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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 16, 2014 - 04:36pm PT
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Two days ago my partner Thom Englebach and I were hiking up a trail trying to find "The Thief" at the base of the Leaning Tower. We encountered a young climber on his way down from "such and such" cliff who informed us that we were going the wrong way and should start traversing left. What are the climbs like at "such and such" cliff like, I asked. He paused noting my lined face and grey hair then replied that it was "modern" climbing. Oh....and what is "modern" climbing I responded. You know, steep 5.12's. We continued traversing left, found "The Thief" and had a great time plugging cams into a not too steep Indian Creek style crack....not too modern it seems.
Yesterday we went up to do "The Book of Job," a climb I did the first free ascent of 42 years ago with Rik Rieder. My only memory of the climb was that the left wall was very wavy, Rik and I rated it 10b, not at all modern. After a pleasant first pitch we got into the bowels of the beast, the next four pitches were steep, almost modernly steep, and the climbing was gloriously thuggish. Caloric expenditure was extreme and molar muscle action a must. Techniques rarely used in "modern" climbing were called into action.....arm bars, heel toes and every stem position possible. 10b eh....I sandbagged myself, felt like an "old school" climber again and not just old. What a workout and only for 5.10 credit.
Okay ST'ers, you all know climbs that require the full bag of tricks, climbs that no number chasing climber would go near. The Book of Job is my candidate, let's hear about some more gnarly, thuggish nightmares that offer more bang for the buck than the rating would indicate.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 04:45pm PT
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I'll descend a bit, Jim. Peter Pan is rated 5.9 (and Kamps originally rated it 5.8) and has an undercling, a tiny bit of face climbing, a tricky mantle move (for me, anyway) and just about every combination of offwidth and squeeze chimney. It's admittedly not as steep as the "modern" stuff, but plenty of bang for a 5.9 buck. Maybe not as varied as The Book of Job, and maybe not that much of a sandbag, but full value plus.
John
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Apr 16, 2014 - 04:53pm PT
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Its all good if you're having fun
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Evel
Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
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Apr 16, 2014 - 04:56pm PT
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I'll bite. Howse about the Double Dihedrals on Wildcat cliff in NC.
*5.9* har har har!!
Spectcular position, pretty awesome undercling crux, then runout to the top which is right under a mcmansions deck!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 04:58pm PT
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gnarly, thuggish nightmares that offer more bang for the buck than the rating would indicate. Pretty much any 5.10 ow or chimney.
Lost Arrow Chimney would be an example.
The usual ratings don't capture endurance climbs that well.
When I did Book of Job a few years back, I wasn't surprised to see lots of bail gear up on the route. We cleaned it as we climbed past.... :-)
Some people have apparently mistaken it for Braille Book. It doesn't look like a 5.8 to me, though. (Doubly overhanging, etc.)
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 05:09pm PT
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I got it! Lemb... no wait, wrong question. Right in Yosemite I'm sure Steck Salathe and Ahab would be consensus medal winners in this category. If "not modern" allows for a step up to 5.11, one imagines that Karma, still unrepeated after 28 years at "only" 5.11d, qualifies as nightmarish and full value albeit maybe not the climbing style you had in mind.
Further afield, just about anything at Seneca Rocks gives more challenge than the numbers and climb lengths would indicate, more mental but also sometimes physical as well - especially if you pass by little hidden protection opportunities and wander off into the desert of fear and steepness for long distances.
Then, for "walk up" mountains, one might suggest Mt Robson, specifically the Emperor Ridge, as a tougher tick than its altitude, road proximity, and technical grade suggest.
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Ropeboy
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 10:50pm PT
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The "modern climbs" phrase give me the same feeling I had a few years ago when I first learned that I was considered a "trad" climber. Wait? What? Who made that up? Wait? What? My gift to the young sport climbers would be the "stiff for the grade" (sandbagged)three part 5.8 climb Gollem at the base of El Cap. It has a long approach, an awkward width part at the bottom, a skin chewing crack under a corner, and a not so obvious layback part at the top.
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philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
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Apr 16, 2014 - 10:53pm PT
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It's all good till somebody puts an guide out.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 10:59pm PT
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I figgered what made it modern was the obligatory selfie.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Apr 16, 2014 - 11:02pm PT
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I just love the "modern" climbs comment! Very funny!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Apr 16, 2014 - 11:28pm PT
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You seem to have eschewed the "modern approach", which would be just a park and stroll, by choosing Book of Job.
It's funny how I thought of Peter Pan, like Fresno John did, with its f-with'em rating. And an extended approach.
Seriously, then, the TR about Chockstone Chimney was plainly about the Lark Ages...
Not to mention Gollem...
You sound like you're having a ball, Jimbo.
How could 5.10 hurt so much?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwmx8oNyus0
"And will you still follow the ancient trail trodden by the wicked?" Job 22:15
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Apr 16, 2014 - 11:31pm PT
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Weissner at Devils Tower. 5.7 done in '37. I've backed off it twice now, but I will do it this year. Fritz did it with one pin and hiking boots and apparently I can't do it with two 5's and a 6. Ok so the last time I got the haul bag stuck and was with a thirteen year old that was having a hard time on the lower pitches but.........
Oh I guess this should go on the whining thread.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Apr 16, 2014 - 11:35pm PT
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Great writing Jim.....nice story.
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Robb
Social climber
It's Ault or Nunn south of Shy Annie
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Apr 16, 2014 - 11:37pm PT
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Playing in front of 20,000 people for the first time.
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Mark Force
Trad climber
Cave Creek, AZ
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Apr 17, 2014 - 12:52am PT
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Jim, thanks for the flashback. Did Book of Job in '76. Good stuff! Full servings of everything.
Here are some candidates from Arizona - Candyland (10; just keep going it has to get ease off sooner or later; yeah, right), Green Savior with Crisco Way and Direct Start (8; careful, you might puke), and Coke Bottle Chimney (7; way out, totally thuggish, you gotta be kiddin' this can't be 5.7). All at Granite Mountain.That'll work ya.
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Evel
Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
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Apr 17, 2014 - 01:54am PT
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Loves me some Seneca Rocks!
Mongrel-Who the heck are you? I be Rick Mix. Grew up at Seneca. 70's, very early 80's.
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WyoRockMan
climber
Flank of the Big Horns
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Apr 17, 2014 - 02:19am PT
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Every early '70s Jim Kanzler route seems to be pretty modern. I mean timeless. What a strange way to describe an area.
Mike-Save Weissner for when I get over.
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Apr 17, 2014 - 02:34am PT
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A Steve Roper 4th class can easily turn into a 5.9 or 5.10 outing....
Move left 30 feet, about then, head up an unlikely head wall to some business....Yeah right.
Thank god he only wrote about fifty classics..
If he had written about 100 more there would have been a lot more causalities in the hills....
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philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
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Apr 17, 2014 - 02:41am PT
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Super Squeeze
Crack of Fear
Perilous Journey
Death and Transfiguration
Southern Arête of the Painted Wall
That's my list and I'm stickin' to it.
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