nest is determined to be inactive.
The access fund is involved and hopefully this "seasonal" closure won't wind up being an annual thing, but for now, the place is off-limits.
UPDATE: Trout Creek is now open following a failure of the eagle nest. More here: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofTroutCreek
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : Shipwreck Wall : Voyage of the Cowdog (5.8+)
By: Toby B When: Jan 16, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Thanks for putting this up, Jon. Really a great route with outrageous position considering the difficulty. I ran up this with a friend of mine at the end of a beautiful winter day, and it was just a blast. Definitely a memory I'll hold onto for a while!
The exposure on the third pitch is great. I would recommend folks be a bit careful on this route as it is fairly new and some of the rock is still loose; I kicked off a softball sized chunk on P3 and watched it free fall a few hundred ... more >>
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Location: NV : Red Rock : Sandstone Quarry : Stratocaster Area : Stratocaster Direct (5.12b)
By: Toby B When: Jan 5, 2012 | view comment >> |
Comments: Be wary of the fixed gear on this route at the moment. I was here over Thanksgiving and the 'biner on the first bolt's fixed draw doesn't close on its own and is looking pretty worse for wear. We put our own draw in there but as we were on a trip didn't have spare gear to leave behind.
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Location: CO : Golden : Clear Creek Canyon : The Dog House : Dog Breath (5.10)
By: Toby B When: Dec 27, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Going straight up the bolt line is doable and definitely no more difficult than 11a at the most relative to the other climbs at this crag. Does look easier out left, but I didn't repeat it, so I don't know how much easier. Fun climb, good movement down low!
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : Cocaine Gully : Vomit Launch (5.11b)
By: Toby B When: Oct 28, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Personally, I found that the last few feet of climbing after you've become established in the crack were the crux of the route. Nice place for a crux, though! Excellent climb, certainly my favorite 11 in the park.
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : Cocaine Gully : Bloodshot (5.11c)
By: Toby B When: Oct 24, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Super fun. Well bolted when it needs to be, little spacey when the climbing eases to keep things interesting, plenty of rest stances to get your shit together between cruxes.
In my opinion the real crux of the route comes at the very top getting to and moving off of a great sidepull. The falls from here are a little intimidating since the route has kind of a little ramp below you, but I've taken some whips here and they were all a-ok.
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Location: Toby B : Tobies : Photo
By: Toby B When: Oct 19, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: It is indeed tilt-shifted... although my friend who took the photo did it so I couldn't tell you how it was done.
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : The Christian Brothers : Double Trouble (5.10b)
By: Toby B When: Oct 18, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: Definitely better not to stand up on top of the first block--you're just setting yourself up for a bunch of downclimbing or an awkward transition.
That said, don't be shy about weaving back and forth between the arete and face. One of my favorite routes at the grade at Smith, and a big reason is that everyone has different beta!
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : Red Wall : Breakdown in Paradise (5.10b)
By: Toby B When: Oct 17, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: From what I've gathered, the bolt that forces you into the harder terrain is a recent addition of the past few years. The 10b grade is for climbing to the left of the bolt line up high, despite the pendulum risk. Definitely considerably harder (5.11 most likely) if you go straight up.
What a crappy route.
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Location: OR : Smith Rock : Shipwreck Wall : Blue Light Special (5.11a)
By: Toby B When: Oct 5, 2011 | view comment >> |
Comments: I feel... really good about the undercling. It doesn't feel polished to me at all. Maybe I'm using a different part of it?
I'll have to try the knee bar next time I'm up there.
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