Slammer

This storied route was my nemesis and a labor of love, bringing me back to Jailhouse intermittently for 3 seasons after I moved to Denver in 2009. Originally a decent but not-sought-after 5.13b from the early Jailhouse days until a vital glue-reinforced fin broke off in the early 2000's, Slammer transformed into a notoriously elusive 5.13+ and repelled many a jailhouse hardman for years. Finally, I believe in 2007, during Alex Honnold's blitzkrieg at the House, he unlocked the new crux and called it one of the hardest 5.13's he'd sent. Bay area crusher and erudite psychologist Ethan Schwartz repeated it the next year after months of attempts rating it 5.13d. I'm convinced now after the many belays we shared that Ethan's jedi-mind tricks were responsible for the obsession that consumed me the entire next season even to the point that I considered delaying our family's move back to Denver just so I could have one more season to send Slammer. In the end I needed 2 full years of Front Range power before I finally had the tools to put this one away.

In all honesty, Slammer would easily be a 4star route and my objective favorite at Jailhouse were it not for the ledge at 25 feet just after you leave Common Thug. The climbing that follows is truly brilliant and much more cerebral than the usual burly thuggery one encounters here at this grade. There is only one obligatory knee bar at the eighth bolt which allows for vital recovery and reconnaissance before the treacherous crux--a V9 past-vertical face boulder problem on devious side pulls, a bottle-cap crimp, and sloping pinches capped by a powerful reach from a miserable undercling sloper. Another 15 feet of hero moves on steeper blocky terrain takes you to the fixed chain anchors where you can finally clip and get on with your life.

Shares the same start as Common Thug but at the fourth bolt continue straight up and right to the ledge instead of traversing left.

11-12 fixed rope draws with a few you can skip.