The Bendix Claws 

It's easy to throw a toprope on this one if you're not quite up for leading it. Just scramble up and left (see descent). A few hand-size pieces and a cordalette should be enough.

Dicey pro and high quality climbing, better be sure you can on-sight route of this grade before attempting this one as a ground-up lead. Eases up near the top as the crack widens. No fixed anchor on top.

This is one of the best routes I've done in jtree in a long time, but I also think it's the hardest ".11a" I've been on out there. As hard for me as Hot Rocks, and definitely harder than Left Ski Track or Red Snapper (just chose those routes because they're the most comparably graded routes I've been on recently). I'd call it .11b, but that's just my opinion and I probably missed something...

I agree with the last comment, a great route but just as hard as many of the 5.11b/c's I have climbed in Josh. Pro is funky after bottom bolt but then is good to the top. A real pumper!

this is a beauty for sure. Moving past the bolt was great and difficult for my average height self. Bit I highly recommend this one when in the area. Cool moves. I might lean more towards 5.11b also. But perhaps it is just a height thing.

What Chris said. The bottom face move requires a little finesse footwork, while the upper crack has very positive jams but is rather sustained. Easy for 5.11, one face move.

I toproped it thinking it would be hard and it felt so good that I then led it. Could rate it 10d.

TR'd it, with the tech crux coming just past the bolt. A reachy right-hand fist-type jam in a flair was the key to bringing my feet up. After that, sustained, steep crack holds all the way to the top, About 3 stars out of 5

Never led it and never will, just struggled my way through on TR. But this is fantastic, strenuous climbing on a beautiful aesthetic line!

Well worth the effort, fun and challenging climbing I truly enjoyed. Do not be deterred by the gear - it takes competence and confidence to place, but for a 5.11 leader it is not incredibly difficult to be safe.

attempted onsight. past the crux, i fell while trying to clip my first piece after the bolt (blue metolious). i had a bunch of slack out, i almost decked! finished the climb right after w/ no falls. >:0

great climb. four of five stars

darshan

Outstanding route with loads of good gear. Mostly TCU's and wired's. I was greeted at the top by a giant Chuckwalla 3 feet from my head whilst zoning out at the belay!! I found it barely 11a. Good route for a 5.10 leader to take a stab at.

Great route. If you're under 5'9" it's a little harder to place the next good piece after the bolt. I'm not sure I would recommend this as a first 5.11 lead, but it is relatively safe. I also hung out with a large lizard while belaying on the top. Perhaps it was one of the aforementioned chuckwallas?

I thought the crack was harder (or at least more serious) than the face moves. There's gear but it can be a little tricky and run and the stances aren't great in the middle of the route. There's a Thank God rest at the end of the sustained crack difficulties that I didn't find until after a whip on a small nut.

yeah, for an under 5'9 climber like me, I would recommend bringing a black alien. I didn't bring one and shoved in a blue alien and a grey metolius in the first reachable slot after the bolt but I think both would pull if I fell since they weren't sinkers. Felt much better after making one more move and placed a better one above it. The rest of the gear are pretty good.

delicate, techy, sequential and sustained, brilliant route.

just a note, the picture in the joshua tree classics book has this route totally wrong, it shows the line heading way right across the face. Had me confused for a minute.