[Hide Comment] I added this route because it is a great route and should be on this site!

Very continuous hard climbing the whole way mostly on very small holds. There may be only 2 or 3 holds larger than 1/2 first knuckle on the whole route! Now the confession... Although I have done all moves on the climb, it was not done with less than 1/2 dozen falls and short hangs. Because I actually got up the thing, I think the route may be 5.12b but without a single 5.12b move on it. Many, many, very hard 11 moves throughout the climb. To lead this clean will be my goal for the year and will certainly be a very satisfying accomplishment. I would certainly be curious to hear how others move from the crimper hold to the hold 4' to the right. This would be quite a wild lunge off of a tiny hold with basically no feet! I did not do it this way and my way was quite contrived to say the least... ***** in the Falcons Guide is right on! Aug 7, 2003

[Hide Comment] P.S. Forgot to add... The route description in the photo shows this route ending at the Sign Language anchors. This is not the case. There are separate anchors for this climb which add a good couple of hard moves to reach! Aug 7, 2003

[Hide Comment] First Ascent of Brain was done in '95/'96. You are a body length too high in the photo above for the traverse moves. Stay low on foot smears and lean off of a left hand sidepull crimp until you can ease over enough to latch the finger jug. Then the brain moves..... Jul 13, 2011

[Hide Comment] Thanks for the tip KP! Been awhile (obviously) since I've looked here. And now probably have no chance at this route :) . But next time out I'll give it a go! Cheers! Paul Nov 21, 2015

[Hide Comment] Has someone sent this one recently? I am wondering if its still a 12c

A year ago, a bit out of shape, I could get all the moves and felt it was a really hard 12c (if 12c)... today I tried again, with a lot more training and outdoors, and I couldn't get on top of the "roof" part (I thought the crux was the blank face, but I could get it very fast today, and then got stuck on the roof, hanging from the very sharp kind of crimp after the big sloper above the roof). It really felt harder than 12c, unless there is some magic beta for the roof, or I am doing something wrong... I am basically trying to go up on the right side of the "roof" bolt. Aug 14, 2016

[Hide Comment] Friends. So at this point I've done every route at the main rock except for Insomnia & Sturgeon, and every route on the egg except for this and the hard TR. I took 1.5 hours to work it today in great conditions, and got up it on TR with 1 fall and extreme effort (for me). There is no way it's .12c. Have things broken over time? Can I get a witness? Dec 31, 2016

[Hide Comment] I've never been on it but Franckie Ocasio once told me he did it and that it felt more like a Yosemite 5.13a. I've looked at it from the ground and it looks blank like a sheet of drywall. Dec 31, 2016

[Hide Comment] Huh. Maybe it's just that I'm bad on my feet, or the post-holiday love-handles I earned (or both), but it certainly felt closer to .13a. In my head, I'm trying to place its grade by comparing it to other hard climbing in the area with similar steepness/size of holds/insecurity--like the crux of Pelicans, the lip moves on Holy Mackerel, and the upper portion of Mutiny, which go at 12b, 13a and 13a/b (I think), and the lower section of this route certainly falls closer to that upper bit on Mutiny in terms of style and difficulty. To me it feels even a touch harder.

In any case, even though they're completely different routes, I think calling This Is Your Brain on Drugs the same grade as Sex Porpoises is kind of bananas. I'd really love to go out there with Ken A or Jim T to compare their past experiences with the condition of the route presently. It's an absolutely unique, killer route and worth working on. Jan 4, 2017

[Hide Comment] Tried this for the first time today on toprope, felt insanely hard. The crux getting over the bulge to the point where you feel more or less secure on the head wall felt at least solid/hard V6. I had to use a crimp near Sign Language but that I'm sure is used necessary for Sign Language. Without it to me the crux feels like it'd be V7. In my brain you're on drugs if you think this 12b or 12c. At a minimum this thing feels 12d if not harder. With that said, the climbing above the bulge is the best, sustained climbing I've done at Mickey's Beach. Beautiful line. Jul 29, 2017

[Hide Comment] All lead bolts have been replaced with titanium glue-ins, as of yesterday. Courtesy of Kim Pfabe and the BACC. Sep 2, 2020

[Hide Comment] I was climbing here the weekend before last and saw new bolts drilled next to the original glue-ins. Went climbing again last weekend and they were chopped and patched. Don't get why they were chopped if they were titanium. Maybe aesthetics? Is it not possible to remove and patch the originals? Just a matter of time before someone whips on one of those on the sea-side and gets hurt... Sep 29, 2020

[Hide Comment] @Julian The original bolts were not glue ins. The original bolts became old rusty mank. We chopped them and installed Titanium glue ins. Climb on sheepeople!! Sep 29, 2020

[Hide Comment] Sweet, I guess I got confused because I saw them side by side the other weekend before the original ones were chopped. Thanks! Sep 30, 2020

[Hide Comment] The first time I tried this route (around 20 years ago) it felt impossible and I thought Ken he was a **** for rating it 12b or whatever he rated it. I went back a few weeks later with Jeff Schoen, who was really good at figuring out hard, Yosemite-style slabs. He figured out some cryptic beta for the lower crux, and after working it, we were both able to send on the next try. Comparing it to hard Yosemite slabs of that era, 12c seemed about right. My memory of the upper crux was that it was hard, but that you could get a good rest right before. When we rebolted it a few years ago, I played a bit on both cruxes and the first crux felt the same as bitd. The second crux felt harder than I remember and it’s possible something broke there, but I also didn’t have Jeff there to show me how. Anyway, it’s worth noting that Kenny was a regular partner of Kurt Smith back then, and those guys were always climbing ridiculously hard slabs in Yosemite (a style that nobody really practices these days). Aug 21, 2022