PRINT: Rock Climb Fifth Force, Index

Fifth Force

5.12, Sport, 100 ft (30 m),

Avg: 3.9 from 40 votes
FA: Greg Collum, Greg Child and Greg Olsen
Washington > Central-W Casca… > Skykomish Valley > Index > Country Area > (c) The Country

Description

An area classic, possibly the best or second best sport route I've ever done. Vertical climbing with hard cruxes and great rests. Very intriguing climbing!

One can fairly easily set up a TR on this by lowering off the anchor of the extended version of Cunning Stunt.

Location

Start on Cunning Stunt but cut right before the first pin and clip a bolt...head straight up from there.

Protection

Bolts

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Ben Gilkinson trying hard on a crisp fall day

Mike TR soloing

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Drewsky

If you are short, the bottom section of the route contains a rather potent crux; the two options I've taken have been:

1: Clip the 3rd bolt, then downclimb a move and step right to a left facing lieback and a lunge move from small crimps (part of the the "force-fed" variation); then head left on big holds to rejoin Fifth Force.

2: Take on the "original" tall man crux directly above the 3rd bolt. Full-on dyno if short, but a longer reach might eliminate the dyno.

Either way, an absolute classic. Jul 3, 2008

Drewsky

FA: Greg Collum, Greg Child, Greg Olsen. Dec 31, 2008

Douglas Taylor

All bolts are SS as of 2015. Get out there and SEND IT... or fall, it doesn't matter now. Mar 28, 2015

Kerwin Loukusa
PNW

5.12

Thanks for putting in the new hardware!

For anyone getting on the route soon, note that the slopey rail above the 6th bolt is a little slippery from the rock dust from the bolt replacement. I gave the area above the rail and rail itself a good scrubbing, but it will probably take a bit more rain to clean it off all the way. Apr 22, 2015

Ol Toby
CA

5.12

Thank you for the fresh hardware Doug.

What a great pitch. Powerful granite face climbing with intricate sequences separated by good rests. The crux definitely becomes harder the shorter you are and a rating is thus hard to give.

For some reference, Siegrist called this .13, "and hard at that!" Nov 24, 2015

Eric Hirst

5.12+

It's common to work this on TR before trying to lead it. Anchors are easily reached by climbing the short extension to Cunning Stunt just L.

This has 3 distinct cruxes in the V5/V6 range, and plenty of climbing in between. The crux falls are safe, but it's not easy to cheat through. I've seen 5.13+ climbers fail to summit this one. Jun 22, 2018

Ben Gilkison
Leavenworth, WA

5.13c

I've confirmed that this route can be climbed if you are 4'11. All it takes is the 5th force. A really fun route. Dec 4, 2018

blakeherrington

5.12b

I know I'm in the minority (which is worth noting, since there's wisdom in crowds regarding these things) but I thought this route was not particularly good, or particularly sandbagged, relative to the lineup of **** Index .12b pitches. I suspect it owes much of its popularity and acclaim to being centrally located, trivial to toprope, and fast to dry, as opposed the quality of its climbing. Expect 3 not-especially-memorable vertical crimp boulder problems, with large and casual no-hands rests between each of them. A lot of granite is accurately categorized as discrete bouldering, so perhaps my complaint boils down to "just like everything else, only more so." Dec 5, 2018

Matt Carroll
Van

this is a fun route and makes for a nice project. Fifth features the popular granite motif of being initially completely incomprehensible. In due time though, this gives way to fairly reliable beta. With the beta in hand, it goes down smooth due to the complete rests between cruxes. If you can handle the grade, I would very much recommend. Apr 2, 2019