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Generation Gap

5.11a, Sport, 70 ft (21 m),  Avg: 2.3 from 112 votes
FA: Ken Trout, 1992
Colorado > Golden > Clear Creek Canyon > Sports Wall
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Description

Ex-warm-up, now a nice 5.11 clip up in its own right, Generation Gap is the left of the three main bolted lines on The Sports Wall. A thin seam leads the way immediately to the crux at 5.11a and the first clip. The route settles down after the initial difficulty to some fine 5.10 face climbing. It gets two stars for the fine quality rock, nice continuity at 5.10, and the occasionally devious move. It is a good, sunny spot in the early afternoon.

Protection

QDs only. This 70 foot line needs 8 - 9 draws and something for the double bolt anchor at the top.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The "Generation" routes at Sports Wall.
[Hide Photo] The "Generation" routes at Sports Wall.
The route is the seam in the middle.
[Hide Photo] The route is the seam in the middle.
Above the crux.
[Hide Photo] Above the crux.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] Pumpfest with a capital P! Steep, balancey moves throughout. I was expecting one 11a move, followed by a 10a climb--wrong. Great line, for sure; challenging from start to finish. Apr 9, 2002
Brett Boyd
Louisville, CO
 
[Hide Comment] I think it is 10a after the initial moves. The moves just aren't obvious the first time that you do it. Apr 9, 2002
[Hide Comment] Good sunny spot in late afternoon as well.... A fun climb, turns out left after the third bolt, then back right after the fourth. Jan 1, 2003
[Hide Comment] It feels 11a if you don't know the beta, but I think if you know the beta it is really like 10c/d. Great route!! Jul 10, 2003
chris deulen
Denver-ish, CO
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] Every climb in the world seems easier than it is if you know the beta, you moron. Sep 25, 2004
[Hide Comment] 8/24/08: added a new bolt w/ring to back up the two rusty cold shuts. New bolt is triplex and all stainless hardware. Aug 24, 2008
Jon Zucco
Denver, CO
5.10+
[Hide Comment] The initial move is a little balancy/pumpy; follow the arrow and start left with the rope on your left side to prevent entanglement. Jan 25, 2009
slim

  5.11a
[Hide Comment] Pretty good route. Kind of in your face at the start. When I did it, it was absolutely soaked which made it feel pretty desperate. There are a couple seams that were seeping some fairly wide swaths down the face, right over the feet I wanted to use. Then, of course, I endured the obligatory rain shower dousing.

The top is really cool - it seems like there is an unconformity and the gneiss becomes basalt that is similar to North Table Mountain. Pretty weird. Jul 18, 2011
John RB
Boulder, CO
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] Why is there an arrow pointing left at the base of this climb?

If you go left and climb up, you're on My Generation (11c) instead. Nov 1, 2016
[Hide Comment] The arrow showed up after the flake which used to be used to start the climb from straight below the bolt fell off. I've assumed it was someone trying to point out the left hand hold for the new start... Nov 2, 2016
John RB
Boulder, CO
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] How the heck do you start this route? I was just fooling around in tennis shoes at the base, but I couldn't see a sequence to get to the 2nd bolt that would be 5.11. Opening moves look super hard and off-balance. Nov 2, 2016
[Hide Comment] Definitely easier in rock shoes. Nov 2, 2016
[Hide Comment] Condition update: at the start, there is a pile of chossy rock to your bottom left. I have climbed this route several times, and I believe, over the winter of 2017, this rock has become unstable. The start jug came off today and almost broke my foot (jug right below arrow). At the start, avoiding this section of rock is difficult. Be mindful while belaying and climbing of possible shedding from this section (entire chossy section below the arrow). The rest of the route is fun and solid. Feb 15, 2018
John RB
Boulder, CO
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] The route starts with a V1 off the deck into 10+ jugs to a ledge at 25'. Next do a tricky traverse left and around the airy corner to a slab, into moderate climbing and then up and left to a huge jug rest. Some thuggish 10+ moves surmount the roof and land you on the final slab. It's about 12' of 5.7 from here to the chains with no bolts, but you can get a 0.4 Camalot in a horizontal about halfway to the chains if you like.

I "love" this route. It has it all: a hard crimp, a throw, overhanging jugs, a techy traverse, a slab... even a couple of hand jams (the way I end up doing it). The rock is mostly solid, and the route stays warm in winter (but bakes in the summer). In the spring, the whole cliff is often seepy, which causes it to swarm with wasps, but I've still climbed during these times, and despite the warnings about rattlesnakes, I've never seen one in over 20 trips to this crag in the past 2 years. Jun 6, 2018
Matthew Lloyd
denver, colorado
 
[Hide Comment] An onsight free solo of the route: youtu.be/XYlrA1yOadE. Aug 2, 2018
[Hide Comment] Video of whole route: youtube.com/watch?v=3XzFvP1…. Jan 7, 2022
Tony B
Around Boulder, CO
 
[Hide Comment] There is a height-dependent section 1/2 way up where the a flat section creates a brief R-facing corner. That's going to be harder for short climbers. Nov 29, 2023