moderate offwidths in joshua tree

after getting pretty much completely shut down on abracadaver recently, i thought i'd head down to joshua tree this weekend to hone my wide technique.

i found this thread on essentially the same topic and 3 posts down roger lists a ton of offwidths complete with grade sorting, etc, which is very helpful.

however, since i only have the weekend and i'm not sure when i'll be back i was wondering if someone could tell me where the highest density of offwidths are in the 5.7-5.9 range (maybe even low 10, but that's probably pushing it for me). does anyone have any suggestions?

Hey Jon,

It's difficult to find any real concentration of routes in JT at grades you want in any style, we tend to run around crag to crag, getting in maybe 2-5 pitches before relocating. Just part of the game here whether for finger cracks, wide, whatever...about the only thing with concentrations all over are grainy slabs.

Let me see if I can at least give some groups by area that aren't too spread out. IME, your best bet is going to be the Hidden Valley Campground/Outback area.

1. Hidden Valley CG area/Outback area
West Chimney 5.4
Bat Crack 5.5
Secovar 5.5
Mikes Books p2 5.6
The Flake 5.8+
Orphan 5.9
Wise Crack 5.9
The Damper 5.9
Looney Tunes 5.9
Frostline 10a
Waterchute 10b

2. Real Hidden Valley:
Championship Wrestling (~5.8+ or 5.9, overrated at 10a)
The Good, Bad, and Ugly (~10a)
Flared Bare (~10a/b...link it to the upper part of Great White buffalo for a long and cool pitch)
Where Janitors Dare 5.7
Fisticuffs 10b
Tumbling Rainbow 5.9

And closeby Real Hidden Valley, really sort of in it but approached a little different, on the backside of the Foundry (foundry is the big block up and above/behind the JBMFP bouldering area):
Six Pack Crack 10b
Jumar of Flesh 9

those two are literally 8' apart. And also closeby these:
Couldn't Wait 10a

3. Indian Cove:
Duchess Right 5.7+
Date Queen 5.8
Linda's Crack 5.2 (if you aren't a waif, it's a bit harder than that)
Dum Roodle 5.easy
Nickel Slots 5.4?

4. Split Rocks area
One Armed Giant 10dR
Dolphin 5.7
Modern Warfare 10a
Kamikaze 10c
(MW and Kami are about 20' apart and could probably TR)

Right On on Saddle Rock has a fair amount of wide style climbing on it, at about 5.6, multi pitch, really good route for the grade. Just beware of n00b clusterfux.

Probably THE best single pitch of moderate wide climbing in all of JT is High Strung, mountainproject.com/v/high-…

It's out in the Wonderland (not too far in there, not like hiking out to Astrodomes or Big Horn Mating Grotto). Has a move of 5.9 fingers down low,t then a continuous splitter that widens as you go, mostly in the 4"-5" range, around 5.7+. It's fantastic!!

See if I can link a pic of High Strung (left side of the pic, there's a climber on it):

ooooo cooool thanks guys!

will it looks like you put a lot of effort into that post. hopefully this will serve as a future reference for others like me who are out for a good wide thrash! High Strung looks amazing.

Haha. I thought Dolphin (.7) felt harder than Bird of Fire (.10-) and Rites of Passage (.9), all withing 30 feet of each other.

If you're getting wide, Bambi Meets Godzilla (.8++) has a mighty reputation.

Darn Will- thats quite a list.....

Jon if you go to YouTube and search "Yafer Hi-strung josha tree" you can find a Video from about 5 years ago. ....

I would toss in a link, but some how the MP-video linking deal will not work to well on my work computer.....

have fun....if you really want a real off with ..... go up to Bishop, Pine creek and go find Pratts Crack. Or go to BALCH FLAKE over Fresno ways.

Oh yea one more thing.... if you go to the LINK russ listed a few post up....

You might just get tagged by some weird folks, and contacted... so use at your own risk...

Guy Keesee wrote:Oh yea one more thing.... if you go to the LINK russ listed a few post up.... You might just get tagged by some weird folks, and contacted... so use at your own risk...

Hobbit Hole V0 would be a fun one, and its not a long walk.

mountainproject.com/v/hobbi…

Oh shit that looks cool. Plus I love lord of the rings references.

Awesome suggestions so far. I'll add "Mushroom Crack" in the Echo area.

mountainproject.com/v/mushr…

Awesome thread, thanks for the info gents!

Southwest passage 5.8 on the roadside of intersection rock was fun; if your into that kinda thing :)

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/southwest-passage/105723364

Sure am

For beginner offwidth leads:

Nectar is a good 5.4 over on Isle in the Sky, right by Dolphin. It has some hand jams and takes smaller gear if you go deeper in it.

Hhecht (5.6) on Locomotion Rock, RHV gradually goes from hands to offwidth and back down to hands.

Not sure if someone mentioned this upthread yet, but Filch (5.6) at Trashcan Rock is really convenient. Five feet from your parked car.

First pitch of this has some good, moderate OW:

mountainproject.com/v/hex-m…