Rubicon 

Cool route but it seems more like 5.10b. Four stars out of five.

The route was originally called Artificial Insemination and diagonaled up to the start of the crack via aid (including a shoulder stand). This (in)direct start has been free-climbed on toprope at solid 5.12. To the right is another (more) direct start that begins from a small tree (5.11a) which leads directly to the base of the upper crack; starting without the tree makes this even harder (5.11+).

Rubicon is an excellent route on superb rock. To avoid rope drag it is possible to pull the rope once the vertical crack is reached and have your belayer move over. The gear is easily cleaned on rappel. Alternatively, the 5.11d s direct start is an option.

I thought the 5.10d rating was soft for J-Tree standards....

I've been accused of sandbagging, but 5.10b would definitely be a sandbag. On the other hand, it is very soft for a Josh 5.10d. I am planning on re-rating the route as 5.10c in vol. 3.

As an alternative to pulling rope through, don't protect the vertical crack, put one piece in for the traverse (as far left as possible) with a runner, and climb up the upper crack a ways before placing the next piece. Viola! No rope drag. But, probably not an advisable method for the budding 5.10b leader...

5.10c sounds about right to me.

I finally did this route yesterday. I would say that it was more challenging for me than most .10c's I've been on, but I have a tendancy to sew stuff up and I definitely am better at hard moves than I am at sustained climbing, so I got a pretty decent pump. I agree though that .10c sounds good. For me it was harder than Clean and Jerk or Martin Quits (which might be soft by the way), but still easier than Crescent Wrench or Robert's Crack or O'Kelley's Crack.

I vote "Rubicon" is 5.10c.

I've 'dogged this route twice now, but I know I can do it! :-). This means it's not 10d. I vote 10c.

Finally did it!!! Awesome - one of the best for the grade!

I finally understand some of the "10b" comments in this thread. The first time I led it, I sewed it up near the bulge below the big hold, pumped out and fell off. Felt much pumpier than C&J. The second time I just put a #2 TCU below the bulge, #3 BD at the big hold, #1 TCU a stance above, and then it was done. Less of a brawl than C&J; more delicate and sustained. But I don't know if any single move was harder than 10b . . .

In my day, this coveted climb was a bit feared. But it is evident the secret is out. As for my opinion, the bottom, crappy crack before the traverse part bothers me the most. After that, this climb stands as a testimate to pure crack climbing. With stances galore, I kept asking where's the crux? A number 3 cam at the opening 3/4 up and a small cam at the crux is the key. Before that this crack sux up cams and nuts like no tomorrow. The direct start is grainy and hard. Too bad.

It appears there are two directs starts to this climb. Start in the left leaning seam and stem off the tree is about 5.11a. It is a nice alternative for the second if no gear is placed on the traverse.

A great route- got the onsight last season. It's best to just solo to the base of the main crack- its cruiser the whole way and provides a nice .11a option for your second. I'd also call this .10c at most- I felt comfortable on it the whole way, which is rarely the case for me on a .10d.

Best crack I have done in Josh to date, very high quality! Not one of those pebbly on the inside ones.

Bagged the redpoint on this excellent 10d (one of the best at JT?) Oct 24 2009. I used minimal pro with long slings over the easy hand-crack (approach) section and had no problem with rope drag (of course _had_ I fallen there it might have not been so great... - but the hand-crack is super-easy). This was my third ascent and the second on lead - benefited greatly from previous experience protecting the 10d finger-crack section - it eats up finger-sized stoppers great. This time I racked all my finger-sized stoppers each on their own draw, which made placing protection quick & easy. I actually used stoppers exclusively over the 10d finger-crack section. I'm posting a picture that shows my protection scheme.

The history on this is a little screwy. Before Herb and com. ever did this route, Bachar and I top roped the thing via the direct start. It was grainy and quite hard for the mid-70s. We most certainly would have led it but there was not way to protect the bottom part so we just strung a TR and had at it - as so often happened BITD.

I did the route various times after that first effort and was amazed how well it cleaned up. There were also a few little flakes that got wrenched out of the crack that made it much more doable.

UPDATE: Came across some old pics and notes on this one after a friend of mine from the local climbing gym went out today and did this crack.

To the best of my knowledge, Bachar and I did the FA on top rope and it was a grain fest and we had to crank out a bunch of loose shite from the crack. The direct start was also grainy and hard for the time - like 11d. Herb, Lonnie and others led the route by way of a huge traverse in from the right along that horizontal crack, but we always thought this was a cheat. So around 1975, Richard Harrison and I did it from the bottom, straight up. We probably should have put a bolt in so the original, direct start would become the way to do this classic, but back then the idea was to run the cord on everything.

JL

Devours medium stoppers. Good foot placements. A great 10c imho.

I shuffled an anchor through the traverse. A MUST do for JT.