What 'classic' did you hate???

blakeherrington wrote: Index is deep, but is not wide.

Great summary of what took me much longer to say.

If your interests and ability align with the narrow range of what Index offers, it is an extraordinary crag.
If your interests and/or abilities do not align with Index, you pretty much just need to find somewhere else to climb.

Levitation 29 in RR. I had really high hopes and dreams. 99 quick draws later...

Eric Fjellanger wrote:

Regarding Outer Space, I think any multipitch 5.9 will always always be popular, and adding the striking line of the last 2 pitches gets you to insane hype status.

It took me 12+ years to really understand that cragging in Leavenworth sucks.

Ha, you figured this out about 8 years faster than me.

Besides being deeply svelte or maybe just densely thin, Index is the most temperature sensitive/specific crag that I have been to - I love it until I hate it and then fall back in love all over again in the Fall.

In case no one listed it, Devils Tower Durrance route ain't so good.

Cron wrote: Thin Air @ Cathedral Ledge, NH.

Glad someone else said it! Hate to sound ungrateful but I expected a lot more exposure with a name like thin air. Good yes, classic no.

Anyone said Edge of Time at Jurassic Park yet? Gets three and a half stars on here, I thought it was the worst route of the day, at a crag of mediocre, forgettable climbing.

John Wilder wrote:

That's what makes it a classic. But yes, if you slog up there thinking you're going to be plugging gear all day, you'd be disappointed.

Lord knows clipping a million bolts is where it's at, nawmean???

Cheers

DMT

John Wilder wrote:

That's what makes it a classic. But yes, if you slog up there thinking you're going to be plugging gear all day, you'd be disappointed.

Thin Air

P1: 5.5 free solo. 

P1.5 (most parties do this as a P2 for some reason): a short traverse. 

P2: climb the often wet streak/dirty corner THEN get some nice exposure and about 80' of high quality climbing. 

P3: grovel up the dirt ramp or veer off to a short easy slab. 

The reason it's so popular, like many classic climbs, is b/c it's the easiest way to get to to the top. Note that Durrance and Kor-Ingalls has been mentioned 100x is this thread.

1. Nothing is classic on devil's tower, hence the name. It's a sweaty pile of choss no matter where you go. Getting to the top a few times=classic

I’ve climbed almost all the routes that everyone has dissed here and it’s interesting to see the critique.  Seems the recurring thread is some magnificent expectations that are not achieved by experience.  I think it speaks more to psychology than the quality of the actual climbing.  I can’t say I took any objection to the Naked Edge, Levitation 29, Igor Unchained or the Yellow Spur for overall climbing experience.  Trad routes do have to follow protectable cracks and may not always the best stone for climbing.   I will say that Cornflake Crack on Lookingglass is better than the Naked Edge for the best 5.11 trad route in my book. Also, the marquis routes for many areas aren’t always the best, but represented some sort of breakthrough for the area.  That’s why I don’t take star ratings too seriously when I select routes.

Ryan Pfleger wrote:Might actually be fun to do at night sans other climbers, but I'd want to have the descent pretty wired before I did it in the dark, even with a good headlamp.

What’s do you need to wire about a rap route that basically goes straight down?

In reference to Shockley's Ceiling in the Gunks

David Kerkeslager wrote: EDIT: Also if you don't know how to hand jam (and what beginner in the Gunks does?) then it will feel like a pretty incredible sandbag.

For those who have not been on the route, don't believe this. There is zero need for any hand jams on Shockley's.

Pnelson wrote:Kor-Ingles: North Chimney is way better.  Often-times the first routes to get to the top of a formation are not the best.

I would’ve said the opposite. Maybe I was just tired after climbing two other towers that day but I thought The North Chimney was sub classic for sure and kor-ingles was a hoot. To each their own I guess. 

Aaron Nash wrote: Everyone loses their minds over Outer Space, but I don't get it. It's definitely a fun route and I had a good time climbing it, but an area defining ultra-classic? I don't feel that it lives up to the insane hype it gets.

Which Outer Space - Eldo, Gunks, or Yosemite?

Edit: bouncing around the thread I just discovered there's one at Index as well,  and I think that's the one Aaron was talking about.

At least one other has mentioned it: High Exposure at the Gunks. A tremendous achievement when Kraus put it in. 40' of admittedly spectacular climbing with a breathtaking entrance move, but all after almost 200' of truly meh unmemorable 5.3. I'm not saying this because the first 3/4 of the route is easy, but because it's uninteresting easy; there are far better 5.3's in the Gunks for comparison.

Diedre in Squamish. Should've just done calculus crack instead...

Cron wrote: Thin Air @ Cathedral Ledge, NH.

Another vote for Thin Air. It's ok, certainly not a classic. No move stands out a lot

caughtinside wrote:

The last pitch is outstanding... and you can do it with a  better start.  I think I did doubleissima? Really good if done that way, didn't feel contrived or weird. 

Yes, I mentioned as much - all whoppping 40' of it. We're talking about "classic climbs". High E is a 5.6 - you can't recommend a different start that's 5.10 and call it High E.

Larry S wrote: It's been a long time, but Madame G's at the gunks. I'd like to climb it again to see if I still feel the same, but it just wasn't anything special... seemed like a 2 maybe 3 star climb, not a 4 star super classic.

Agreed

Definitely “direct route”, on the first flatiron. Way overrated.

Moonlight butress ; )