Kind of pathetic request for grade chasing advice- easiest 13b on the Front Range?

This is my 50th year of climbing. 

I did my first 7a (V6) boulder problem and got psyched.

I've also always wanted to do an 8a (13b).

It may be outside my pay grade, as my last 13a's were a couple of years ago. 

And there weren't many of them.

Despite that I feel a little stronger than I was.

I have until next June.

Hopefully I'll spend most of the fall and winter traveling, but will be in town off and on and can work on a project.

I tried SooKreme today- that would take a lot of work. 

But might be good for me, the body positioning was 'educational' to say the least. 

And I was far from getting all the moves.

I've done Squezing my Will to Live, so Squeeze Play seems like a good option. 

Will have to give it a go sometime soon.

Any other suggestions? 

I'd prefer something that isn't going to be downrated in the next guidebook :-)

TIA

The Orb has been getting a lot of action and has kneebars. Double Impact to the left is by far the easiest 13b I have ever done.

War on Freedom is 13b in the new guidebook. It was my first 13

Thanks for the suggestion Peter.

I should have another go at the Orb.

The trouble with routes at Frisky, is that it's kind of hard for me to find people interested in heading up there. 

Nice crag though, with good warm ups at Mountain Rose on the way.

Double Impact has hand jams. 

I'm not crazy, you never know what creatures might be lurking in those cracks!

I'm not sticking my precious hands in there to find out :-)

i heard the Bastille was upgraded to 13b in the new guidebook :)

curt86irocwrote:

i heard the Bastille was upgraded to 13b in the new guidebook :)

About time :-)

Try the boulder problem on Pen 15 up at the slab (it's right at the beginning of the route). 5.11ish climbing after that.  Find a sequence through the boulder problem and you'll certainly tick the route. 

Mark E Dixonwrote:

Thanks for the suggestion Peter.

I should have another go at the Orb.

The trouble with routes at Frisky, is that it's kind of hard for me to find people interested in heading up there. 

Nice crag though, with good warm ups at Mountain Rose on the way.

Double Impact has hand jams. 

I'm not crazy, you never know what creatures might be lurking in those cracks!

I'm not sticking my precious hands in there to find out :-)

Hand jams are risky! If you want to do a primo wall session, i'd be up for that. Or s00kr33m, also Hillbilly is seeing a lot of action. Hit me up

I'm actually chasing 13b as well, though I have really slacked off with training this year...

Been on The Grizz, and it didn't seem that hard, though it's not the most exciting climb either. It's just a v8 boulder problem. with one hard-ish clip.

I plan on working If And Only If at Staunton when I get my ass in gear, though looks like the comments are split between giving an a or b.

Quick tick Egyptian in Rifle is probably the easiest 8a there... dunno if you can consider that the FR.

Otherwise, get yourself to Kalymnos.

Good to see that you're climbing harder and harder, Mark. I'm going in the other direction (getting weaker), but I'm willing to support you on a project if you ever need a belayer.

The web in eldo is short, sweet, and easily accessible.i don’t know if I’d call it soft. 

Following

Find the 13b that fits and has little or none of your "anti-style: in it. Maybe look at some of the routes on Hillbilly in the flatirons I hear the crux of the 13b is short, although hard...

As a bad boulderer, I stray away from “short” cruxes and look for the more “enduro” routes. The Hunger has two cruxes, V5/6ish separated by a pretty okay rest. The top crux is one of the coolest sequences around I think. I’ve heard Super Tuscan has very few stopper moves too.

I thought about this a bit more and I think you should try s00kr33m again in good conditions. The first few times up for me felt impossible, but once it got crispy I realized I was just sticking to the holds.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

Really nice to hear from some of you guys again- it's been too long!

If it ever cools down, I'll give Squeeze Play and the Orb another go.

I like SooKreme, will wait till it really cools down and see if I can decipher the crux. 

SooKreme is on my list. And since the pinegulch fire might be ruining my fall rifle climbing the slab might have to work.  LMK if you need a partner for it, Mark. I've been on it once and thought is was pretty good.

Pretty sure this thread has already been started...   

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/119331970/hardest-9-on-the-front-range

Mark E Dixonwrote:

The trouble with routes at Frisky, is that it's kind of hard for me to find people interested in heading up there. 

I’ll go up there with you, Mark.

I've heard If and Only If has broken and now is "hard 12d".  It's dropped from 13b to 13a/b here on MP so it's heading downward; not sure what Monty gave it in his Rakkup guide but I think it's still 13b there ( rakkup.com/guidebooks/staun…)

Up to you if you "count" it, but I hear it's a four star route!