Best Routes In The Owens River Gorge

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Mick Ryan

Trad climber
Bishop, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 7, 2003 - 09:41pm PT
What are your favorite climbs there?

I'm compiling a list for an Eastern Sierra Climbing guidebook.

The list so far is below.

Is there any more routes that people think I should add to this list?

all the best.......Mick

5.6
Clip Jr

5.7
Crotalulsley Challanged

5.8
Crowd Pleaser, Babushka

5.9
Welcome To The Gorge, Child Of Light, Heart Of The Sun, Don’t Look Down, Gangsta Lean

5.10a
Abitarot, Fear Of A Black Planet, Tsing Tao, Extreme Caffeine

5.10b
Show Us Your Tits, Sendero Luminosa, Don’t Look Up, Machine Gun Jumblies, Post Partum, Gorgeous

5.10c
Members Only, Cajun Barbeque, Melts In Your Mouth

5.10d
Love Stinks, Hardly Wallbanger, Peking Duck, Blood Sugar Sex Magik

5.11a
Crash Landing, O.R.G.asm, Walk The Yellow Line, Pick Pocket, Escapade

5.11b
Hungover, Expressway, Mandarin Orange, The Towering Inferno, Grindrite, Knucko's Pride Of The North, C'mon Knucko, Pop Goes The Weasel

5.11c
Menance To Sobriety, Lalaland, Venom, Ya Should'a Killed Me Last Year, Flex Your Head, Caldera, Thumbs Up, DWP

5.11d
From Chocolate To Morhine, Dr.Claw, Probation Violation, Sex, Pumping Groundwater

5.12a
Darshan, Hard Copy, Black Hole, Thieves In The Temple, Klingon, Sex Packets, Bazooka Country, Tower Line

5.12b
Enterprise, Pirahna, Flashflood

5.12c
Cry Baby, Gape Index, Loony Binge, Phasers On Stun, Faith No More, Baby Please

5.12d
Excelsior

5.13a
Hocus Pocus

5.13b
Shocker, Looney Tunes, Fight Club

5.13c
Sneak
Salami

Trad climber
Dublin, CA
Aug 7, 2003 - 11:54pm PT
Upper Gorge (Gorgeous Towers)
Giveaway 5.9
Gorgeous 5.10a (not sure it's a 10b like you say)
Gorge and Purge 5.12.a (seemed very R possible X)

Central Gourge (Negress Wall)
James Brown 5.11b
(Pub Area)
Light Within 5.10c
(Social Platform)
Bone Up 5.10d
(China Wall)
Heart of the sun 5.9
Yellow Peril 5.10b
Kung Pow 5.11.b
Gesha Girl 5.11c
(Solarium)
Morning Wood 5.10d
BCD

Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Aug 8, 2003 - 04:36am PT
I think Marty Lewis has done an exceptional job rating the quality of the ORG routes. From my experience, all of the 4-5 star routes are worthy of mention. Particularly those bolted cracks like Dr Evil, Superfly, and ORGasm. Gotta love bolted cracks!

Wait a minute. Wasn't that Eastern Sierra guidebook supposed to come out last spring?
Ksolem

Trad climber
LA, Ca
Aug 8, 2003 - 05:41pm PT
IMHO:

The Light Within is the best .10c

Crash Landing is so NOT .11a (.10c/d)

Excelcior is very reach dependent, wild climb but hard to recommend

Gorge and Purge is no R or X. Take a couple 3/4 - 1 inch cams.

Superfly. Fantastic 10.c
Mike

climber
Orange County CA
Aug 8, 2003 - 07:02pm PT
What about Snapping Pussy Doll? Shouldn't it be included just because of the name?
dave

climber
Oceanside
Aug 11, 2003 - 02:37pm PT
What is a "snapping pussy doll" anyways? Sounds like only a name I want to encounter!
Mick, do you always have to re-invent the wheel? Marty has done a fine job with quality ratings!
oohrahbishop

Sport climber
Bishop, CA
Aug 11, 2003 - 04:05pm PT
-Bazooka Country (12a) is not that great since the top crux broke. It's probably still cool if you have like a 6' 4" reach but for most of us it's not so fun.

-Shocker (13b) is not that great. It's contrived, glued and artificially run-out after the really short crux section. Bloodsport (13b) is a much better route for the same grade.

- Peking Peril (11a) (Peking Duck (10d) linked into the top half of Yellow Peril (10b)) is my favorite line on the China Wall.

- Pumping Groundwater (11d) is not that great. It just doesn't measure up in any way to DWP Direct (11d), DWP (11c) or Flashflood (12a/b) on the same formation.

- Fear of a Black Planet (10a) has many shite loose blocks. It's just a way to get to the good second pitch.

- Towering Inferno is only truly great for the first two pitches. The quality of the rock and the climbing degrade quickly after the second pitch.

P.S. Hardly Wallbanger is 10c.
Mike Martyr

climber
Sunny Slopes, California
Aug 22, 2003 - 01:25pm PT
Bazooka Country is still a great route and 12a if you step right at the 6th bolt clip hold, where you used to go up. Tom is of course correct, going up is much harder and sharp. I think it still belongs with the 5* routes.

Thumbs up is easier than 11c and not sustained enough to get top rating
-replace with Santana/Abraxas, one of the best long pitches around, despite the mid-sation.
Nice call on You Should've killed me Last year, a tough, high quality route. Highball is better than Menace..

Pumping Groudwater isn't among the best routes in the Gorge and
Probation Violation isn't 11d or 5*, maybe 11b 3*
-replace those two with Romulan Roof and Maybe the "Redone" Ned Guys or the still "cleaning up" Power.

Towerline is very reach dependent and has a big sit down ledge before the crux section.

Flashflood is a Great route but easier than Enterprise and Piranah,
-add Badthing and Penguin to this group for sure

Help on the way, Steelmonkey, maybe Bushfire are better than Faith No More

Excelsior's moves are more "Long" than "reachy" and its in a class by its self at this grade. Good Thing may rank here too but I haven't sent it so I don't know.

Aurora seemes like a 5* route, but I've only been on it a couple times and haven't sent it
dodangler

Trad climber
truckee
Aug 22, 2003 - 09:13pm PT
Black Chicks in heat 10a
Yellow Peril 10b
Valley 5.8 10b
Hardly Wallbanger 10c
Focus 11a
Towering inferno 11a
photon torpedo 11b
You have been nothing but trouble since the first day I laid eyes on you;your like a thorn in my side;.......11b. Because of the name.

Great idea for a new guide? Milk the sh#t out of the East-Side there Mick!
Mick Ryan

Trad climber
Bishop, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 26, 2003 - 05:26pm PT
"Mick, do you always have to re-invent the wheel? Marty has done a fine job with quality ratings! "

He has indeed Dave. And not only that he deserves a long service medal for his devoted duty to documenting activity in the Gorge.

But competition and choice is good. But surely there's no harm in re-assessing the ratings...both difficulty and quality.

The wheel needs modernizing.

Mick
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Nov 7, 2008 - 02:13pm PT
retro bump
k-man

Gym climber
SCruz
Nov 7, 2008 - 03:13pm PT
Warning Signs, .10d

Amazingly fun letter boxes/
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Nov 7, 2008 - 03:22pm PT
Pretty good list Mick, but when did Looney Binge jump to .13? not that I ever got through it without taking a biscuit.
Greg Barnes

climber
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:12pm PT
Jaybro, take a closer look at Looney Binge versus Looney Tunes

Mick, that new long 5.9 left of "3B.A." that Jeff Neer put up is easily one of the best 5.9's in the Gorge in my opinion - technical stemming, overhung arete, crack. Don't know the name, it went up just after the last guide came out.

Pumping the Slots is a good one for best 5.8 (never seemed like 5.9), but requires trad gear...

Hardly should be 10c, I can lead that when I can't touch most 10c's. Perched can take its place in the 10d list.
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:25pm PT
Thanks Greg. Checked Mtn Project, I Was thinking of Looney Binge, on the eldorado roofs, ORG. So that's .13 now?

It's a gimmee for the grade, line up now.

It Is a quality route, though.
crusher

climber
Santa Monica, CA
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:34pm PT
Greg where is this new .9? Sounds cool...
Greg Barnes

climber
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:36pm PT
Jay, look at Mick's list, Looney Binge is 12c, Looney Tunes is Croft's horizontal roof crack which goes directly to the anchor of Binge.
Greg Barnes

climber
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:41pm PT
crusher, it's just left of "3B.A." in the Pop Tart area (go to Social Platform and hike left). Jeff told me the name one time at Whiskey Creek, but I forgot to note it down. It's 12 bolts I think, and you need a 70m to lower off unless you scramble up to the top of the 3rd class. Watch out for cacti to the left when you pull the rope.
aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Nov 7, 2008 - 04:55pm PT
Wow - the slabs are woefully absent here!

10d - Berlin Wall
11d - Nectar
12a - Me So Horny,Return to Forever,Go Back Where You Came From
12b - Malcolm X
12c - Electric Vex
13a - Desire

Prettiest Route - Excelsior *
Jaybro

Social climber
wuz real!
Nov 7, 2008 - 05:12pm PT
Yikes, now i get it, Greg, I looked at the wrong tunes, Carry on.
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