List of first American routes of each grade

What are the first routes of each grade 5.8, 5.10a, 5.11b, etc done in America?

I am not sure if this has been compiled elsewhere.... or if it will be possible to truly know because of simultaneous development in multiple regions around the country, downgrading, upgrading, etc....

.....but... I think it would be fun to see what we can come up with

I think we do generally accepted or confirmed grades at the time, rather than things like John Gill's highball v9s from the 50's or 60's or whatever (as impressive as they are!)

Sport, trad, mixed... whatever!

The only one I know with any confidence is the

Phoenix in Yosemite 5.13a

A couple others:
Flex Luthor? 5.15a
Chain Reaction (Smith Rock) 5.12c
Probably many more from smith...

First resource I forgot to mention is here... seems a bit pieced together... but maybe it is fairly good

stanford.edu/~clint/yos/har…

First 5.14a: To Bolt Or Not To Be

Joel Unema wrote: Chain Reaction (Smith Rock) 5.12c

Chain Reaction wasn't even the first 12c at Smith. Grand Illusion (13b/c) was climbed in 1979.

Furthermore, isn't it about time we stop referring to The Phoenix as the first 5.13? It wasn't even a free climb when it was "established". Jardine "sent" it with several hangs. Does anyone know when the first clean lead of The Phoenix was?

The answer to your questions can be found in the book "Wizards of Rock" by Pat Ament.

Monomaniac wrote: The answer to your questions can be found in the book "Wizards of Rock" by Pat Ament.

Well, sort of. Ament's version can be found there. There are many errors throughout the book.

This is something you'll never really pin down because some routes changed after the FA becoming easier or harder, were not reported or in isolated areas, were upgraded or downgraded, or were done and people don't know exactly what line was climbed. For one example, Ament claims he did the first 5.11 lead in the valley, but a chockstone later fell out making the route easier. One of those Lowe boys (Greg, IIRC) was freeing modern day mid 5.12 in the 1960s in ID and UT that predate all that stuff.

Wizards of Rock had the potential to be a great resource, but according to Pat, the publisher brought someone in and did a heavy handed edit. It's just weird, there are periods of time in there where he list notable routes going up in the east that were way below the std of what was happening in CA at the same time, like a full number easier.

Pete Cleveland did some horrendous stuff at the Lake too, way BITD, like 5.13 in the late 60s or something. One of those Wisconsin boys probably knows the details. Do topropes count? Sport routes? It's fun to think about those BITD dudes cranking on sketchy ropes and gear, but as far as a definitive list..good luck.

Isn't there a 5.9 in one of the old-school areas in California called Open Book, that was considered to be one of the 1st 5.9s? Maybe Taquitz or Lovers Leap?

Eric D wrote:Isn't there a 5.9 in one of the old-school areas in California called Open Book, that was considered to be one of the 1st 5.9s? Maybe Taquitz or Lovers Leap?

Open Book @ Tahquitz was the first 5.9

First 5.10 (possibly) was Goodro's Wall in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range.

caughtinside wrote:Mark Hudon did the '2nd' ascent of the Phoenix in May 78. supertopo.com/climbers-foru… Some really good photos of the ascent in that thread.

One of the 'topo good reads. On hexes no doubt - insane!

Will S wrote:Pete Cleveland did some horrendous stuff at the Lake too, way BITD, like 5.13 in the late 60s or something. One of those Wisconsin boys probably knows the details. Do topropes count?

Cleveland TRed Bagatelle (at the Lake) in 1969, which may have been the first 12c/d at the time.

" Wizards of Rock had the potential to be a great resource, but according to Pat, the publisher brought someone in and did a heavy handed edit. It's just weird, there are periods of time in there where he list notable routes going up in the east that were way below the std of what was happening in CA at the same time, like a full number easier. "

Huh, really.

I was project editor for that book. Pat never said any such thing to me, and he's not usually one to hold back. Anyone who has seen that massive tome would know that "heavy handed" was definitely not the editing style. Few publishers or editors, then or now, would allow such a book to go to print. It was what it was: basically a mass compilation of reports from old climbing magazines, plus some interesting but very spotty personal correspondence, all in more or less chronological order. There is very little analysis or discussion of trends. The publisher seemed fine with that, and my job was pretty much just to fact check, discuss significance of the entries, and trim it down at least a little bit. Heavy-handed? No. Overly permissive? Maybe.

And that's obvious from going through the book. It is not "tight." There is a ton of extra stuff left in, as Will S noted, like the many routes far below the standard of the day. We left these in because Pat thought they were locally significant, and were important in the flow of history. Or, they were just random, interesting events, placed in a timeline. It really does make sense to track rising standards within an area, since the style of climbing, and the relative difficulties of grades, were so divergent in the early years. The fact-checking task was massive, and I'm sure it was imperfect, but it still is a decent resource, and ALMOST all of the dates are accurate.

Anyway, interesting original question. Good luck to future historians answering it. There were a lot of examples of early climbers busting out 5.9 - 5.12 moves WAY before those grades were "officially" opened, sometimes on toprope, or on yo-yo leads, or in super-obscure areas. As Mono notes, some "official" first-of-the-grade routes may actually have been done with hangs.

That story on the Phoenix is RAD! Cool thread even if figuring this shit out is impossible. As a climbing history buff I'm always interested in learning something I didn't know. It's probably possible with this type of format to come up with a decent list. It won't be perfect, of course, as many stories and accounts have likely gone missing. But I've climbed a lot of the so-called firsts around the county (even world) as, I'm sure, have many of you here. If we started comparing notes we'd cover a lot of ground. Like Goodro's, now in my backyard, which is much harder than Open Book (formerly in my backyard) and done more than a decade before. Goodro did all sorts of interesting pioneering, like the first descent of Neff's Cave (used to be thought of as the deepest cave in the US). There are people like that all over the world. If we start comparing notes it would no doubt exceed any effort made by only one person.

Fortunately all we have to do is catch up and the future will all be recorded. When was that last time a major ascent was done without a camera, most likely a live video?

Pat Amments book A History of Free Climbing in America would answer that.

Prod.

The Conns did South Tower in the Black Hills in 1952 or 1953, definitely 5.9. They also did other burly routes early on. Who can say what was first?

What we are starting to see is that it is really hard to ever agree on the official "first" of any grades (even just in America) that are easier than 5.13. This is simply because people have been pushing the limits for a long time, and prior to the 1990s, climbing media, culture, and even ethics had not consolidated to any sort of agreement. It gets even more complex when we count boulder problems put up under the B-rating system. Holloway's big 3 are definitely "firsts" of some type, but what? The bottom line is that climbers in this country have been doing solid 5.13 moves, whether on TR, unroped, or on lead, for at least half a century. In Europe, longer than that.

So, more manageable topic: First 13+, and first 14a, b, c, d?

5.13d:
5.14a: To Bolt
5.14b:
5.14c: Just do it?
5.14d: Kryptonite?
5.15a: Flex Luthor
5.15b: does Jumbo Love get this grade?

camhead wrote: So, more manageable topic: First 13+, and first 14a, b, c, d? 5.13d: 5.14a: To Bolt 5.14b: 5.14c: Just do it? 5.14d: Kryptonite? 5.15a: Flex Luthor 5.15b: does Jumbo Love get this grade?

13b/c: Grand Illusion, 1979
13d: East Face of the Monkey, August 1985
14b: Super Tweak (I'm pretty sure this was done AFTER Just Do It, but I don't have my records with me, so this is off the top of my head)
14c: JDI is correct

It sounds like The Phoenix may stil be the first 13a, just with a different FFA. Can anyone beat May 1978 for 13a?

Macabre Roof in Ogden (FA G. Lowe, 196?) is probably a first 5.12, but I don't know the letter grade. Mike might have that info. It was repeated by Ken Gilgi (sp?) in the early 2000's and confirmed at 5.12, but sadly he passed away shortly after.

Macabre Roof would be 12a by today's standards - originally rated 5.10. Off the top of my head, I think it was climbed in 1967. Ken Gygi did what is considered to be the second ascent in 2003 if memory serves me right and the roof has been repeated a number of times since by a few different people. It is still the finest route in Ogden if you do all roof pitches leading up to it.

Goodro's Wall in Big Cottonwood canyon may be considered the first 5.10 in America, done sometime in the 40s.

"Back in the day we rated stuff 5.9 that was desperate, because 5.9 was supposed to be desperate." -- Jeff Lowe

Lizard Head Peak - 13,113' - Grade III - 5.7/5.8x

From summitpost.org: "August 26, 1920, by Albert Ellingwood & Barton Hoag
Undoubtedly THE hardest rock climb at that time in the US. 3 pitons, hemp rope and nailed boots was the compliment of equipment. Essentially, an amazing free solo climb of Colorado's hardest mountain. Read the incredible account written by Ellingwood here."

Dude. 1920.

Ellingwood was a gentleman, scholar, and climber. Educated in Europe, he was the first to bring pitoncraft to the US. He was a professor at Colorado College. Ellingwood Ledges on Crestone Needle is classic, as is Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata Peak. He did adventurous firsties in the Wind Rivers and Tetons too. Died young from an illness. Someone should make a film about his life.

One could say that Open Book at Tahquitz is the standard 5.9 for the YDS, that would be a fair thing to say, but the first 5.9? I doubt it.

There was a 5.10c put up in Wales in the 1940's by Chris Preston (Suicide Wall) but I wouldn't claim it was the first route of that grade, visionary yes....

This list is impossible to build.

Pete Cleveland's Plogiston, a slightly eliminate seam line just left of Bagatelle at Devil's Lake, is a contender for the first 5.13, if you make a few concessions. It was top-roped (first concession) by Pete Cleveland in 1977, though I presume with no hangs (I can't prove this, but see no reason to believe that's how it was done). Second, the grade is somewhat in doubt. One guidebook puts it at 5.13b, and another (probably somewhat more authoritative) puts it at 5.12d. That said, Bagatelle seems to have nudged up from 5.12c/d to solid 5.12d, based on comments on this site, and Phogiston is almost undoubtedly harder (though I've only been on Bagatelle, I've got to say Pholiston at least looks worse), so I'd wager it stands a strong chance of being 5.13, especially when compared with the grades at somewhat softer sport areas like the Red, and done before any other as a hang-free ascent.