Orange Crush 5.11d
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| Type: | Sport, 1 pitch, 80 feet |
| Consensus: | 5.11b/c [details] |
| FA: | Vaino Kodas, Mark Rolofson, Mary Zuvela, 2003 |
| Submitted By: | Ivan Rezucha on Oct 27, 2004 |
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Starting the crux section.
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Seasonal Raptor Closure In Effect MORE INFO >>>
The seasonal raptor closure is in effect February 1, 2013 through July 31, 2013 at Blob Rock and Bitty Buttress.
Each year, Boulder Canyon raptor nesting area closures are in effect starting February 1st at Eagle Rock, Security Risk, Blob Rock, and Bitty Buttress. However, the area is monitored and closures are periodically lifted early (due to no active nest, nest site failure, or early fledging). This monitoring program is a partnership with the Forest Service Boulder Ranger District, Boulder Climbing Community, and Audubon Society. Check back periodically during times of closure for updates.
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project.
You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
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Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment
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Description Orange Crush is a good climb up an obvious, left-facing corner with orange lichen streaks, with a crux sequence of thin corner moves to a tricky bulge with big holds and a potentially awkward mantle.
The 11d rating given by the FA party seems about right by modern Boulder Canyon sport ratings, but this is significantly easier than the adjacent Respite rated 11d/12a.
Follow the Blob Rock approach trail to the gully between Blob Rock and East Blob. Continue up the gully past the very popular moderate sport climbs Shimmer, Simmer, Bolt Cola and Get Shorty and the less popular but very good trad climbs Center Route and Where Eagles Dare. Where the gully narrows, the (currently) leftmost set of bolts is Orange Crush.
Moderate climbing leads past 2 bolts to a slab and the base of the corner. A few more moderate moves lead to a big layback/finger jam and a stance. The climbing is sustained from here until you are established over the bulge. Make a hard move to thin tips layback and a difficult clip. Small fingers may help here. Another hard move gets you big holds on the bulge, but it's tricky to avoid barn dooring. The next clip is from a big jug, which you partially mantle to gain the slab and the end of the hard climbing. A few more bolts lead slightly left across a moderate slab to the anchors.
You could also angle right above the crux to the Respite anchors and thus top rope both climbs.
Protection 9 bolts to a 2-bolt anchor with rings.
BETA PHOTO: Orange Crush, Respite, Jolt Cola, and Ginseng Rush...
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BETA PHOTO: Orange Crush, Respite, Jolt Cola, and Ginseng Rush...
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A thin layback barely enables you to reach over th...
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Mantling onto the slab.
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By Joe Collins
Nov 1, 2004
rating: 5.11a
| I disagree that this is 11d, even by modern Boulder Canyon standards. We did this line last January not knowing what it was, and thought it was 11a/b tops. Other Blob sport routes such as Respite, Jolt Cola, Bearcat, and The Ticket should provide reference as to what 11d/12a should feel like. Even the first pitch of Jolt Cola (11b/c) seems considerably harder. |
By Ivan Rezucha
From: Boulder, CO
Nov 1, 2004
| Joe Collins said: I disagree that this is 11d, even by modern Boulder Canyon standards.
Joe's done tons more hard sport climbs than I have, but I've done a lot of the modern 11a's and b's. Orange Crush is harder than all of those 11a's and b's I've done (eg, Scientist and Morpheous and others on Plotinus, the 11a's and b's on Sleeping Beauty, Free Willie and others at Animal World), Divination and Hunky Monkey on Lost Angel, Rush and Rage Against the Machine on Wakeup Wall), Schizofrantic on E. Blob (to list more than a few). Also felt Orange Crush was harder than Hike for Y2K on Blob Slab, rated 11d.
If you're comparing to Eldo or Boulder Canyon trad standards, then I'd certainly agree with Joe.
The ratings are pretty messed up in Boulder Canyon, even comparing just Boulder Canyon sport with Boulder Canyon sport, not to mention comparison with Eldo (which is tricky due to the difference between trad and sport). |
By Joe Collins
Nov 1, 2004
rating: 5.11a
| Fair enough Ivan... and I didn't intend to sandbag. I was using the other similarly graded routes on this section of Blob as a barometer. I agree that Boulder Canyon ratings are all-over-the-place, but at the very minimum a route should be graded somewhat consistently with its neighbooring routes. |
By Swavek Gaik
From: Superior, CO
Oct 26, 2008
| Easy for the grade (maybe 11c?). Although the holds are clean, there's a lot of crumbly orange lichen (very suitable name). |
By Curt MacNeill
From: Boulder, CO
Jan 16, 2012
| This route is very underrated given its close location to both Jolt Cola and Vaso. The left-facing corner in the middle of the route is beautiful, clean granite with fun moves and cool holds. I used this as my warmup for Vaso virtually everytime. In my opinion, it gets an extra star for the center section alone. Also, I'm not sure about the route years ago, but it seems to climb cleaner than everyone describes it to be. Maybe with constant traffic, as a large number of people use this as a warmup for both Jolt Cola and Vaso, that it has cleaned up some and will continue to get better. All in all, not a bad route and worth getting on if you're in this sector.... |
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