Seldom climbed good routes at Rumney

With Lee mentioning his recent ascent of As the World Burns 12b at Rumney's Main Cliff, which is possibly only the second ascent after 13 years that I have heard of (Ward Smith may have lead right after I put it up), I was thinking of other good routes at Rumney that rarely get climbed. A lot of them seem to be second pitch 12s., some right next to or above very popular routes. Ones that I can think of that are worthy of more ascents are:

-The two steep second pitches put up by Chris Smith above Captain Hook at Orange Crush, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, both 12c
-My routes Anaconda-da-Vida 12c and White Snake 12a that share the same start left of Black Mamba
--Keith Becconsall's Blues for Mowgl 12d at Triple Corners Left
-Local Motion 12d/13a at Waimea, left of Luau. I got the second ascent of this right after Dave put it up and I have never heard of anybody else climbing it since.
- Shiskebob 11c, breaks off left from the bottom of the Skewer at the Main Cliff to gain a beautiful stem corner then joins Gunboat Diplomacy. The easiest way to enjoy this is to TR it after climbing Gunboat.

Any others worthy of more loving at Rumney people can think of?

Hah- Well I can't hang with 12's....

But I would offer the Crow's Nest area as a cool out of the way spot at Rumney. Hard to get to, not crowded. A 5.8 called "Land Ho!" is really nice if that's a grade that appeals to you.

Speaking of Main Wall. When's the last time anyone seen someone on Via Ferrata or Soup to Nuts? Same goes for Bourbon Street.

done bourbon street a couple of times...it's pretty fun! Though I think the only reason this route gets done is because it's the more obvious bolt-line going up from Big Easy, and people get steered in that direction. Once had to climb it to retrieve some gear for a party trying to find the second 5.7 pitch then got stuck on the crux.

I never see people on Flying Squirrel nor Crime and Punishment (both 11a), both are short but fun second pitches.

People must rarely climb Stairway to Heaven 10a considering the lichen and no chalk. That is a classic 5.10 IMO.

Of all the .10's and .11a or so mentioned for A&D and Main Wall, Stairway To Heaven was the most fun one for me. I think the good ones that are truly being missed are the ones above Northwest Territories and at The Pru. I believe The Hinterlands routes are well traveled though.

Mark, I believe there were a bunch of ascents of White Snake this past season. But Peter Pan and Tinkerbell have always seem rather lonely to me. Then again, after all the crimping on Captain Hook, most of us are pretty fried.

More people should climb Idiot's Deluxe. Approach has to be one of the shortest if not the shortest at Rumney. I even scored a leaver (locking) biner off this route one weekend(!) two seasons ago.

Both Crime and Punishment and Flying Squirrel are great. Is Stairway to Heaven on the Main Cliff between the High Roller buttress and Rock du Jour Face? If so, it's a diamond in the rough!!

Yup, Chris, that's StH, a Smitty classic.

Seems like most sport climbers arround here do not bother with multi pitch? I put up 3 very cool multi pitch sport 10s and it seems like most sport climbers simply lower from the 1st anchor they come to....

Very true, Nick. I would also suggest that 'Simon Bar Sinister' and 'Iron Curtain' don't get climbed often at all, but are well worth the muscle!

Great topic. The only classic 3 star route I've done recently that doesn't get the traffic it deserves is The Skewer. Once you have figured out the crack people tend to do Beat Junkie but The Skewer is just as good - and more varied - if under-graded in my opinion.

Surprise gems from this year are Junkyard Dogs 12c - looks terrible but great cryptic beta and very fun movement. I also really enjoyed Mark's route Anaconda-da-vida which is very flow-y. It looks run out but I can personally attest that all the crux falls are completely fine :-) Probably closer to d than c for me though.

I wonder if people tend to avoid under-graded routes - or routes that are hard in their grade. If Local Motion got straight 13a I suspect it would see more traffic.

The second pitches at Main have great exposure but the rock quality, while fine, is lower in general and since there are often crowds below some people avoid them on the weekend.

I suspect that most people are lemmings and few sport climbers arround here seem to be into multi pitch?

Nick Goldsmith wrote:I suspect that most people are lemmings and few sport climbers arround here seem to be into multi pitch?

somewhat.. but since most of the multipitch is at main cliff and that wall is blazing hot in the summer, i wouldn't want to be up there either. hell I won't bother with Iron man wall at all past 9am.

also when it's easier to go to the next route over vs deal with multipitch logistics. most will choose to stick to single pitch. When you have dozens of routes in the .12 range to choose from, going for more obscure 2nd pitches may not be high on the list.

folks here like mark, Soon, and Chris who have done many of the other routes are more likely to do the 2nd pitches.

Also, since I am only a weekend weenie, there is a lot of truth to "the rock quality, while fine, is lower in general and since there are often crowds below some people avoid them on the weekend.".

Jake. this is the meat and potatoes quote " when it's easier to go to the next route over vs deal with multipitch logistics. most will choose to stick to single pitch" that and the group dynamics..

one thing we noticed the last time we did Prince Of Darkness is that the pitches were much longer than what we were used to. we would hit that 80ft mark and be like where the heck are the chains? damn. I have to climb annother 50ft and then do it all again.... never had that same feeling gear climbing. Climbed a few multi pitch sport climbs in Utah and they wrere pretty fun. Portero is kind of on the radar for someday......

Some of the longest "single"-pitch routes at Rumney are also the most overlooked ones. Most of them are up at the Northwest Crags, namely Cow Patty, Abbey Normal linking into Bridge To Nowhere, Hothead P1&2, B-b-b, Yellow Knife, Path of The Righteous, etc. Closer to the road is linking both pitches of Tropicana (but be careful making the thin powerful moves right above the mid ledge). And then there is linking P1&P2 of Black Mamba. Oh, boy.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:Jake. this is the meat and potatoes quote " when it's easier to go to the next route over vs deal with multipitch logistics. most will choose to stick to single pitch" that and the group dynamics.. one thing we noticed the last time we did Prince Of Darkness is that the pitches were much longer than what we were used to. we would hit that 80ft mark and be like where the heck are the chains? damn. I have to climb annother 50ft and then do it all again.... never had that same feeling gear climbing. Climbed a few multi pitch sport climbs in Utah and they wrere pretty fun. Portero is kind of on the radar for someday......

not sure what your point is. Rumney is not Potrero or Red Rocks with larger walls.

It doesn't mean people are lemmings, it just usually makes more sense.

Most people walk off Clippity Doo dah instead of rappel.. it is easier and takes less time. it doesn't mean they are wrong.