Approach Sports Challenge Rock on the southeast side and scamble down into the shaded "slot" on that side. Near the left end of the east face, and just left of an large pine tree, you'll see a prominent curving crack that starts about 20 feet off the ground and arcs upward to the top of the rock. A few scoops and seams lead up though steep terrain to this crack.
Boulder up scoops and seams up and left through a slight overhang, placing a few good nuts along the way. These will be #4-#8 BD Stoppers or eq size (if memory serves me); small TCU's may also work. The crux is body english and slopers. Reach a great jam some 25' up and start placing cams. The crack starts as a left-leaning feature, but arcs its way through the rock, eventually becoming a right-leaner. This great climb offers good face climbing as well as good jamming, from thin-hands to fists.
Tape up and enjoy a classic!
Protection
Small-to-medium nuts at the bottom, and medium cams up higher. Carry a full set of stoppers and cams from 1" to 3.5"
The protection at the bottom is adequate, but maybe difficult to place. An experienced 5.10 leader should be safe here, but a person at their limit will find it hard to place protection down there.
Awesome climb and one of the best! After the boulder problem start, the climbing is sustained in the 9+/10- range. I recall getting a good horizontal #3 camalot right after standing up at the 10 foot level. The climb is "S" only in the sense that the belayer needs to double as a spotter for the boulder problem/mantle at the start. Gear is bomber and straight-forward after that.
crux section is easier if you dont stop to place the pro, i recomend having a bolder pad or a good spotter and hold off on the pro till you get through the crux, there is an awsome stance a move or two after the crux, the crux isnt to far off the deck.
On the FA, the final section of the route was finished right then up, rather than straight up as is commonly done now. A fixed pin was placed on FA in one of the lower horizontals (it came out many years ago). A 2-3" cam works just as well today.
By Chris Miller Administrator Feb 2, 2005 rating: 5.10c
This is an excellent route with a bouldery face crux that leads into a steep and somewhat strenuous crack that eats gear. The only potential drawback to this route is the busy location right off the loop trail. Four stars out of five.
Probably my favorite pitch of trad climbing to date. It doesn't look that tall from the ground, but it was plenty pumpy. I really had to commit to get through the bottom. Steep, clean as a whistle (or should I say jerk), and well protected. Even the little chimney is nice, like a granite recliner.
By Adam Stackhouse Administrator From: Escondido, Ca Aug 26, 2007 rating: 5.10c
Including the weird, semi-protectable (for me) lower crux, this is more of a face climb in that there are abundant jug holds on either side of the crack. In a sense this can allow for too many choices, leading to a premature pump factor.
After hearing some horror stories about sandbagging & runouts on this route, I was a bit intimidated at first. However, I found it neither sandbagged nor runout, and don't see what all the fuss was about. Actually, I thought Sphincter Quits (5.9+) around the corner was a scarier lead than Clean & Jerk.
Sports Challenge Rock
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