To approach this route, walk past the right end of the west face and up slabs and boulders to reach the southern end of the formation.
This is a classic Joshua Tree sport route - short, but with demanding and unusual moves. Make your way up a steep wall past several horizontals and a lower crux (5.12a) to the top where you will encounter a somewhat reachy crux. Shorter climbers may find the crux (and the route) to be harder than the rating indicates.
To the left of this is Patracide (5.11b) a good, but short warm-up route and to the right is Factor 1 (5.13b) another even more difficult climb.
It is interesting to note that this climb has also been soloed several times!
I agree with Robert that Father Figure is not 12d. At the time the 1992 guide came out, I had not done the climb and took the rating as reported by the first ascensionist (Scott Cosgrove). The rating was changed to 13a in the "Classics" guide. 12d is not really a "sandbag" since it is certainly no harder than 13a. The crux is only a few moves long, atop 5.11 climbing at the bottom (in fact the whole route is pretty short). However, for climbers less than 6 feet tall (such as myself and Robert), there is a long reach at the very top that takes some figuring out. It will be 13a in the new guide.
If you want to talk about sandbags, how about Scott rating Desert Shield 12d? It seems like it would be at least 13c at notoriously "soft" rating areas like Red Rocks. 13a/b is more like it.
Hard to believe only two stars on the best sport route I've ever done at Josh. Absolutely 13a. Do you guys know anything about the quality and real world grade of Hot Pants or the Hydra?
Josh has always maintained a standard for being harder than other areas. Why change the rating? The climb has a relatively short crux that can either frustrate you to the point of no return or allow for a quick send. In my opinion the rating should stay as 12d.
If you want a sandbag, Desert Shield is the ultimate. This climb is at least two grades harder than Father Figure. The lower crux has become substantially harder due to the missing righthanded hold next to the third bolt and the upper crux is a v6 boulder problem. We were calling it 13a just up to the second horizontal followed by the v6 boulder problem crux. I would give Desert Shield a 13b rating.
But, for the record, Coz. told me he originally rated it .13a.
Its hard to think of Desert Shield as a sandbag, given that it is not the same route that it was when it was FA'd. Broken holds are what made it harder, almost making it a different climb.
I first did Father Figure when I was 16. It was my first "13a," but as far as grade consistency goes, it is 12d. Later, I hung the draws and gave a friend beta and he flashed it pretty easily. Desert Shield is a grade harder, but not 13b for me. Josh sport climbs are hard not only for the grade, but in style. It is much easier to get into the shape necessary to climb 5.13 on overhanging limestone than it is on slightly overhanging granite, but this isn't a bad thing in my opinion.
I did this route in the prime of my climbing life. As much as I would love to give this a 13a rating (as it would be just about anywhere else) I felt 12d was a fair grade given the routes length and the standards of Josh ratings. It has fantastic movement and is in a great location. There are some awsome pictures of John Bacher soloing this route just after it was put up. The story I heard was Cosgrove put it up and rated it 13a, then Bacher came along and lead it 1 or 2 times, pulled the rope, soloed it and down rated to 12d !!
Lakeside Rock
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