This is my personal favorite 5.10 route in Josh. You can rappel with one 60 meter rope, but the route has at least 40 meters of climbing to it. The upper half of the climb is a sustained and exciting finger crack with excellent nut placements and lots of amazing edges for the feet. Think carefully about how you want to protect this route since placing gear along it's entire length would result in totally unbearable rope drag by the time the crux is reached. Long runners or double ropes still do not take the bite out of the zig-zag line; luckily the start and traverse are easy and don't require too much gear (back-cleaning works well too).
Protection
Take a standard rack, with emphasis on finger-sized nuts, since the upper section of the route takes nuts very well.
By C Miller Administrator Mar 18, 2003 rating: 5.10b
Cool route but it seems more like 5.10b. Four stars out of five.
The route was originally called Artificial Insemination and diagonaled up to the start of the crack via aid (including a shoulder stand). This (in)direct start has been free-climbed on toprope at solid 5.12. To the right is another (more) direct start that begins from a small tree (5.11a) which leads directly to the base of the upper crack; starting without the tree makes this even harder (5.11+).
Rubicon is an excellent route on superb rock. To avoid rope drag it is possible to pull the rope once the vertical crack is reached and have your belayer move over. The gear is easily cleaned on rappel. Alternatively, the 5.11d s direct start is an option.
I thought the 5.10d rating was soft for J-Tree standards....
I've been accused of sandbagging, but 5.10b would definitely be a sandbag. On the other hand, it is very soft for a Josh 5.10d. I am planning on re-rating the route as 5.10c in vol. 3.
As an alternative to pulling rope through, don't protect the vertical crack, put one piece in for the traverse (as far left as possible) with a runner, and climb up the upper crack a ways before placing the next piece. Viola! No rope drag. But, probably not an advisable method for the budding 5.10b leader...
By Chris Owen Administrator From: La Crescenta, CA Mar 19, 2003
I finally did this route yesterday. I would say that it was more challenging for me than most .10c's I've been on, but I have a tendancy to sew stuff up and I definitely am better at hard moves than I am at sustained climbing, so I got a pretty decent pump. I agree though that .10c sounds good. For me it was harder than Clean and Jerk or Martin Quits (which might be soft by the way), but still easier than Crescent Wrench or Robert's Crack or O'Kelley's Crack.
I finally understand some of the "10b" comments in this thread. The first time I led it, I sewed it up near the bulge below the big hold, pumped out and fell off. Felt much pumpier than C&J. The second time I just put a #2 TCU below the bulge, #3 BD at the big hold, #1 TCU a stance above, and then it was done. Less of a brawl than C&J; more delicate and sustained. But I don't know if any single move was harder than 10b . . .
By Adam Stackhouse Administrator From: Escondido, Ca Jun 11, 2004 rating: 5.10c
In my day, this coveted climb was a bit feared. But it is evident the secret is out. As for my opinion, the bottom, crappy crack before the traverse part bothers me the most. After that, this climb stands as a testimate to pure crack climbing. With stances galore, I kept asking where's the crux? A number 3 cam at the opening 3/4 up and a small cam at the crux is the key. Before that this crack sux up cams and nuts like no tomorrow. The direct start is grainy and hard. Too bad.
It appears there are two directs starts to this climb. Start in the left leaning seam and stem off the tree is about 5.11a. It is a nice alternative for the second if no gear is placed on the traverse.
A great route- got the onsight last season. It's best to just solo to the base of the main crack- its cruiser the whole way and provides a nice .11a option for your second. I'd also call this .10c at most- I felt comfortable on it the whole way, which is rarely the case for me on a .10d.
By caughtinside From: Berkeley, CA Nov 27, 2007 rating: 5.10c
Best crack I have done in Josh to date, very high quality! Not one of those pebbly on the inside ones.
By gregory huey From: Pasadena, CA 5 days ago rating: 5.10d
Bagged the redpoint on this excellent 10d (one of the best at JT?) Oct 24 2009. I used minimal pro with long slings over the easy hand-crack (approach) section and had no problem with rope drag (of course _had_ I fallen there it might have not been so great... - but the hand-crack is super-easy). This was my third ascent and the second on lead - benefited greatly from previous experience protecting the 10d finger-crack section - it eats up finger-sized stoppers great. This time I racked all my finger-sized stoppers each on their own draw, which made placing protection quick & easy. I actually used stoppers exclusively over the 10d finger-crack section. I'm posting a picture that shows my protection scheme.
Greg starting into the business section Submitted By: gregory huey on Nov 17, 2009
continuing up Rubicon Submitted By: gregory huey on Nov 17, 2009
One more move, and the redpoint is bagged! Ropedrag at the top was not significant (but I should point out the rope was a dry-coated and almost-new 10.5mm). Note the pro & slings on the approach hand-crack are arranged to try to optimize the drag vs protection trade-off. Submitted By: gregory huey on Nov 17, 2009
Gregory, can you tell me what the first and second pieces actually are? Will Metolius cams work? Also, what sizes are your finger size nuts? Do you use Wild Country or Black Diamond?
Now Murf, It would take way too much time and space to type in all the details of the pro used! Wouldn't it be easier if, for every climb, we posted closeups of the gear we used in the order it was placed on the climb? I could carry the photo with me on the climb - maybe tape it to my rack or thigh - so I would be sure I was doing it right.
By Adam Stackhouse Administrator From: Escondido, Ca 4 days ago rating: 5.10c
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