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Rock For Climbing Routes To

5.10d, Trad, 200 ft (61 m), 3 pitches,  Avg: 1.7 from 6 votes
FA: Alec Sharp, Muriel Sharp, Matt Lavender
Colorado > Boulder > Eldorado Canyon SP > W Ridge > W Ridge - part B - Lo…
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Description

(Note: the person who orignally submitted this route only described the last pitch. Here is a complete description of the route.)

This is an entertaining route with a burly roof on the first pitch. I've never seen anyone climb the crux pitch or know anyone who has. When my partner was following the first pitch, some passersby asked me about the route. One said that it looked "rowdy"; I can't disagree.

The route starts just to the left of the dihedral on the first pitch of Break on Through. Scramble easily up to the dihedral, but veer left. The feature to climb will be obvious from the ground. When you're positioned under the roof, you'll realize that it's just as steep as it looks from the ground.

Pitch 1 (11c): climb the overhanging flake and hand crack out the roof to a welcome thank-the-diety-of-your-choice jug. Recover a little, move up on good sidepulls, and then carefully balance your way up to the slab. Breathe a sigh of relief and continue easily up and left to a belay just right of the second pitch of Long John Wall. The gear is good on this pitch, but after the initial handcrack is small (Aliens and small stoppers).

Pitch 2 (7): climb the seam about a body length to the right of the second pitch of Long John Wall. When you get to the roof, traverse easily to the right for about twenty feet or so and make a belay near the tree below the second pitch of Break on Through (be careful of loose rocks in that area).

Pitch 3 (10c): traverse right from the belay, climb carefully through the shattered band, and go up the crack a few feet to the right of the last pitch of Chianti to a good ledge, and make a belay there.

Once on top, one could traverse climber's right to the chain anchors atop Atom Smasher. I find it so awkward to set up that anchor for a rappel that my preference is to continue up and over, scramble down to a good ledge with a tree, traverse skier's right, and rappel from the cable anchor atop the second pitch of Washington Irving. I like to go to The Unsaid anchor from there.

(The route name and first ascent information were obtained from Steve Levin's excellent guidebook to the canyon.)

Protection

I used cams from a purple TCU up to a #3 Camalot and a selection of stoppers (including some small stuff). Extra finger-size cams wouldn't go unused.

Difficulty Rating

It appears the current consensus rating reflects the 3rd pitch, but the route description for P1 suggests a harder difficulty, perhaps 11c. Those who have done the route and rated it on this website might suggest checking their rating suggestion.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Second and third pitches of Rock For Climbing Routes To.
[Hide Photo] Second and third pitches of Rock For Climbing Routes To.
First pitch of Rock For Climbing Routes To.
[Hide Photo] First pitch of Rock For Climbing Routes To.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Andy Donson
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] Sorry about this, but I also did the FA of this back in '98, only to discover some time later that it was the top pitch of "Rock For Climbing Routes To" an Alec Sharp route from ages ago.It felt harder than 10b to me. Mar 18, 2004
[Hide Comment] Rock for Climbing Routes To is an independent 3 pitch (as originally done) line that begins on the arete left of the first pitch of Break on Through and ends as described here. Perhaps Andy could provide additional FA details. Oct 25, 2004
Jerry Cagle
Tucson, AZ
[Hide Comment] Does anyone know Muriel Sharp? I have a copy of "Rocky Heights" by Jim Erickson that she wrote her name on the cover of... Just curious. It's "Muriel Sharp '79". Mar 20, 2017
Bruce Hildenbrand
Silicon Valley/Boulder
[Hide Comment] This might be a troll, but Muriel penned the cover art for the book. That's why her name is on the cover. Mar 20, 2017
Tony B
Around Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] It appears as if the route difficulty in this case reflects the opinion of the route as it was initially described, as the 3rd pitch only and 10d. But the route description as revised is 11c for P1, a far cry in Eldo from the 10d rating.

While I suppose that the route might display the 'consensus' grade, regardless, asking the author (Dave) to change the route detail and flagging it for the commenters to re-consider might improve the database by eventually reflecting a grade that takes into consideration all 3 pitches, not just the last. So here we go - submitted as a comment and a correction! Nov 3, 2020
Andy Donson
  5.10d
[Hide Comment] I think Dave Holliday will have to edit the grade as he’s the submitter. Nov 3, 2020
Dave Holliday
  5.11c
[Hide Comment] Re the last two comments about the rating: the route was originally submitted with the 10d rating. I submitted an updated description for all three pitches with an 11c rating. I believe the consensus is calculated as a median with the submitter's rating counting twice and the high and low thrown out. Because I didn't originally submit the route, I believe my 11c rating is not being counted towards the consensus. An administrator might be able to do some magic and get the consensus rating changed. Another solution is for more people to climb the route and offer their own ratings. Apr 5, 2021