Spicoli 

Alex said this was a fun line, and he's right. I took a good little whipper tiptoeing on a portable foothold. The finish is a little goofy.

I came across this fun route while walking off of Rincon, and spent some time on it. It's tricky because it's easy to go the "wrong way" in a few spots--Don't go too far left at bolt 2--At bolt 4 go left at .9 or up at .10--Staying left of bolt 5 is about .10-, right is .10+. The moves over the final roof are very exciting and the finish seemed fine to me. I didn't see any "loose" holds but several flakes are fragile. I made it down with a 55m rope after unclipping all the draws. The route sure looks a lot harder from the ground than it actually is. Steep, interesting and fun. Good stuff. C.E.

Take a look at the beta photo for the route "point break". The photo was taken before the bolts were in place. You can see some white tape where the bolts were palced.

I think the white tape you see in that photo is on a proposed route just left of Spicoli. The proposal was pulled due, I think, to negative feedback during the review process. Spicoli sure seemed harder than .11b to me, especially for the onsight (.11c/d).

Initially, I too thought that Spicoli was more difficult than moderate 5.11. However, most of the perceived dificulty may arise from the inobvious moves. It seemed hard to read and as a result it was easy to move into the wrong sequence. Done without any of the errors, no move seemed harder than moderate 5.11, even the roof move. I would also concur with the notion of three cruxes, with the middle being more like 5.10+. Moving over the roof is probably solid 5.11 and the early crux (3rd clip) is a bit easier, but still 5.11. Overall, Spicoli has a lot of continuity. If you can hang out long enough to do the moves correctly, and not get suckered off line, it would tick in at mid 5.11 - as advertised.

This is a good route. For an opinion on rating. I think the rating of 11b is a bit low unless you have previous knowledge of the route. Routes should be rated for the on sight not after you know the moves & have been on them. I have seen several strong partners fully capable of flashing 11c end up not flashing this route. It seems to be hard for folks to see the correct moves on this first time up and if you are not strong melt down at the middle crux. But that's okay let's keep the standards in Eldo from sinking to Boulder Canyon levels.