Mike's Books 

The second pitch is slightly offwidth; I suggest racking to a #4 Camalot. The 5.6 rating is quite reasonable, but it will sure feel more difficult if you're only carrying up to 3 inch gear...

Mike's Books is a fun route and was one of my first leads (after the Blob) at J-Tree. I remeber the traverse in from the left as being slightly awkward as you move in to the chimmny/groove. There's also alot of flakes and jugs on the face of the groove which makes it go at a reasonable 5.6. The 2nd pitch is a bit wide but not to difficult. After the crack ends you have a bit of face climbing that's protected by 1 bolt.(At least a few years ago). It's hard to see(the bolt) at the begining of the face and you think, "wow this is going to be a sporty finish" but the bolt is there, hidden in a depression. Have fun!

The original rating in the Wolfe book was 5.5. The bolt for the finish didn't appear untill the late 70's or early 80's. The last nut also had an unnerving habit of falling out. There were no bolted belays obviously. Last time I did it thought, (Boy, we used to do this with only hexes?)

Fun route. Carry the biggest pieces you've got, if you want an excuse to place them. You won't need them, but you'll be able to find somewhere to put them if you want to. I'm certainly not encouraging bolting anchors all over the park, but the fact that both of them are bolted on this climb sure makes it a quick one!

I thought the var start looked harder than the dihedral 3 feet to left of it. It seemed about 5.7 to me tho I'm sure anyone much shorter than 6 feet may disagree.

Climbed this on 9/26/04 and the anchors for the first pitch seem to be missing. At least I couldn't find them and I remember them being fairly obvious the last time I did it (several years ago). Not a major malfunction as there is a great horizontal crack to build an anchor, but it means that you'll have to scramble across to the top of Upper Ski Track Right for the rap to the big ledge. You ca no longer do descent in two raps as indicated (at least not without leaving gear).

I climbed MB on 10-31-04 and the anchors are still there. On the first pitch they are 4' to the right as you exit the crack onto the ledge. The second pitch is a chain with rap rings just above the old bolt protecting the face. First pitch (indirect from the left) is definitely 5.6 but the second was a little wide (#4 helpful) and awkward (and that sharp fin below you YIKES!) Pitch 2 maybe 5.6+ to 5.7ish but not 5.8. All in all a fun climb.

After the diheadral on the second pitch and before the face with a bolt finish, I walked to the right and climbed the right facing hand crack to the top and then back to the anchors to belay my second. It is not listed in the book but it felt like 5.8+ (I was wearing my tennies though). Does anyone know if it is the finish to anything??

I found the top of the first pitch akward off-width, but looking back, you could chimney or face climb. If you are not tuned to Jtree runouts, bring a #4 or so piece to protect the wider parts. I ended up thrutching and groveling 15 feet out from a #3 camalot. Don't jump on this route without atleast giving it a once over. Anchor bolts were good as of 12/28/05.

We put a grade of 5.8 on this climb only if doing the direct start to pitch 1. You can get a good cam in to protect the direct start but its still a pretty tough move. Be careful on the beginning of pitch 2 (PG-13, bring a large cam!)as the wide section is pretty committing for a 5.6! The anchors are great as of April 06'.

I didn't really enjoy this route. I thought it was a little stiff for 5.6. You could definantly use a #4 for the second pitch. There are much better climbs of that rating in the area.

What in the world was with the last part of pitch one?!? My awful-width technique leaves a lot to be desired to begin with, I'm just glad my climbing partner didn't bring the camera! We did the direct 5.8 start and it was feeling a little more like 5.8+ to us. I'd definitely suggest a #4 and an ample supply of 2s and 3s for good measure. A great view and wonderful rap station! Overall, I'd give it an "okay".

A #4 is a must! Bring two if you want or walk the single to the top.

Over two stars for this climb? You gotta be kidding. Some routes feel like they're meant to be climbed, but not this one. I found it awkward and not enjoyable. If you decide to do it, note that the bolted anchor for pitch one is easily missed (it's hiding off to the right) and have the taller climber in your party do the second pitch.

The pro on the first portion is a bit sketchy. There are some fun placements on the rest of the first pitch. I used mostly hexes and then a 2 and three camalot. I concur about the anchor. It is still in great shape w/ rappel rings

It was very windy today, made the lead a little more of a head game. Used larger hexes, sizes 1-3 Camalots and a couple nuts. I'm thinking the alternate start is more like a 5.9 (through the first crack). The second pitch seems 5.8ish. There are good placements without a #4

I thought this was quite hard, actually. The start of pitch 2 was datardly - wide, deep crack with kinda hard-to-spot feet. Then again, that's why I climb JT - too be scared shitless on easy moderates! Haha!

Wow, interesting comments, I thought that this was an enjoyable easy climb. The first pitch variation (the natural line) has one move that felt like 5.8, then it was easy for the rest of the pitch. I thought the second pitch felt like 5.5 or 5.6 max, nowhere near 5.7 or 5.8 as some people are suggesting. I thought the bolt on the face was completely unnecessary for the super easy slab that it's protecting. I did place both a #4 and a #5 C4 on the second pitch.

Groveled through the 1st pitch... Not a terribly aesthetic route given the other climbs in the area. I doubt I'll ever do this one again

Good climb. Can get a bit tricky at the top of P1 but was very enjoyable.

From the start of the 2nd pitch, you can either go up the crack, or do a harder step up move on the face and carry on up the steep slab and cut into the crack higher up. Another variation, put up around 1975, starts further around on the steep face to the left. There's a big dyno off the ledge to a rounded hold, a difficult step up and some dicy moves to easier ground - a short sequence to the easier (5.8) face above (it cuts over into Mike's Books) but there's no pro, we always bouldered this off the ledge, and it was the first 5.12 at Josh. Hanging that first hold after the big dyno was so hard the route had to be in the shade to stick it.

I went back to this sometime in the early 90s long after I was a super active climber and couldn't touch this thing.

Loved this climb. The little traverse at the start demands attention, but after that it's great fun with all kinds of chimney moves and a little easy slab section at the end. Our guidebook said many people skip the second pitch, which is a shame, as it's as much fun if not more than the first, and the ledge you belay from is practically a helipad. As many have noted, big cams are nice to have ( I recall being glad to have a #4 camalot at one point on the first pitch, and the second pitch has many wide placement opportunities).

Some climbs are fun because they are hard and others are just fun; this one is the latter.

Do the harder start it is way worth it.

I climbed this yesterday. the 5.6 traverse start shown in the old vogel book is tricky and we didn't do it. the step across is completely unprotected. we opted for the chute just to the left of the 5.8 start.

pitch 2, be sure to bring a number 4 and a 5 if you have them. the biggest piece i had was a number 3 and i kept moving it up 2 or 3 times as i climbed. would have been more helpful to have those bigger pieces. slab part at top has a bolt, not too tricky just stay steady on your feet.

solid 5.6.

great climb!