What are the single most trafficed climbs in the country?
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Often I gaze at the 60 ft. of huecos and the ever present toprope on "5 Gallon Buckets" at Smith Rock, and wonder, "could this be the most climbed climb in the country?" People have been crushing it all year long from dawn till dusk for the past 25 years. |
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I think the Bastille Crack would be one. But evern more climbed would be various routes on the Flatirons due to the number of soloists regularly racing up them. |
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Double Cross if you don't die. |
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Ancient Art Stolen chimney. Ottos route Independence Monument. |
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I contend that Canal Zone in Clear Creek Canyon in Colorado is the busiest crag in the US. I did, an albeit brief, use survey there a few years ago and counted 100+ visitors per day on weekends. There are only 20 or so routes there... |
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Maybe not the most in the country, but when in season I've always seen people on these routes: |
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Nicholas King 1 wrote:Ancient Art Stolen chimney. Ottos route Independence Monument. Indian creek: Supercrack, Generic Crack, Scarface, Incredible Handcrack.There is no way Ottos is anywhere near the top. I would wager that hardly anyone even touches Otto's 2 months or so out of the year. I bet Castleton (either of the trade routes) sees more attempts than either as well. Although Ancient Art could be close. I have never seen crowds on any route in the creek like what happens in the front range. Its just unreal out there these days. I would second the vote for Bastille Crack though for sure, and maybe Calypso. Montezuma's Tower sees a lot of traffic at GOG too, but I can't imagine its close to what Bastille or Calypso sees. And to another posters point, Canal Zone has got to see a TON of traffic. Any of those moderate routes to the left are almost never open. I feel like Highwire would run a close second though in CCC. The 3rd flatiron, when its open, is nuts unless you hit it early in the AM in the middle of the week. And the First isn't much better. Nothing in the desert sees traffic like what the routes do in the Front Range thanks to the millions of people that live right there. |
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Cathedral Peak in Tuolumne , or Nutcracker , and Bishop's terrace, and Serenity Crack. |
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James Hicks wrote: There is no way Ottos is anywhere near the top. I would wager that hardly anyone even touches Otto's 2 months or so out of the year. I bet Castleton (either of the trade routes) sees more attempts than either as well. Although Ancient Art could be close. I have never seen crowds on any route in the creek like what happens in the front range. Its just unreal out there these days.Alright I agree with Otto's. Probably not up there as one of the most climbed. I also agree with Castleton. Both times I've done Kor there have been parties on every pitch, with a line at the bottom as well. I still advocate for Supercrack in the creek though. The creek is just really spread out, so it may not seem as crowded, but during prime desert season, I have run into people from all over the world there. Sometimes It's impossible to find camping out there. There is always a line on supercrack, sometimes people wait all day to climb it, and end up sending after the sun goes down. |
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Number of pitches has to be considered. There are less multi-pitch climbers out there. For multi, it would be hard to beat 1st, 3rd flatiron standard routes and of course Freeway on the 2nd has to contend for the most popular free solo in the world. |
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Eric Chabot wrote:Maybe not the most in the country, but when in season I've always seen people on these routes: Armed and Dangerous or maybe Underdog @ Rumney High Exposure, Horsemen's corner @ Gunks The 5.9 @ Division Wall, American ForkSome place like Rumney (popular close to the road and large urban populations would probably have the route (although at Rumney it will be something in the Meadows or Parking Lot Wall). Could be something in the Black Corridor for example. Or something in Muir Valley (although not close to an urban area. I think one of those would be the most climbed in a year today. But if you are wondering what has the most number of total ascents from the time of the FA then its probably something like Horseman |
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I'll suggest Delay of Game at City of Rocks. I don't think the bolt hangers stop vibrating on weekends in-season. |
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As much a people talk about "hoards" at the creek that season is pretty limited as far as the general populace is concerned (Mar-Apr and Oct-Creeksgiving) that's only 20-25% of the year. I'd second something in the front range...that aside from blizzard conditions is going to see an ascent every day. |
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It's hard for me to imagine the most-traveled routes in the country being trad routes. It seems like some Front Range 5.9 sport route with no approach would take the top. |
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Double Cross in JTree, when it's bolted that is |
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I'd have to vote for a sport or top-rope accessible climb to be honest. Or a boulder. When you look at proportions of climbers, relatively few have trad racks. |
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Weird. Didn't see a soul at this crag |
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You must disqualify all the 5.8 routes and under at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. I do the stats for the 24 hour competition and there are routes that get over 350 ascents in one 24 hour period and another 150+ in the 12 hour event the day before. This happens every year and think about all the preview ascents during the year. HCR probably has the 30 most ascended routes in the country every year. |
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How about Boulder 1 at Stoney Point in SoCal? |
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Adam Burch wrote:Weird. Didn't see a soul at this cragBecause it's locals only! Duh! |
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Adam Burch wrote:Weird. Didn't see a soul at this cragThat's because "nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." (Thanks, Yogi). Is that the east face route on Whitney? Or a Temple Crag route? |