Climbing the upper slabby section of Incline Club.
Description
What a fine route! Sometimes its hard to appreciate a good moderate route because perhaps the thrill of victory on an often tried send is missing, and most of us fixate and dream of returning to see who we are only when a challenge is upon us. With Incline Club, it is a pleasure instead to understand that why we climb is joy.
Start in a right-facing corner just uphill from Strange Science. Climb the corner, clipping two bolts, to the top of a pillar. You now have a full view of the slab. Climb up and right to the top of the slab, following a nice line of incut holds.
You can lower from a 2-bolt anchor on the face, or continue a little higher to a second 2-bolt anchor on a ledge and belay from here, if you want to bring your partner up to the top. The upper anchor doesn't have rap rings; rap from the lower anchor or walk off to the right.
But three stars for a *moderate* sport route, I thought to myself? Yeah; when you dream of high position on perfect holds and good protection, with plenty of challenge at arms reach, this one is worth going back to...more than twice.
Bolts are well placed, but for a beginning leader I think this one would be quite scary. It's not bolted like a slab hand drilled on lead, but it's not sewn up by any means- expect 12-16 feet from bolt to bolt.
Seeing recent discussions of the star system on the site, and climbing this route today gave me occasion to consider how I evaluate climbs.
I thought that Inclination was certainly worth doing, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to people. I thought it was about as fun as Lothlorien down the hill at the Watermark, although the views were much better on Inclination. I'd have to give it one star, maybe two.
I've generally considered the stars to mean as follows:
3 stars: I loved the climb, plan to doing it again, and rave about it.
2 stars: I enjoyed the climb, would recommend it to people, and might do it again (but wouldn't seek it out).
1 star: I thought the climb was worth doing once, but I probably wouldn't recommend it.
0 stars: I thought the climb was a waste of my time.
I'd agree that comparing a one pitch sport route in Boulder Canyon to a multi-pitch classic in Eldo doesn't make much sense. In my mind, that's because I find myself in a different frame of mind, and having different expectations, when I go to each place. When I go to Eldo, I know I need to be feeling good and confident because the gear might be tricky, and figuring out the moves, and committing to them, might take a lot of my mental energy.
But when I go to Boulder Canyon for sport climbing, I'm thinking more about feeling myself move over the rock, and I have little concern about the protection, or about taking a long fall. I might be more inclined to push my physical limits, since my self-doubt and fears are easier to keep in check there.
The two areas simply CAN'T be judged against one another. My enjoyment and satisfaction are different in each place.
About 5 feet above the rap anchors, just over the top edge of the slab and on a wide platform, there is a second set of bolts (without rap rings) if you want to belay your second from the top more comfortably.
Another good moderate climb on this slab. A full grade harder than Disinclination, so that pegs this at about 5.6. Let's be real with these ratings! Does anyone really think these two slab climbs are anywhere near 5.8? Can someone who can follow these routes at near their limit, follow, say, Cozy Hang, East of the Sun, The Owl, Cussin Crack, the Cob Rock 7s, etc., to name some Boulder Canyon 7's? I don't think so. (I'm saying following, to avoid the issue of gear).
By Tony B From: Boulder, CO May 14, 2007 rating: 5.6
Got to second Ivan's comment, but I'd give the climb more credit for quality than others. It is good for the range of difficulty that it is in.
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