Roan Way

I seem to remember placing a small piece (alien?) just after the crux move off the belay and before the obvious hole, and there didn't seem to be too bad a runout. By Josh standards, the 5.8 rating in the book seemed perfectly reasonable (I had actually expected the route to be harder). Lots of comfortable stances and excellent stopper placements along the way where you need them. The shape of the crack tends to be a bit tricky for placing good cams there that won't walk (it flares and then constricts toward the front). For this reason, I think I only used stoppers after that first alien.

60m rope recommended, not many feet left (55m was said to barely make it). This is a good alternative to the Dappled Mare finish when the wall is crowded. Feb 5, 2004

Where is the R ? standard josh stuff. Great route. Nov 13, 2006

Agreed that its not "R" rated. From the bolt, at about a 45 degree angle up and left into the flared crack, we managed a 00 TCU placement and above that, from behind the first chunk of rock that sticks out of the flared crack, there's a good cam placement (.5 camalot for us). So, very much less than a body length to the first good pro. Besides the first move off the bolt, the route is easier than 5.8+. Great route! Nov 28, 2006

Definitely not an R rating, especially for J-Tree. You can get a good stance and place an alien in that first "hole", there are plenty of options for your hands. Great finish, very exciting. Feb 22, 2007

After climbing The Swift (5.7), I headed to Dappled Mare (5.8). Since the last pitch of Dappled Mare connects with the last pitch of The Swift (which we just finished climbing) I chose to climb Roan Way (5.8) as it looked very interesting from the bolt belay on Dappled Mare. If I had known it was "R" there is no way I would have climbed it. However, I thought that the runnout on the first move (which was a solid 5.8-5.9 move for a 5'7'' guy) was not bad (about 15 feet) which is standard for many routes at J-Tree. It is possible to place a piece in the "hole" after the first move from the belay, but I decided to keep climbing to the next stance. I highly recommend this route if you don't mind a bit of runout. Nov 4, 2007

I found this route to be a more enjoyable outing than Dappled Mare, especially for the second. Nov 22, 2008

Quite fun, and no, not "R." You can use the right 2 bolts for your belay and throw a draw on the left bolt for your safety piece as you head up. Used almost all nuts on the whole route. Again, fun and long. Apr 3, 2009

I agree, the R rating seems a bit much. Off the belay I found a spot for a #1 BD brass stopper with a screamer on it. Also a metolius #5 cam protects the obvious hole/hold about 1.5 to 2 body lengths up,without getting in the way all that much (still able to hold underneath it). Super fun route, though the opening moves may seem a little daunting I found it was fair for the grade and a great time. Nice weekend day? may want to get there early. Mar 24, 2010

Also agree its not an "R" rated fall.

Climbed this yesterday... Only used 1 cam the rest were hexes, nuts, and tri-cams medium/small sizes. Took the Roan variation finish which was fun and not as horrible as everyone says, a little spicy in a couple spots but not terrible.

60m rope was needed for Roan finish
used either a .5 or .75 about 12ft off of the bolted belay on pitch 2

I think I took another variation on Roan way at the very top I took the crack on the right instead of finishing straight up. fun finish still 5.8 Mar 30, 2013

Accidentally climbed this route instead of Dappled Mare, thinking this was the more obvious line. Did not notice a PG13 section, let alone an R. Great route May 7, 2013

Climbed Dappled Mare to Roan Way in 2 pitches with a 70m rope. Roan Way is a great route. The start is a little spicy and not well protected, but you can clip the bolt anchor for your Jesus nut. A grade of 5.8 is fair, I think the + is due to the heady start. The pro is solid once you get into the obvious crack system about 15 feet above the bolt anchor.

I also did the right angling crack at the top that is mentioned in the comments below by sdrockstar81. I couldn't tell if that was the official route, but it was super fun and consistent with the rest of the route in difficulty. Oct 15, 2018

Fun climb! Definitely not an "R". Don't let that scare you.... climb it then smile. Feb 1, 2019