PRINT: Rock Climb Fight Club, Owens River Gorge

Fight Club

5.13b, Sport, 70 ft (21 m),

Avg: 3.8 from 25 votes
FA: Todd Graham & Rob Miller
California > Eastern Sierra > Bishop Area > Owens River Gorge > Inner Gorge > Mothership Cliff

Access Issue: Bridges Out! IMPORTANT LADWP NEGOTIATIONS!! Details

Due to liability concerns, bridges are being removed in the Owens River Gorge at the request of LADWP. The Bishop Area Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund are currently in negotiations with LADWP to get this issue resolved. In the meantime, please continue to be good land stewards by respecting these bridge closures and finding alternate crossing points until this issue is resolved.

1) Never park or camp overnight at the access points.
2) Always park off the pavement, taking great care to avoid blocking the gates.
3) Clean up after your dogs. (Local climbers are finding abandoned doggie poop bags.)
4) Pack out all trash and TP, including picking up after others.
5) Use the outhouses if at all possible.

Access Issue: Raptor Nesting Climbing Avoidance Details

Please avoid climbing routes between 'Steelhead' and 'Living Dead' due to active raptor nest in this location. April-July or until nest activity is complete.

Description

An edgy face leads up to a clean 15 degree overhang that delivers about 30 feet of sustained bouldering on immaculate rock. The top is a fun 5.10 slab.

A contender for the best hard route in the gorge.

Protection

Bolts

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Fight Club

Getting close to the redpoint crux

Austin in the fight

Fight Club

for the post send lather.

Fight Club

I put new mussy's and backed it up to the new bolt out left. Thank Greg Barnes from the asca!

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Neil Rankin
Winston-Salem, NC

A jaw-dropper of a line. Rob Miller got the first red-point. I could do all the moves, but the link. . .no. Apr 1, 2013

Josh Dibble
Mammoth Lakes, CA

mono pocket, dyno to crimp. hand foot match. Repeat until you get to the anchor. Awesome! Nov 7, 2013

Charlie Egan
St George, UT

This line is excellent. The description is off about the angle, though. I'd wager it's less than 15 degrees overhung, nowhere near 30 degrees. Feb 26, 2017

Brendan Cathcart
Bishop, CA

Im curious to hear more of the history of this climb. Are there manufactured holds? why are there added holds? Jan 29, 2019

Fan Y
Bishop/Las Vegas

5.13b/c

Come on, I think the holds are pretty self-evident. BITD chipping/manufacturing/comfortising holds were all common and accepted practice. Apr 9, 2021

Tim Steele
Bishop, CA

5.13b

For Fan and others who are curious about the history of this climb. When the climb was first done, it had one or more chipped holds. Chipping has actually been fairly rare in the gorge, but we can look to other examples like Aurora or Downward Spiral for example. Like Fan said, chipping was widespread in the early '90s especially at limestone crags. The gorge was mostly spared from this since it had a strong trad ethic coming from folks like Bachar and others. Even Tommy Herbert, who was a new schooler putting up most of the hard routes in the gorge, eschewed chipping. He was likely influenced by his dad, and let's be real, he's just so strong he doesn't need extra holds anyway, lol! This issue aside, a few seasons ago a strong female climber from the coast of Cali came out and litereally glued some holds on Fight Club, thus changing the crux entirely. This is not normal behavior, nor was it even during the heyday of chipping. Those holds were then removed by concerned locals. I have not been on this route since I climbed it close to 15 years ago, so I can't say what it looks like now, but there might still be evidence of these added holds down low on the overhang (or so I'm told). So there you have it. The route has been both chipped AND retrochipped. Apr 12, 2021

Brendan Cathcart
Bishop, CA

Thanks Tim for clarifying a bit of local history. Fan, when I wrote my initial comment, there was the aforementioned hold glued on low in the overhang. At the time I wasn't sure if it was new or old, and thought it a bit out of place for a route with such a classic reputation. As someone who is not a route developer, I have few opinions about this climb, and whether or not the chipping is ethical. I simply was hoping to glean insight from the old guards about the routes history. Happy climbing everyone. Apr 22, 2021

Rew Exo
Mammoth Lakes / Bishop

The angle is 21 degrees. I measured last time I was on it. Jan 24, 2024