Barney

In 1995, I bolted this climb solo; Sence then, I have retro-bolted it twice. The first time was right after I led the first clean assent; That day I added 4 or 5 bolts to this climb. The second time I retroed this line was in ?1997?, I added a last bolt because not many people would climb straight to the anchors.FA: Carie and BobMy first Rabbit was named after this climb; My second Rabbit named another climb in Newlin Creak (Bam-bam). Jan 3, 2003

The route now has seven bolts. Fun stemming and jamming down low leads to harder climbing near the top. I may have done a more difficult variation by moving out of the crack to the right, but I felt the moves near the top were harder than 5.9. Oct 15, 2003

While this route is described as a "bolted crack climb", it is not in reality a crack climb. The thing is climbed on jugs and pockets with nary a jam. Several bolts with homemade hangers need to be replaced, and the anchor bolts are little eyebolts that also need to be replaced. Mar 27, 2006

Yea, toward the top I kind of got lost wondering which way to go. I was really pumped after finishing this one, but barely broke a sweat on the nearby 11s. Strange route but hey, it still goes up. Jun 12, 2007

Bob and Carrie added some bolts and removed the old anchors. This makes the total # of bolts around 13 ish. Jul 15, 2008

After going back and climbing this route with the new extension, I definitely feel that it is a 5.10. Barney now goes all the way up to the top of the cliff with 3-4 more bolts past the old anchor and is pretty sustained. Not that it was a bad climb before, but now it's a Sand Gulch classic. Nice job, Bob and Carrie! Oct 9, 2008

Climbed this yesterday with some friends. We never did find the anchors on this one and had to do some interesting down climbing. We used "the Book" which told us it had 7 bolts, appears to have more now (13?). Definitely harder than 5.9 at the top as we climbed the Opportunist and Enterprise prior to this (solid 5.9's) and cruised up them.
Some beta on location of anchors would be nice. It seemed to have a 13 foot lead out at the top to the anchors. Is this right? Oct 18, 2008

Go right following a nice, new bolted line that finishes up at a twin cold shut anchor. The moves to get there are well protected and not harder than 10a. So the route is in fact not a 5.9. Nov 23, 2008

Top half of this (route extension) did not feel like 5.9 and is comparable with other 10s in the area. First half is 5.9 though. Getting to the anchor was a bit confusing; there's one on the left and right? I chose right; a shoulder-length runner helps with rope drag on the last bolt prior to the diagonal traverse to anchor. Pretty enjoyable climbing, varied techniques throughout and nicely sustained with rewarding rests. Jun 1, 2009

I agree the extension on this didn't make sense (went right) and didn't really seem worth the effort. I could see it freaking someone out new to leading and seeking this grade. Bottom half was fun. Sep 28, 2009

Ha ha, 5.9 in your dreams. The bottom was cruiser and probably 5.9, but as others mentioned, the sustained nature of the route and the difficulty of the top.... Having climbed Suburbia (5.10b/c) and Enterprise (5.9+), Barney is tough! I'll leave comments to others, since I was climbing it in the dark with a headlamp. Choosing anchors at the top is definitely interesting.... Oct 21, 2012

Whatever the rating, it is not 5.9. Also, it should be noted that the hanger on the bolt protecting the crux is bent as if has been fallen on too many times. As well, the bolting at the top seems contrived and one of the anchor bolts is loose. Skip it. Jan 18, 2013

Barney is a weird route. Every move truly is 5.9 or less, but it's very easy to go slightly off route onto all the 5.10 that everyone is talking about. 5.9+.

If you think it's harder, you didn't find the best way up or didn't rest when you could.

Hint: Two slight traverses.

Good route. Apr 21, 2013

I like the extension that trends a bit right. 10a is fair now that the lower anchors are gone. Oct 17, 2016

The bottom before the bulge is maybe 5.8 and can be ended by moving right to anchors. Pure joy climbing. The top is confusing after pulling the bulge. Does the route go right or left? I ended up going left to the anchors for Freeform. Sep 9, 2017

We were at Free Form this Sunday (1/28/2018) in the queue for Barney. The party in front of us cleaned their anchor and when pulling the rope, the nut and hanger on the right anchor completely fell off! I borrowed a Metolius nut tool that had the hex wrench punch-outs in the handle, climbed the route and put the hanger and nut back on, but those nut tool wrenches aren't the best for this kind of job. I got the nut pretty tight, but someone should take a real wrench up and tighten it down all the way. Jan 30, 2018