PRINT: Climb Rave, Eastern Sierra

Rave

V7, Boulder, 15 ft (5 m),

Avg: 3.1 from 83 votes
FA: unknown
California > Eastern Sierra > Bishop Area > Volcanic Tablel… > Happy Boulders > Slow Dance/Glea… > Slow Dance Cave

Access Issue: Read the BLM Happy Boulders page before you visit Details

Help keep access open! Read more at the BLM Happy Boulders page blm.gov/visit/happy-boulders.

Description

A tuff bouldering classic: powerful, yet technical, and immensely satisfying. Grab the pumice banana and a small right crimp and pull a couple steep moves to the big sloper. Keep it tight for a radical sequence through the large dish to a gaston, and finally, a baseball-sized pocket and the huge shelf. Beautiful.

(Word has it the starting pinch and a crucial foot have been steadily disintegrating over time, so step lightly and/or get this done quick.)

Stand start on the sloper goes at v5

Location

In the Slow Dance Cave, this takes a pretty obvious line from the banana hold up and slightly left. The high class 4 topout is not essential but sure makes getting off the boulder easier.

Protection

A couple pads and a spot for the crux - the landing is very good.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Rave

Wyatt in the paint on Rave.

Rave

Weird lighting that day... photo by dad

A complete view of the problem.

Rave

A more complete view of the problem

Rave

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

C Miller
CA

Rave on Youtube -

youtube.com/watch?v=sweFAsj… Dec 1, 2009

Andy L

youtube.com/watch?v=j8OFsBx…

youtube.com/watch?v=8jdx4l5… Jan 30, 2010

cbtacy

Between being abused by wire brushes, damaged with pof and general slow decay - the start of this problem has gone from being stiff V5 to unpleasant V6.

It's really no longer worth doing. Aug 11, 2013

Andrew Child
Corvallis, Or

Don't let the erosion turn you away, this climb still packs in some awesome and unique moves. The stand start on the rail is worth doing on its own if you can't pull the opening moves. Dec 20, 2016

Daniel Winsor
Bishop, CA

Lots of surly, old-school locals like to talk shit on this problem... we get it, it's different now. Someone from LA brought a brush to Bishop or something. But as it stands currently, it's still a very fun, atypical sloper problem. The original first move (bumping right hand from a small, polished crimp up to a bigger polished crimp) is wickedly hard for me. I imagine back in the good-ol-days when the "banana hold" actually resembled a banana, that first move was easier? It feels like V8 from the low sit, and about V6 sit-starting one move in with your right hand on the big crimp. The V6 is still a three-star line. Maybe that first hard move will grow on me? Mar 1, 2018

Tim Iwako
Davis, CA

Stand was fun and interesting; gotta come back for that sit start. Does the sit begin with two hands on the banana or just one on the banana and one on the side pull? Nov 13, 2018

Jonathan Wong
SendEx, Ram Promaster

V7+

I believe Rave deserves the current grade, maybe even a solid V7. There are still good edges on the problem, though the erosion on the start holds may make it slightly more difficult. Once you get into the anatomically correct position for your body, it shouldn't be too tricky.

youtube.com/watch?v=KLJt5Mz… Nov 20, 2018

Wyatt N

This problem was pretty fun for me but I could definitely see it being terrible for taller people. May 3, 2021