Softest Crag/Area In The United States?

Daniel Patrick Smithwrote:

Are you referring to the bolted routes? I feel that  Leavenworth, Squamish, Exit 32/38, Tetons, Buggaboos are all softer than Index for the trad routes at least.

I was just joking around haha, Index sport climbing is by far the stiffest grading I have ever experienced, my general rule of thumb is to add two letter grades to any Index sport climb. In my opinion Leavy is actually a bit stiffer for trad routes than Index, especially in the more moderate grades. 

Arches is soft,  but i think the southern san rafael swell is softer

Vantage, climb there and you’ll feel like a king. If you use those grades as a benchmark for your skillset and head into the mountains you better have the heli on speed dial 

Pie shop in Tahoe is consistently a full number grade soft 

BoCan.

Clear Creek 

Iain it's a shame you had to leave the front range when you did, otherwise you could have had a front row seat to watching Wonderland earn this title. A place where the 11s are 11s and so are the 12s.

Daniel Patrick Smithwrote:

Are you referring to the bolted routes? I feel that  Leavenworth, Squamish, Exit 32/38, Tetons, Buggaboos are all softer than Index for the trad routes at least.

Alert: you have entered the trolling honey trap and there’s no escape. 

Daniel Patrick Smithwrote:

Are you referring to the bolted routes? I feel that  Leavenworth, Squamish, Exit 32/38, Tetons, Buggaboos are all softer than Index for the trad routes at least.

Alert: you have entered the trolling honey trap and there’s no escape. 

Tal Mwrote:

Iain it's a shame you had to leave the front range when you did, otherwise you could have had a front row seat to watching Wonderland earn this title. A place where the 11s are 11s and so are the 12s.

This front range slander on this thread will not go unchecked. These folks need to try the Tal originals because they absolutely slap and are what they say they are

Has taquits or yosemty been mentioned yet? Aren't they the definition of soft?

Jack Bushwaywrote:

Certain crags at Ten Sleep are quite soft, but I reject the blanket statement that Ten Sleep is soft. There are also certain crags there that feel pretty right on.

More like certain "first ascensionists" rather than "certain crags" 

Colton Meyerswrote:

Clear Creek 

Being new to the Front Range, I have heard this a lot. But personally I find Clear Creek pretty challenging relative to other local areas (and other areas around the country). I think the combo of being tall, and the specificity required for many of the feet and sequences is tough for me. I have been on a handful of climbs in the 12a-13a range that for me feel much harder than similar grades in BoCan or the Flatirons. I love the movement and rock, but Clear Creek does not feel soft at all to me.

Hangdog Hankwrote:

I was just joking around haha, Index sport climbing is by far the stiffest grading I have ever experienced, my general rule of thumb is to add two letter grades to any Index sport climb. In my opinion Leavy is actually a bit stiffer for trad routes than Index, especially in the more moderate grades. 

City Park felt nowhere as hard as 13c/d. In fact, it felt no harder than A1.

Can we include Squamish since it’s close to the border? 

Joe Kreidelwrote:

Being new to the Front Range, I have heard this a lot. But personally I find Clear Creek pretty challenging relative to other local areas (and other areas around the country). I think the combo of being tall, and the specificity required for many of the feet and sequences is tough for me. I have been on a handful of climbs in the 12a-13a range that for me feel much harder than similar grades in BoCan or the Flatirons. I love the movement and rock, but Clear Creek does not feel soft at all to me.

I couldn't agree with this more. I think short people with smaller feet and little fingers really excel in CCC. The feet can be very smeary and the positions scrunchy which is a bad combo for tall folks. Bocan and especially the Flatirons leave a lot more room for us to stretch out. 

Don’t tell the gunkies but it’s the gunks

Russell Crags in New Hampshire. 

Brian Carverwrote:

I couldn't agree with this more. I think short people with smaller feet and little fingers really excel in CCC. The feet can be very smeary and the positions scrunchy which is a bad combo for tall folks. Bocan and especially the Flatirons leave a lot more room for us to stretch out. 

Just evidence that grades are super subjective towards our bodies and what styles we are good at. I for example (5'7 fat fingers) find CCC not that bad but the style of the flatirons really kicks my butt. 

Same thing with ten sleep funny enough, the more endurance oriented style is much harder for me personally than something more power based and shorter like in CCC. 

That is why I always take these area softness discussions with a grain of salt. 

Short crux at the grade, multiple rests, easy clips/gear = soft

Sustained movement but only a few moves close to the grade = soft

Sustained movement and a few crux moves at the grade= solid

Multiple cruxes at the grade, some reasonable rests= solid

Long crux sequences at the grade = stiff

Sustained climbing near grade with one or more distinct cruxes= stiff

Below grade climbing with cruxes that are distinctly above the grade= sandbag

Sustained climbing at the grade and crux sequences above the grade = sandbag

Your specific morphology may determine crux difficulty.