Ridge dreaming of air well before the crux on LC@S...
Description
Just right of Rama on the Plotinus Wall is a beautiful, overhanging arete. This is Lucid Dreaming. Stick-clip the first bolt then power up a series of tricky, strenuous moves to a stopper move near the the fourth bolt. Crank up over the bulge and follow the steep face up to a two-bolt anchor. Classic and hard arete climbing on beautiful granite.
Pretty solid for 12c but definitely not 13a. However I have a feeling a few holds are going to break on this, especially the potato chip flake below the third bolt, in which case the rating will definitely jump.
Here we go again...Bob and Vaino have been climbing and putting routes up long enough to know the difference between 12c and 13a. A lot of strong 5.13 Boulder climbers have been spit off this route.
Nice climb, nice moves: too bad I couldn't link some of them...Speaking of the holds maybe breaking off, The hold on the arete from which to clip the first bolt is cracked back behind it and scares me a little. Check it out and consider stick-clipping bolt #1.
I'm bummed that I'm moving from Boulder, because I won't have routes like this in my backyard anymore. Not too bummed to get away from all the mindless downgrading ego games, though. Yuck. This route is hands down one of the most aesthetic in the canyon, with some of the most fun climbing anywhere. And it is bolted just right for some good clean air when you blow the crux before clipping the 4th bolt. Great job, Bob!
Thank Vaino for this great route, his vision, his route, I was along for the ride on this one. I agree, one of the best routes in both of the canyons (Eldo and Boulder).Sorry to hear you are leaving, take care and have fun.
Awesome route. Hard to believe this line wasn't put up until recently. I found the hardest single move to be the long move from the jug at the 2nd bolt... this was a low percentage move for me. If you don't have a stick clip, you can clip the first bolt of Rama to remove the possibility of tumbling down to the creek.
Not sure what to make of the downgrading going on here. I think people just like to give Bob a hard time. I've been able to finish 12c's at Boulder Canyon and Shelf really quickly of late, but this one will need a bit more work for me to link.
I guess that just goes to show this route has a little something for everyone. I on-sighted to the 3rd of 4th bolt and then hit a small hold up and left that spit me off 2 or 3 times before I aided on the bolt, wholesale.
Just to be a grade geek here... comparing to other BC routes, I found this one a good bit harder to send than Animal Instinct, Amazing Face, and Hands of Destiny. I don't have much experience with 13a, but I would expect that to be a much longer-term project.
This route is very similar to No Doze at the Sport Park (style and difficulty) - 12c by Boulder Canyon standards, could be a 12b in other areas I have visited. Very bouldery, so I can see where some folks could get shut down, but V6 if you look at it that way.
Rating--depends on height. Easier for taller people.Upper crux feels about like Hagan's Wall difficulty (V5), lower section feels about like Consideration difficulty (V4) -- so it is essentially a V4 with a good shake followed up by a V5. Which adds up to something in the range of 12d.
I felt the route was 12c, and I'm short. The [Flying Beast] at Easter [Rock] is much harder and that gets the slash grade of easy 13a. Although the routes are a bit different in angle [The Flying Beast] is two boulder problems separated by a not so good of a rest as Lucid.
To further the case for downrating you can dyno past the first crux from a jug to the shaky flake (height-dependent but easy V0+ move for most people). To my belayer's dismay, this seemed like the most efficient idea, and after seeing him thrutch on the layback to get to the same hold, I figured he was doing it wrong anyway - he should spend more time bouldering and learning dynamic movement because this is nothing short of a giveaway to anyone who boulders.
As reference, ac's bouldering scale is off by about a number grade (V8=13a), but you will find many more climbers capable of climbing a V8 boulder problem than a 13a. I believe George's 12b grade may be a little stiff (that is most likley the result of being a solid 13 climber).
I am new to this area of grade (hard 12) and recently did another Dream Canyon route...The Caterer 12c. I was wondering how you would rate The Caterer (because nobody posts any comments on it) and how it compares to a route like Lucid Dreaming.
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