hardest on-sight trad lead

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Levy

Big Wall climber
So Cal
Mar 6, 2008 - 05:33pm PT
Leads:
Fish Crack ~ 12b in September 1987
Crimson Cringe ~ 12a on the same day as Fish Crack
Heart of Stone ~ 12a in 1986
Horseshoes & Handgrenades ~ 12a in ??? 1990??

On toprope, I flashed the Equinox ~ 12c in September of 1986

Levy

caughtinside

Social climber
Davis, CA
Mar 6, 2008 - 05:44pm PT
Rubicon at Josh and Tombstone Terror at the Leap, both .10c.
Hardman Knott

Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
Mar 6, 2008 - 05:46pm PT
Sidewinder at Josh and Surrealistic Pillar Direct (roof variation) at The Leap, both 10b.
KP Ariza

climber
SCC
Mar 6, 2008 - 05:47pm PT
Levy, I on sighted H&H in '87 or '88. Two or Three hard thin hand moves and you're in there. That thing felt stout for the given grade at the time 5.11d. Sorta the way Separate Reality was 5.11d.
bachar

Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Mar 6, 2008 - 05:55pm PT
On sight flash? or just on sight?

Here we go again!
Gary

climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:09pm PT
Hey Tony, I just saw a picture of you on mountainproject leading Diamond Dogs. Tough.

You guys are pretty impressive. My toughest, placing gear, would be Lickety Splits, 5.7. I was contemplating helicopter rescue up on the runout part!
martygarrison

Trad climber
atlanta
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:10pm PT
geeze there are a bunch of great climbers here. I just flashed a bunch of 11bs and 11cs, the odd 11d. Mainliner at the leap comes to mind, think I did the second fa, but frankly may have stepped on a fix pin. When I did the cringe I found no hard moves but I still had to hang. also flashed death crack in the meadows.
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2008 - 06:10pm PT
John - took me four tries with the original wording because of these subtle questions. But, it does say "no falls" so I guess we are talking old school flash.

Croft: Shadow 13a (squamish)

If we move to onsight free solo, no ambiguity here! From the mags:

JB: Moratorium (5.11b free-solo onsight and I'm waiting to hear all the other things on your list)

Michael R.: Romantic Warrior onsight solo, 12b
Matt

Trad climber
primordial soup
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:12pm PT
semi OT preguntas
-
for those of you w/ enough JT street cred, how do you define a "trad climb" in josh?

"sport climb", same Q?
Nefarius

Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:13pm PT
Fish Crack keeps popping up... I hate to bring it up again, but I just don't see that as being a .12. It's easier than most any .11d I've done in the valley. At the least, equivalent, but certainly not harder.

So... Question for you guys that did it the same day as the Cringe... Did you find it to be harder than Cringe? Cringe looks WAY more enduro and harder.
KP Ariza

climber
SCC
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:16pm PT
John, I think most people here know the difference. On sight and flash are two different things to be sure. BTW I've got some great slides of you flashing 2nd ascent of Kurt's Electric Africa in '87? That aside let's hear some of your memorable moments. I'll bet there are a ton of them.

Nef- Fish was harder to gear, less sustained than the cringe, harder moves
bachar

Gym climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Mar 6, 2008 - 06:33pm PT
Thanks Kenny - I can't remember half of 'em for sure, but anyway,

On-sight (ground up with falls)...
Phantom, 12d X
Last of the Mohicans, 12d
Thriller 12d
Chasin' the Ttrane 12d*
Bard's Pin Job 12d
Body and Soul 12a R
uh, and some other stuff....

On sight flash (ground up no falls)...
Electric Africa, 12d*
Father Figure 12c*
Moratorium 11b (fs)
uh and some others too...

Man I didn't do nothing. I better hit the gym and get out there again!

Edit: * had some or all fixed gear or bolts but was put up ground up (USA trad).

Man this is confusing stuff!
10b4me

climber
hanging by a thread
Mar 6, 2008 - 07:01pm PT
You guys are pretty impressive. My toughest, placing gear, would be Lickety Splits, 5.7. I was contemplating helicopter rescue up on the runout part!

I agree with you Gary,although I've led harder, mentally, Lickety Splits was tough
John Vawter

Social climber
San Diego
Mar 6, 2008 - 07:05pm PT
In terms of numbers it was Iron Maiden. 11c at Tahquitz, onsight with several falls at the crux. An otherwise pretty forgettable climb. But I onsight flashed Golden Bars, .11b on Pywiack in Fires, and thought it not too bad. In fact, Chingadera at Tahquitz felt a lot harder.

The one I remember most fondly is Piece of Grass, an unpopular route to the left of Needle and Spoon. It was just after Golden Bars, and one of those days when I felt like I could not fall. Only .10d, but full value. Greg replaced all four bolts a couple of years ago, so give it a go next time.
bob d'antonio

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Mar 6, 2008 - 08:11pm PT
JB...nice list...I remember when Chasin' the Ttrane was reported in Mountain and the first talk of something called redpointing.

Pretty historical route (among others) you did there!
Shack

Big Wall climber
Reno NV
Mar 6, 2008 - 08:31pm PT
I can't remember that far back...
Something in the easy 11's.
Levy

Big Wall climber
So Cal
Mar 6, 2008 - 08:35pm PT
I keep seeing people listing routes that feature bolted cruxes or are all bolted. Wasn't this thread about TRAD leads, which IMHO are gear routes, NOT bolted routes?

Many impressive efforts listed but I believe many folks out there have not posted up.

Kid~ I was there doing Blues Riff when you sent Goldfinger, you were moaning & cursing but hung in there for a most impressive flash. A great effort!

I thought Fish Crack was harder to get pro in & was harder technically than the Cringe but the Cringe was far more pumpy. I didn't have too much trick gear like we have now. I went back to Fish Crack a few years ago with modern trickery & it felt easier to get pro but the moves were still tough for my size fingers. The Cringe has no move harder than 5.11 b or c but is sustained and burly.

Bill
aldude

climber
Monument Manor
Mar 6, 2008 - 09:17pm PT
Levy -

I seem to recall bolts (or bolt) on Crimson Cringe,Heart of Stone and Goldfinger. Belay bolts count and a multipitch climb such as HOS has a bunch - are you saying these are not trad climbs? I like Micks' definition of American Trad and a rap placed bolt would relegate that route to the Sport category.

John - I always thought onsight meant first try - no falls or weighting of gear or rope and no previous knowledge of the route as opposed to flash - where you had seen someone do the route or recieved beta ??
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Mar 6, 2008 - 09:20pm PT
11c/d for me, though at my local area (at the time) so I had some serious home turf advantage. 11a/b in the valley. I'd be hard pressed to come anywhere near that these days, though I can now compentently change diapers and discipline toddlers. I can also type a lot faster than I could in the good old days...
ring tailed cat

Trad climber
seattle
Mar 7, 2008 - 01:08am PT
dead baby, 11b, bolted but not sport. followed chris cantwell on the 1st acsent of the 3rd pitch of king snake, super hard face protected entirely by micro stoppers in a flush crack. cheers rtc
Messages 41 - 60 of total 105 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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