Front range slab progression (sport)

I will freely admit: I suck at slab. I blame it on my shoes. While I continue my quest for the perfect slab shoe, I was hoping the MP hive mind could suggest a slab progression list (5.10- to 5.11+) in the front range. I tend to do better on small edges than friction slabs and scoops, if that matters. And since I I did mention shoes, any suggestions for those would be welcome as well. I currently own the instinct lace and instinct s, as they seem to fit best amongst all the shoes I have tried so far. (wide forefoot, narrow heel) and i can downsize 1.5 sizes from my street shoe.

TC Pro is considered the best slab shoe out there for a reason - if they fit your feet, I’d highly recommend them.

If your slab progression list starts at 10-, you don’t truly suck at true slab. For example, I went on a trip to Moab where a friend walked up to the big bend boulders and sent a V7 second go. “There’s a half-pad two finger undercling that totally unlocks the whole thing” is a real thing he said to us.

The next day I watched as he fully had his head in his hands praying 2 bolts up a 5.7 slab line at the Ice Cream Parlor. I think the whole route took him around 40 minutes to lead.

That, my friend, is sucking at slab. 

Not a progression list, just listing off some local slab climbs in the grade range you wanted:

The Catslab, several 5.8 to 5.10- slab climbs. Some smearing between mostly good holds.

The Scientist at Plotinus wall, 5.11a. Thin smedging

Clipboard at Avalon has two 5.11 slab climbs. Thin smedging

Sputnik Boulder at the Satellites, V0-1 slab boulders. Standing on small pebbles.

Red Rock Canyon Open Space, pretty much the entire area is low angle friction slab in the 5.8 to 10- range. It also kinda sucks IMO (both in rock quality and fun), but it is slab, well protected, and easy to get to from Denver.

Also tons of options for pure slab in the Splatte which I'm not very familiar with and possibly more run out than you want, if you're not good at slab. The 1st pitch of Time Stands Still is very well bolted and around 5.9ish slab.

Tal Mwrote:

TC Pro is considered the best slab shoe out there for a reason - if they fit your feet, I’d highly recommend them.

If your slab progression list starts at 10-, you don’t truly suck at true slab. For example, I went on a trip to Moab where a friend walked up to the big bend boulders and sent a V7 second go. “There’s a half-pad two finger undercling that totally unlocks the whole thing” is a real thing he said to us.

The next day I watched as he fully had his head in his hands praying 2 bolts up a 5.7 slab line at the Ice Cream Parlor. I think the whole route took him around 40 minutes to lead.

That, my friend, is sucking at slab. 

In that case, maybe what I am climbing is not true slab and maybe is just vertical granite that gets slabby in sections and I need to drop down the grades and do some high pucker factor lower grade climbs. For instance, I got on rosewood (5.10) and The Ripping(12a) at the Sawmill crag at Staunton. In both cases, I had no problems in the vertical/roof sections but had to take as soon as the slab section got tricky.

Unfortunately, TC pros don't fit me, neither do the katana laces (wide fore/mid foot). I was thinking maybe trying the new scarpa vapor s that just came out.

Somak Bwrote:

In that case, maybe what I am climbing is not true slab and maybe is just vertical granite that gets slabby in sections and I need to drop down the grades and do some high pucker factor lower grade climbs. For instance, I got on rosewood (5.10) and The Ripping(12a) at the Sawmill crag at Staunton. In both cases, I had no problems in the vertical/roof sections but had to take as soon as the slab section got tricky.

Unfortunately, TC pros don't fit me, neither do the katana laces (wide fore/mid foot). I was thinking maybe trying the new scarpa vapor s that just came out.

For slab pitches, especially as you're learning, you'll absolutely want something more supportive than the Vapor S. If you have a "Scarpa foot", consider their new Generators, as they're essentially Scarpa's competitor to the TC Pro, or Evolv's Yosemite Bum which is the same.

I'd highly recommend the Platte for honing in your slab prowess. For safely bolted, and easy walk up TR access - check out Inferno Slab (also, please god someone get on my 11+ that's there). Sheeprock has some really stellar bolted slab climbs in all grades and pucker factors as well. Two Jews Blues at Little Scraggy is a great, safe multipitch slab outing as well. If you're looking to drop the grade and really up the pucker factor, look around the Malay - Atlantis Slab, Little Half Dome, Borneo Slab, eventually graduating to Java Dome. 

BoCan has some great slab lines as well, as other folks mentioned. Sleeping Beauty, Plotinus Wall, Left side of Black Widow Slab. CCC doesn't have as much pure slabbing but places like Catslab can definitely get you tuning your footwork.

For slab boulders, check out Super Slab and Straight Up Now Tell Me at Dark Side Boulders in Morrison

If you're climbing and not at an area with a ton of slab climbs, try just using the worst possible feet you can find on the routes you're warming up on. Believe it or not, it will actually help your willingness to commit to slab moves in the future.

It's worth hitting all of these areas as they're all very distinct slab styles - some is climbing on knobs and crystals, some is more like technical edging, and some is true friction slabbing. All require fairly different skill sets but all train the crux of slab climbing - the mental willingness to find confidence in and commit to something that is typically extremely un-inspiring.

If you've got any other questions around slab climbs and progression around the front range, let me know. I've been going through this myself - I still have quite a ways to go but my pure slab max is getting quite close to my general redpoint max.

Some more Boulder Canyon options for you. 

There are some good bolted slab routes at Cascade ranging from 5.9 all the way up to 11d with Full Respect. Beyond that, at Black Widow Slab, there are three great slab routes of increasing difficulty with Kate Moss (10a), Gyromancy (11a), and Consilience (11c). As you tick these off, if you want to try some harder stuff, there is also Bearcat Goes to Hollywood (12a) at Blob Rock and Sick Puppy (12b) at Mountain Rose. Someone else also mentioned The Scientist and the two slabs at the Clipboard at Avalon - agree there, those are all great routes.

As far as shoes go, I prefer solutions for hard slab climbing. Call me crazy, but those things work on everything from awful smears to tiny crystals.

In CCC the Red Slab has a bunch of fun routes with a decent bolt spacing, definitely more edgy than friction. Across the creek at the little eiger there are several routes with slab cruxes that are enjoyable.

For head game the platte is where you will find a bunch. Atlantis slab has some good short friction routes. Java dome has some good ankle breaker starts on easier slabs.

The Dome has a bunch of worthy multi pitch to check out.

+1 for The Scientist at lower dream. One of the better slab pitches ive been on just wish it was 3 times longer.

It's not your shoes dude. Smear your feet. Don't look for edges. Spend more time looking at your feet than your hands. Tal gave plenty of suggestions for practice. A long weekend at Sheeprock, including smoking sections, will get you dialed. Climbing slab and leading slab are two different animals. 

EDIT: btw the shoes you mentioned are too aggressively downturned for slab, especially at those grades.

Darren Mabewrote:

It's not your shoes dude. Smear your feet. Don't look for edges. Spend more time looking at your feet than your hands. Tal gave plenty of suggestions for practice. A long weekend at Sheeprock, including smoking sections, will get you dialed. Climbing slab and leading slab are two different animals. 

I know :)

Somak - talked to my roommate who has the same issue with TCs and Katanas and he said the Yosemite Bum fit him really well. I’d recommend checking them out.

Also just when you’re reading shoe reviews, be careful about what you’re looking for. A lot of shoes are claiming to be great at edging and smearing - but often they’re referring to doing a couple edges or smears on boulders and they don’t have the support to sustain entire pitches or multi pitches of the stuff. You don’t wanna be in a position where you’re 2 pitches into a 7 pitch climb and your feet and heel is already screaming. Ask me how I know. My normally comfy Mocs have tricked me into quite a few painful days

Another +1 for The Scientist, Kate Moss, Gyromancy, and Consilience.

Go climb Childhoods End on Big Rock.  You'll be honed after that. 

There's lots of stuff in the South Platte. . . 

River Wall in CCC has some slab at the base - access is pretty easy and quick. Might be too cold for the next couple of weeks. 

Vedauwoo has some excellent slab routes.  Worth a few summer weekends enjoying some burly cracks and some great friction routes.  The friction routes have a bit of an old school feel and have some degree of boldness.

Here’s a few to try, all within a few minutes of each other:

Cold Finger  5.7

5.11 Crack  5.9+

Fall Wall 5.10a

Water Streak 5.10

BoCan has a ton of great slab routes:

Soul on Ice 11b

Rhodian Shores 10b

Sea of Dreams 11b

Tales of Power (p2) 11b - pure slab!

The Scientist 11b

Hunky Monkey (p3) 11b

Earth Voyage 12a 

Bear Cat Goes to Hollywood 11d/12a

Montywrote:

Go climb Childhoods End on Big Rock.  You'll be honed after that. 

that will need bigger balls than I can hope to grow in my middle age :)

It's early for Devils Head, but Crack of Noon area has some fun slabbos

Somak Bwrote:

that will need bigger balls than I can hope to grow in my middle age :)

I know Monty was being facetious, but he does have a greater point:

Climbing safely bolted slab is not much different than top roping. And top roping slab is vastly different than leading many of the traditional slab routes (all over the country). True slab climbing is almost exclusively about one's ability to keep the lid on. Moves that would normally be cake (on TR) can feel awfully hard when that rope is pointing (way) down to that last piece. I am mostly talking about lower angle friction stuff here, where even big falls (slides) can be pretty harmless. Steeper "slab", which of course is a bit subjective, can be a different animal all together... 

If you find yourself scrounging for slab partners, feel free to give me a shout -- I'd be happy to help where I can.

Your shoes are fine, especially for edge slab. Downturned stiff shoes like instincts edge like crazy (though they are still soft enough to smear; great all-round shoe).

A lot of the classics have already been mentioned. I’d throw in Introducing Meteor Dad at River Wall in Lyons. Probably the best 5.10 edge slab on the front range, and while there you can stare in awe at the stunning 5.13 slab next door Le Diamant Eternal. Reefer Madness (11a) at Wall of the 90s is quite fun as well. Encore (11b) at Oceanic Wall is fun but maybe not worth the journey unless you are already in the area. Most of the climbs on the left of Plotinus Wall are slab and are good fun moderates. If you can climb 5.8 trad, Prince of Darkness (11a) in Eldo is fantastic. The 5.11 bit is super well protected by 4 bolts and there is a bit of easy trad climbing before and after. Could walk up and tr it off a tree with a directional if you were so inclined.

Slab is rad. Enjoy the journey!

nbrownwrote:

I know Monty was being facetious, but he does have a greater point:

Climbing safely bolted slab is not much different than top roping. And top roping slab is vastly different than leading many of the traditional slab routes (all over the country). True slab climbing is almost exclusively about one's ability to keep the lid on. Moves that would normally be cake (on TR) can feel awfully hard when that rope is pointing (way) down to that last piece. I am mostly talking about lower angle friction stuff here, where even big falls (slides) can be pretty harmless. Steeper "slab", which of course is a bit subjective, can be a different animal all together... 

If you find yourself scrounging for slab partners, feel free to give me a shout -- I'd be happy to help where I can.

Thanks Nate. BTW, love all the development you have done at Staunton.