Your Favorite Slab

Childhood's End in the S. Platt

Crest Jewel in Yosemite

Inti Watana in Red Rocks

I'll play too.

The Gold Standard -12c+ - Voyager Dome in Courtright.

Seamstress -12b  - Voyager Dome in Courtright. 

Ishi - 12d - Suicide.

Games without Frontiers - 13b - Future Games in Joshua Tree.

Mystery Achievement - 12d - Hammer Dome in Tuolumne.

The best of the best!!!

Greg Dwrote:

There’s pro on the third flat iron. 

Thanks for clearing that up.

TBlomwrote:

Thanks for clearing that up.

Sorry. That was a question, more like sarcasm.  I haven’t brought gear up there in 25 years.   And that doesn’t feel like slab climbing since it has giant holds everywhere. 

Yankee Clipper in City of Rocks is a ride. Super consistent hard slab for over 150 feet. You get one break about 3/4 of the way up, but at that point you've earned it. First really hard slab route I ever tried and one I definitely want to get up clean one day. 

Y'all are making me actually want to get good at this style of climbing. Seems like nobody is ever stoked for it

Knob Job on The Thumb

Some have mentioned NC's amazing slabs but Stone Mountain hasn't been discussed. Stone Mountain is the purest slab I've ever climbed and the routes are amazing. It's very, very engaging slab climbing with the pro often quite far apart. If you're a true fan of slab you owe yourself a trip to Stone.

NC is by far one of the best states for the slab climber. Laurel Knob, Big Green, Looking Glass, Cedar Rock, Stone Mountain... the list goes on and on. Routes are far too numerous to list. Thanks to the high mica content and (varied levels of) metamorphism, the Carolinas (yes, even SC) has some of the stickiest and bomber stone you'll find anywhere. 

Splatte CO doesn't even come close in terms of quality slab. Neither does Crest Jewel in Yosemite, although I'll admit the scenery there is hard to beat.

Greg Dwrote:

Sorry. That was a question, more like sarcasm.  I haven’t brought gear up there in 25 years.   And that doesn’t feel like slab climbing since it has giant holds everywhere. 

Gotcha... yeah the third doesn't really fit the 'balls in throat' nature of true slab climbing, but it is a super fun romp, especially without gear.

Would the friction routes on Glacier Point Apron be considered a subset of “slab”? I remember having a pretty exciting time BITD with older shoes on Hoppy’s Favorite… We called them “time release holds” as you padded your way up to the next way-too-distant bolt. You couldn’t stand in one place too long or you slowly slid off—and you couldn’t be too impulsive about moving quickly or you wouldn’t find those near-invisible (and very critical) divots here and there. I’m sure there are some even harder friction routes up there these days—which blows my mind. 

nbrownwrote:

NC is by far one of the best states for the slab climber. Laurel Knob, Big Green, Looking Glass, Cedar Rock, Stone Mountain... the list goes on and on. Routes are far too numerous to list. Thanks to the high mica content and (varied levels of) metamorphism, the Carolinas (yes, even SC) has some of the stickiest and bomber stone you'll find anywhere. 

Splatte CO doesn't even come close in terms of quality slab. Neither does Crest Jewel in Yosemite, although I'll admit the scenery there is hard to beat.

Yes.

Etive Slabs (Scotland).  https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106026801/beinn-trilleachan-etive-slabs

Some pics here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/beinn_trilleachan_etive_slabs-535/#photos

Green Dragon on Glacier Point Apron. 

NC has been mentioned but not Rumbling Bald? Of the steeper slab Wild Hickory Nuts hard to beat. Lake View, Breakfast of Champions, Rusty Redneck. Many others.

Daniel Joderwrote:

Would the friction routes on Glacier Point Apron be considered a subset of “slab”? I remember having a pretty exciting time BITD with older shoes on Hoppy’s Favorite… We called them “time release holds” as you padded your way up to the next way-too-distant bolt. You couldn’t stand in one place too long or you slowly slid off—and you couldn’t be too impulsive about moving quickly or you wouldn’t find those near-invisible (and very critical) divots here and there. I’m sure there are some even harder friction routes up there these days—which blows my mind. 

I think Glacier point is a standard for pure slab. Most of what people are mentioning is just slabby face climbing. There are holds, knobs and a noticeable texture to the rock. It still qualifies as “slab” climbing, but pure slab like Glacier Point is a whole different beast and far more rare to come by. Hoppy’s Favorite is an excellent route. Anchors Away is one of my favorites. There is potential for it to be pushed past its high point too, by someone who’s toes aren’t yet riddled with tendinitis from years of hand drilling on mythical stances. 

Wow thank you all for the info!! I'm making my list!! I can already feel the butt puckering and toes trembling! 

Appreciate everyone who has put in their input and thanks in advance for the new comments!!

Blue Suede Shoes

Laughing Gull - best slab I've ever set foot on

Demimonde

Never been on it but Hall of Mirrors

Jan Mcwrote:

I'll play too.

The Gold Standard -12c+ - Voyager Dome in Courtright.

Seamstress -12b  - Voyager Dome in Courtright. 

Ishi - 12d - Suicide.

Games without Frontiers - 13b - Future Games in Joshua Tree.

Mystery Achievement - 12d - Hammer Dome in Tuolumne.

The best of the best!!!

A solid list. I think you and I have done all of those together, with the notable exception, on my part, of Ishi. I made one low quality attempt on that thing and left shaking my head.

I'll add, since no-one has mentioned it yet, anything left of Tobin's Dihedral on Dome Rock. Right there is the best collection of mega-classic slab climbs, all in one small area, on perfect granite, anywhere (IMO). There are about 30 climbs in a row and not one is less than classic. One, asteroid belt, might not be called "slab," since it's an incipient crack. But a couple of notable examples would be Between Nothingness and Eternity, Welcome to Dome Rock, About Face, Carsonogenic, Carsonoma, and Skid Row. Bring your A-Game and performance enhancing drugs...   .

One, asteroid belt, might not be called "slab," since it's an incipient crack. But a couple of notable examples would be Between Nothingness and Eternity, Welcome to Dome Rock, About Face, Carsonogenic, Carsonoma, and Skid Row. Bring your A-Game and performance enhancing drugs...   .

A solid advice given the state of the bolts on some of those routes.