Standard Route 

The crux move on pitch one is NOT 5.7. Yes, its only one move, but it is definitely harder than 5.7

Previous comments have the 2nd mantle as harder than 5.7. That is true if you are less than 5 foot 10. I am 5 foot eleven and think it is right on, but my 5 foot 3 girlfriend ( a solid 5.9 - 5.10 climber) had a tough time with it. Can't mantle a ledge you can't even reach!

Old pitons at the top of pitch 2 chimney have been removed. Too bad...they really added a bit of character to the route.

the first time i tried the standard route at chimney rock was about 4 years ago. I was between climbing partners, because most were in school or had to work weekends or had left tucson for some reason or another, etc. anyway i had met this dude at the boulders at gates pass. he seemed pretty much alright at the time and spewed traditional climbing knowledge and claimed to have experience. I have pretty good experience with mixed and traditional climbing up to about 5.8 maybe a little more depending on the day. Well to make a long epic short he asked to lead and I talked him through the features and fixed protection according to the first "squeezing" : the two mantels, the up to the right chute, the squeeze chimney, the face with two pitons (not described this particular way in the guide's text) and then the garden ledge. He top belayed me there and then proceeded up the layback to the next area and then explained to me that this was a decent rappel to what he thought was the base of fiutt. He started a single rap down and near the bottom told me that it was super easy and no more than five feet of a downclimb. Well to tell the truth, this was one of the most disturbing days of climbing that I had ever encounterd because when I got to the knot at the end of my rope I was still at least 30 feet off the ground and the downclimbing was 5.11 and really thin. The only holds were 1/4 inch wide at most and it was an overhanging area of the wall. Believe me when I tell you that if you want to bail, for whatever reason, after the first pitch of the standard route at chimney rock, make sure that it you do It at the large tree on the garden ledge. It will give you plenty of extra ground rope (i was using a 60 meter at the time.

great route..not on par with agatha and slippey and thats why the 2 stars...lotsa fun though... for those of you who might be pushing it or having a little trouble up high..don't get tunnel vision! high left hand holds and feet abound! (If I remember correctly). make a stretch or pop to a huge jug for the pull to the top. I don't remember a large piece fitting very well. I think I chose a bomber .5 cam about 2-3 feet lower to protect the wide section.

my other comment here is for georges buttress...not the standard route.

There's a bolted belay/rappel station with chains in the middle of the Garden Ledge now..Must be more for rapping or toproping? I guess, since it's not well situated for belaying the second up pitch 2 or the leader up pitch 3, which has a bomber tree belay anyway

I am less than pleased to hear that.

That mantle at the second bolt is tough. I'd give it a.7d+/.8a-

I am a little under 5-8 and can only get a couple of finger tips on the mantle. Of course, my 6-2 partner has no problem.

Jump.

The only gear belay now is at the top of the first pitch, everything else has bolts..

If you're looking for a 5.7-8ish multi-pitch climb, don't let this discussion scare you off. The first pitch is well protected (bolts), so you don't have to worry about sketchy moves after a run-out. If you want that, head to the Stronghold! Also, it sounds appealing to combine P2 & P3, since P3 is so short, but don't. You'll likely have some bad rope-management issues if you do. However, I did combine P4 & P5 without too much problem. Just be sure to use some 2 footers to limit rope-drag.

Also, the second mantle is more like 5.8-9 for people who are closer to 5' than 6' tall.

What's that I hear.....a siren ? Yes, it's the grade inflation police ! A factoid....this route was originally rated 5.6. And no one (that I knew of) thought it was sandbagged.

Good point greg. Maybe someday I'll post a forum thread showing original ratings (from old summit hut guide) for many well-known S. AZ. climbs. That guide was a bit conservative but I resist seeing people add TWO number grades to the original ratings.

In fact, maybe I'll scan some pages...that would be an interesting historical document.

It would have been nice to run into a couple of old pitons. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to do a stomach crawl from the top of pitch two to the anchors. Did we get off route?

I've never encountered the old pitons on pitch two and just managed the stomach crawl.

I vaguely recall being able to place a few pieces of pro above little cutaway before I inched myself across.

The last spot for pro I found was at the very top of the chimney before the crawl. Its not really all that sketchy. It looked like to me that maybe the route kept going up over the bulge instead of the crawl exit left, and since I hadn't run into any pitons yet I thought that I must be off route, but then I found the anchors at the end of the crawl.

FYI: For those who thought they were possibly off-route - The pitons mentioned in the description were STOLEN...