What is the hardest route rated 5.10a you haveever done?

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Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 28, 2010 - 01:43pm PT

I was discussing the vagueness of ratings with some friends recently & we were noting the wide degree of variation of routes rated 5.10a.

Some are relatively easy & some are really hard for the grade.

I'll start out with some examples of routes rated 5.10a that I would consider stout for the grade.

Moby Dick Center ~ tough, finger wrenching moves off the ground

Lost Arrow chimney ~ full value slithering & grunting I hear but I have not done it yet.
Crack of Doom ~ I also have not done this but I think it is also rugged

The Spell ~ Needles - a beautiful crack that has lots of wide moves.

Hoodwink ~ The roof seems much harder than 5.10a & the slab moves on the final pitch are quite thin for a 5.10a rating.

Chin Strap Crack ~ Tahquitz another wide flare that is hard to protect.

Post up your selections, I know there are many more than what I have mentioned here.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 28, 2010 - 01:45pm PT

Doggie Do!

Gary Carpenter

climber

SF Bay Area

Aug 28, 2010 - 01:58pm PT

Reed's Left

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Aug 28, 2010 - 02:01pm PT

N Buttress of Middle

I'll second the crux of doggie do.

I can think of several 9's harder than both of those.

Matt

Trad climber

primordial soup

Aug 28, 2010 - 03:20pm PT

i think possibly the last (slab) pitch of hoodwink, at least that sounds plausible enough, that bit seemed really inobvious to me, while i thought the roof was fine, and moby dick center/ sacherer cracker always seemed fine to me (onsighted sacherer cracker as i think my 3rd crack climb).

i can remember many more routes that seemed light for 10a than hard for 10a, even in Yosemite.

copper penny (at five and dime) is not easy, i think that's 10a...

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 28, 2010 - 03:26pm PT

Tell me that you haven't done Aunt Fanny's Panties skeezer P-dude!?!

bjj

climber

beyond the sun

Aug 28, 2010 - 03:34pm PT

There's a couple of slabs at J-Tree, none of which I can remember (as they were fairly obscure) that really gave me a hard time. One of them was over by (I think) super roof. I was with a group of friends and volunteered to take the lead. The route was ok at first, a bit grainy but not too bad.

Then it got more grainy, more runout and on top of that was baking in the sun. I went a good 15 feet past bolt #3 and meandered left, totally off route. Friends lounging on the big flat rock below were shooting the sh#t, eating lunch and probably smoking a joint - totally unaware that I was completely gripped and unable to move in any direction.

Finally I had to yell down and sheepishly request someone run up to the top and lower me a rescue rope. I just wasn't in the mood to take a 25 foot sideways slab scraping ride.

I took a lot of sh#t for that, even after the top rope was up and everyone got to see what I was faced with.

TrundleBum

Trad climber

Las Vegas

Aug 28, 2010 - 03:53pm PT

Any 5.9+ in New Hampshire ;)

franky

Trad climber

Ford Pickup Truck, North America

Aug 28, 2010 - 03:59pm PT

i agree on doggie do, that thing is hard, I didn't think the start of moby dick center was that bad, maybe just because it was short though.

martygarrison

Trad climber

The Great North these days......

Aug 28, 2010 - 05:01pm PT

maybe crack of doom. also the dnb was rated 10a when I did it and it sure felt a little sketchy for the grade.

August West

Trad climber

Where the wind blows strange

Aug 28, 2010 - 05:03pm PT

The start of Moby is really dependent on finger size. It is not 10a for thicker fingers.

It probably gets downgraded being right off the deck, but I never understood that line of thinking. Oh, the move is so close the ground that you have to immediately fiddle with gear and/or taking a chance of decking, so we are going to call what otherwise would be a 10c a 10a...

allapah

climber

Aug 28, 2010 - 05:10pm PT

Crack of Doom for sure

nutjob

Trad climber

Berkeley, CA

Aug 28, 2010 - 05:15pm PT

August, I'm with you on that opening jam of Moby Center being ridiculously thin and painful, but many folks probably side-step it to the left and the rest of the route is much easier.

My vote (from a relatively small sample size):
Left side of the Cookie

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

Aug 28, 2010 - 06:28pm PT

Although I haven't done it yet, I'm going to go with
Jump Back Jack Crack (5.10a), Granite Mountain, AZ

k-man

Gym climber

SCruz

Aug 28, 2010 - 06:39pm PT

Beer Pressure next to Jump for Joy on Ranger Rock.

A .10a I backed off of...don't usually do that.

Static Cling next to Kaukulator was also stout for the grade.

Friend

climber

Aug 28, 2010 - 07:23pm PT

The Spell is 5.10 per the guide, which seems about right. I remember thinking, no way I could fall out of here, so why do feel like I"m going to puke? Same with Midterm. I guess chimneys are not my strength.

The first two pitches of New Dimensions are 10a.... both felt desperate to me.

Also, New Diversions. Pretty rad.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Aug 28, 2010 - 07:34pm PT

The first pitch of New D has always been 5.10b or harder.

survival

Big Wall climber

A Token of My Extreme

Aug 28, 2010 - 07:50pm PT

Second pitch of Aviary Ort. At least it's right up there.....

5.9+

Harder than A LOT of 10a's I've done!

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

Aug 28, 2010 - 07:50pm PT

Horn's mother at it's original 10+ rating. Now it's a sand baggy .11a

slabbo

Trad climber

fort garland, colo

Aug 28, 2010 - 07:58pm PT

I'll second the vote for You Asked For It- at least you don't need to carry much gear.
Trundle is right though- any NH 9+

Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Topic Author's Reply - Aug 28, 2010 - 08:23pm PT

I had forgot about the first two pitches of New Dimensions. The awkward fist, polished flare is tough for the grade.

I heard a well known Joshua Tree local say the first 15 feet don't count towards the grade. I guess this philosophy is based upon the idea that it is a bouldering grade off the ground. Peter Eater Pumkin Eater in JT is rated 5.10b but sure feels like 5.11 to me. That would be a good example if it were rated 5.10a.

bjj

climber

beyond the sun

Aug 28, 2010 - 08:31pm PT

What's the 1st pitch of gripper rated? It might be 10b, but even if it is,it was still really hard for me. Awkward as f**k.

Byran

climber

Aug 28, 2010 - 09:05pm PT

There's two that come to mind.

The Drainpipe was the first route I ever attempted at Indian Creek. Got shut down hard on that one. Thin hands and ringlocks are still not my thing and I was even less experienced with those sizes back then. Having to french free to the anchor on a 10a (or it might have been rated 10- ?) was sort of humiliating and I was pumped for the rest of the day.

The Comic Book in Joshua Tree has a bizarre and awkward start to the second pitch which the old guide calls 10a. I couldn't even figure it out so we just rapped after the first. Consensus seems to be that it's 10c.

Ihateplastic

Trad climber

It ain't El Cap, Oregon

Aug 28, 2010 - 09:11pm PT

No way is the first pitch of New Dimensions .10a! There are times I would have given it 10c for sure. I never felt totally secure on that pitch... weird, cuz it's all there...

Although only 5.9, the RIGHT side of the Grack was super scary way back in the day since it seemed like a total runout for 70+ feet on slick polish. No easy move since every move is the same. No way is that the same rating as Marginal.

Sorry, back to the 10a conversation.

pyro

Big Wall climber

Calabasas

Aug 28, 2010 - 10:14pm PT

i'm working toward the Jtree route named Sweatband and genuine cowhide!
i watched my buddy the rock climb those free routes and became inspired!

Norwegian

Trad climber

Placerville, California

Aug 28, 2010 - 10:24pm PT

to crack of dung
i just barely clung...

then, mantleing guano with
a mother and her chicks beaking at your cheek!

...
werksup at eldo is pretty good for the grade, 5.9+

eliot carlsen

Social climber

San Diego

Aug 28, 2010 - 11:26pm PT

Sheila is a hard 10a

And 10a on the Outside at Woodson

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Aug 28, 2010 - 11:29pm PT

Another vote for getting out of the bathtub on Comic Book.

Never have figured out how to do that one without yarding on a piece.

Anyone know the secret?

Zander

Trad climber

Berkeley

Aug 29, 2010 - 12:10am PT

The crux of LAC is hard but it has a bolt now, which I stepped over onto do the move so I haven't done it! Ha ha. Still of the 10as I haven't been able to to do I'd rate LAC as easier than Cookie Left, Doggie Do and Secret Storm. They all kicked my butt, though. So I guess I'm saying that if you can do Cookie Left, Doggie Do and Secret Storm you got a pretty good chance of doing the crux, and all the other 10a sections, of LAC. Give it a go, Bwaahahah! (evil laugh)

Zander

Largo

Sport climber

The Big Wide Open Face

Aug 29, 2010 - 01:52am PT

Doggie Do and Henley Quits are both awkward as hell.

Left Reeds and Despair are also stout for the grade, as is R. Side of Hourglass.

Not so - at least for me - Center of Moby Dick. I used to free solo this whenever there was a rope there to rap on; fat fingers must make it easier. I honestly can't recall much but some locker fingers at the bottom despite doing it 50 times.

JL

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Aug 29, 2010 - 01:56am PT

Any 10a at Index

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Aug 30, 2010 - 07:56pm PT

Many holds have broken off piched rib since it was 5.8.

Excorcist and Bird on a Wire cannot possibly be graded higher than 5.10a. Actually Excorcist is the classic 5.9+.

If you want to get sandbagged on ".10a," go to Courtright and try Orgasm Addict. You'll cruise up all this nice athletic steep juggy stuff to a ledge. Then there is this thin slabby top out...

Lambone

Ice climber

Ashland, Or

Aug 30, 2010 - 07:57pm PT

Moby Dick Center

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Aug 30, 2010 - 09:14pm PT

Bird on a Wire I think they had at 10.b or 10.c in the books
back then.

I mean no offense, but I have to see that to believe it.

I have every old Josh guide at home, but I'm posting from the Ponderosa at The Needles (rest day) so I can't access them.

On Mtn Pjct there are 13 grade votes average 5.10a with one 5.10b and five 5.9 or 9+.

EBGB's is 5.10c for reference.

I apologize for getting into nitpicking over grades, but I get a bit nuts about inflation.

Go climb in the Needles. At the time of their FAs Igor Unchained was an honest 5.8 and Howling 5.9.... Today I get folks arguing that Igor is sustained .10a!

Greg Barnes

climber

Aug 30, 2010 - 09:22pm PT

I always thought Bird on a Wire and Exorcist were standard 10a's.

I'm sure it's nowhere near as hard as some of the Valley wide named upthread, but I thought the 10a ow pitch on the Rostrum was about the hardest 10a I've thrashed around on toprope on...

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Aug 30, 2010 - 09:24pm PT

Igor Unchained was an honest 5.8

crap, guess I'm out for that one.

heheh

no vote for me, though my thought is that 5.9 fluctuates more than 5.10a since 5.9 doesn't have a subdivision of letters. I.e. it is in it's definition as "10a" that it shouldn't vary much by comparing it to the range covered by 5.9- thru 5.9+.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:00pm PT

The hardest 5.10a that you do is not 5.10a, it's harder. Climbs are immutable and unchangeable works of nature. Ratings are climbers attempts (often ego driven and misguided) to quantify. Climbs never change, ratings often do.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:15pm PT

It would appear that a lot of climbers get a charge out of there home area being really badass and having really HARD ratings. Oh well, you have to get your feelings of self worth somewhere.

bjj

climber

beyond the sun

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:16pm PT

"What's Solid Gold up towards the top on the 2'nd? I think it was a mantle
move?"

I've climbed solid gold at least 5 times. It always seemed 10a to me, but I learned to climb on routes exactly like it, and always loved technical granite edging. Mmmmmm tasty.

I've seen several strong sport climbers destroy their tips and have a hell of a hard time on it. One (a visiting Red Rocks sporto) even proclaiming it as "the worst route in the world".

mike m

Trad climber

black hills

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:41pm PT

Tulgey Wood at Devil's Tower is 10a. Although the first two pitches are rated 10a and seem about right the third pitch 5.9, 160ft of fists would certainly be the hardest 5.10 I have ever done if it were rated 5.10. I don't ever usually try old school 10a's in the Needles they're all hard and scary too.

Griff

Social climber

Felton, PA

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:46pm PT

I think Stone Groove was rated 10a when I did it. As a 5.9 climber at the time it was my first 5.10 and I got spanked. I remember thinking "Wow- these 5.10's are WAY harder!" I didn't "fall" I just "rested" on my gear a couple of times:)

kent

Trad climber

SLC, Ut

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:46pm PT

That's easy, the hardest route is the one that I'm climbing.

noshoesnoshirt

climber

Arkansas, I suppose

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:48pm PT

Every 5.9 in Arkansas put up before 1995 or so

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Aug 30, 2010 - 10:54pm PT

The 1st move on Moby Center is tough.

But Moby Left is harder. :-p

okie

Trad climber

San Leandro, Ca

Aug 30, 2010 - 11:58pm PT

Lots of wides are getting mentioned. Those are in a different category, I think, from what most people who are leading happy, well-adjusted lives would consider rock climbs. Wide ratings seem to make sense only in relation to other wides. They have their own ratings scale, although given in the familiar YDS terms. I think this is a wonderful thing, befitting these proud lines.
10a seems to have been a popular consensus rating for many of the moderate wides in Yosemite. There's quite a ticklist of wide at that rating.
I'd third the suggestion that Reeds Left is pretty stout.
I guess the hardest route rated 10a that I've NEVER done would have to be the short, somewhat ugly Orange Juice Avenue. I couldn't work the outside foot in that flaring OW.
Did Chingando again this last weekend- really off the couch and in horrible shape. I really milked those rest knobs obscenely...I was glad I had bigbros for the top, that was the first time I didn't have to run that part out. Imagine that route without the rests...With the rests it is fair 10a, I think.

Seamstress

Trad climber

Yacolt, WA

Aug 31, 2010 - 12:05am PT

I'm no sandbagger - Bird on a Wire felt easy to me, the queen of whining. Nutcracker in NH at 5.9+ just rips you up, but thankfully you can sew it up. Irreverance at Smith has my number. I bailed at bolt 3 I think. Two lads offered to finish it for me, and both of them bailed. Eventually - hours later - I finished it. No desire to lead that again. Aja at Spider Wall in CT, I will never lead that. Every time I get on that it seems to be harder than the last time.

G_Gnome

Trad climber

In the mountains... somewhere...

Aug 31, 2010 - 12:06am PT

Levy, Peter Eater, Pumpkin Eater was always rated 10d. But then I have seen lots of hard climbers get spanked on it.

Brian

climber

California

Aug 31, 2010 - 12:27am PT

I agree with a number of the candidates above, but here is one nobody has mentioned yet...

O'Kelly's Crack at Josh. It's a 10, even in the guidebook; but everyone, even in the guidebook, acknowledges that it's 5.11 to get into the 5.10 crack...

Brian

cmclean

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Aug 31, 2010 - 12:36am PT

I've always thought Beverly's Tower is pretty tough for 10a...

nutjob

Trad climber

Berkeley, CA

Aug 31, 2010 - 01:23am PT

Sorta in the ballpark of 5.10a....

What about the first couple pitches of Piece de Resistance on Moro Rock? All rated 5.9, but scared the living bujeezus out of me before bailing after pitch 3 or 4. Didn't get to the part they called "5.9 scary" or the 5.10b part.

Petch

Gym climber

knapsack crack

Aug 31, 2010 - 01:37am PT

Blue Wind!

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Aug 31, 2010 - 01:47am PT

to refresh your collective memories, 169 5.10a climbs documented through the most recent guides:

A-5 Pinnacle
Absolutely Free, Right Side
Alley Cat
Apple Seeds
Arete Butler
Armed & Dangerous
B&B
B.T. Connection
Babble On
Bad News Bombers
Banana Dreams
Bare Necessities
Beer Pressure
Betty Comes Alive
Bikini Beach Party
Black Sunday
Bongs Away, Center
Bottom Feeder
Breezin'
Brown Sugar
Bunghole of the Universe
Cartwheel
Cat Dancing
Cereal Killer
Chairman Ted Scraps the Time Machine
Chingando
Conquest of the Stud Monkey
The Cookie, Left Side
Copper Penny
Crack of Doom
Crest Jewel
Crotch Cricket
Crying for Mama
Dark Shadows
Deaf, Dumb and Blind
Deep Throat
Deja Thorus
Desperate Straights
Diversions
Doggie Do
Drop-out
Dust in the Wind
Eagle
Edge of Feckness
Euellogy
Exciter
Fifty Crowded Variation
Fine Line
Flary Tales
Foaming at the Crotch
Fool's Gold
Forbidden Pinnacle
Free Press
Free Ride
Fresh Squeezed
Fuddy Duddy
Gang Bang
Geek Towers, Center Route
Girl Next Door, The, Right Side
Goat for It
Golden Bough
Gollum, Left Side
Guiding Light
Guru Crack, Right
Hand Job
The Hand Me Down
Hara-kiri
The Hawaiian
Hayley's Comet
Health Insurance
Hell's Hollow
Henley Quits
Higher Cathedral Spire, Southeast Side, East Corner
Highway Star
Hoppy's Favorite Direct
I Don't Know
Jaw Bone
Just Do-Do-It
Just for Starters
Katchup
Ken's Dream
King Cobra
Koko Ledge, Far Right
Koko Ledge, Right
The Last Resort Pinnacle, Center
LeNocturne
Lichen Madness
Lichen Nightmare
Light Weight Guides
Loose Tooth City
Lost Error
Lynnea's Birthday Surprise
Magical Mystery Tour
Maple Jam
Milk Dud
Monday Morning to Patio
Mongolian Clusterf*#k
Mr. Happy
Mr. Rabbit
My Rhombus
Neutron Escape
New Diversions
No Teats
Nothing Special
Nottingham
Now
On the Wedge
Open Trench
Orange Juice Avenue
Pandora's Box
Paradise Lost
Patio to Coonyard
Pee Pee Pillar
Peeping Tom
Peruvian Flake
Picnic
Pink Dream
Plumkin
Pohono the Barbarian
Pole Position
Porter's Pout
Priceless Friends
Prune
Pterodactyl Terrace, Left
The Punch Bowl
R and R
Rat's Tooth
The Reception
Red House
Reed's Pinnacle Direct
Rehab Doll
Renus Wrinkle
Resurrection
Revival
The Riddler
Roto Killer
Royal Cornpad
Run With Me
Sacherer Cracker
Safe to Surf
Say Mama, Say Daddy
Scott-Child
Second Thoughts
Secret Storm
Sex, Drugs and Violence
Shake and Bake
Siberian Swarm Screw
Skateaway
Sober Up
Sons of Yesterday
Sow Sow Sow
Spooky Tooth
Static Cling
Stay Lady Stay Back
The Steal
Straight In
Swillar Pillar
Tears of Joy
This and That
The Tooth
Trial by Jury
Twist of Fate
An Udder Way
Walk on By
Warm Up Crack
Weird Scenes in the Gold Mine
Wise Crack
Worst Error, Right Side
Y Crack

Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member

Aug 31, 2010 - 02:19am PT

First thing to come to mind is Chingando... but I haven't done it yet. and probably wont

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Aug 31, 2010 - 11:29am PT

Yeah. The Moby route mentioned a dozen times on this thread.

Phone typing = brevity.

WallMan

Trad climber

Denver, CO

Aug 31, 2010 - 03:11pm PT

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware - Tetons.

Rosy Crucifixion - Eldo.

Wally

k-man

Gym climber

SCruz

Aug 31, 2010 - 03:18pm PT

Thanks for the list Ed. Reminds me: Absolutely Free Right, Yikes!!

How about the first pitch of the DNB, hard for .10a.

And a 2nd vote for Bev's.

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Joshua Tree

Aug 31, 2010 - 03:27pm PT

The Comic Book in Joshua Tree has a bizarre and awkward start to the second pitch which the old guide calls 10a.

This one is just a matter of having to run it out through the crux, or else you'll fill up the foothold you need with gear. You either get gear and make it mid 5.10, or you don't pro the crux and it's 9+/10-

Hardest 10a? Doggie Do justifiably mentioned several times. Hmmm. Maybe Breakfast of Champions @ Index? Been a long time, but I remember that being steep and continuous especially if you link the Rogers corner pitch.

HighTraverse

Trad climber

Bay Area

Aug 31, 2010 - 03:41pm PT

Cragman says:

Crescent Arch in the Meadows is called 9+. I'm good with calling it "feels like hard 10a".

USED to be called 9+ (Reid and Falkenstein). Tuolumne Free 2nd edition (SuperTopo) has it at 10.b
Which is it?

I haven't been up there (yet) so don't ask me.

thedogfather

climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Aug 31, 2010 - 04:24pm PT

k-man

Gym climber

SCruz

Aug 31, 2010 - 04:27pm PT

Camera tilt ...

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Aug 31, 2010 - 04:59pm PT

Ah, this inherent need for climbers to identify climbs by the subjective numbers attached to them is on fine display.

F10

Trad climber

e350 / Bishop

Aug 31, 2010 - 06:59pm PT

"The Comic Book in Joshua Tree has a bizarre and awkward start to the second pitch which the old guide calls 10a."

Actually my 76 guide calls it F9, 5.9

Didn't seem to slow me down at all, but I was young and dumb back then....

Even has Exorcist listed as F9

the kid

Trad climber

fayetteville, wv

Aug 31, 2010 - 07:21pm PT

every .10a in tuolumne..

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Aug 31, 2010 - 07:52pm PT

Bes'1st, I hope your just trolling, because:

There is no way that John Bachar ever, ever uprated Illusion Dweller. Fat chance of that.

Sorry Dude but...

coondogger

Trad climber

Aug 31, 2010 - 08:15pm PT

Definitely Duet Direct on Cannon. Original grade of 5.9 by Michael Hartrich.
Sustained and burly. Harder than many valley 10+/11a.

HighTraverse

Trad climber

Bay Area

Aug 31, 2010 - 08:20pm PT

Every Old School 10a in Tuolumne.
Unfortunately (or maybe not) plenty of new 10a's are more closely bolted, and not very bold by comparison to even old school 9's

Greg Barnes

climber

Aug 31, 2010 - 08:23pm PT

Plenty of Tuolumne 5.11s, 12s, 13s are not very bold compared to old school 5.9....or maybe "not bold at all" would be a better way to put it...

christophotopolis

Trad climber

sierras

Sep 15, 2010 - 11:13pm PT

end game on rockafellow dome - chochise stronghold, az

Matt

Trad climber

primordial soup

Sep 16, 2010 - 03:35am PT

wrt any discussion of "wide climbs" being somehow on a different scale (wtf?)

what if i said that about slabs?
or overhangs?
or stems?
or laybacks?
or run-outs?
or finger cracks?
traverses?
knobs?
slopers?
dykes?
mormon chicks?

everyone has challenges.
the more honest approach for an individual is to recognize that the challenges are within the individual and not within whatever is perceived as "the challenge"...

wide climbs are only "different" if you have no interest in becoming a well rounded climber. if that's the case, so be it, i am not passing any judgement one way or the other, but please recognize that it's YOU that is CHOOSING not to be skilled at that one type of climbing.

yosemite will expose your weaknesses, that's what makes it special.

M. Volland

Trad climber

Grand Canyon

Feb 20, 2011 - 01:26am PT

Ed
For me its Free Press. I still have not been able to press that one out. Galen Rowell's routes have always impressed me. The guy was super strong!

hoipolloi

climber

A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi

Feb 20, 2011 - 02:01am PT

Deep Throat, Vedauwoo

Prezwoodz

climber

Anchorage

Feb 20, 2011 - 03:33am PT

Exorcist in J-tree ....maybe its because I never climb there but I had a really hard time....

Kalimon

Trad climber

Ridgway, CO

Feb 20, 2011 - 11:12am PT

"Sleight of Hand" on the Sorcerer, Needles, CA. Was rated 10a when I led it in one long pitch . . . hard for that grade.

I'm glad some other folks included "Doggie Do" in the Valley, always thought that was hard for 10a.

Karl Baba

Trad climber

Yosemite, Ca

Feb 20, 2011 - 11:52am PT

Take the move rated 10b now on the Wilson Overhang away, and Steck Salathe is still way harder than most 10a's anywhere.

Take the move rated 10b off the original DNB ratings and now you have such sick slab it wasn't funny, only to be followed by burliness!

Peace

Karl

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Feb 20, 2011 - 12:52pm PT

Watch Crystal- Durango

adam d

climber

The Bears, CA

Feb 20, 2011 - 01:30pm PT

Yup Jebus...Anti-Jello is REALLY good!

Anastasia

climber

hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.

Feb 20, 2011 - 02:09pm PT

Grrr...

Fiddler on the Roof.

I sure as heck heard the Fiddler.

AFS

ydpl8s

Trad climber

Santa Monica, California

Feb 20, 2011 - 03:05pm PT

Both of mine were considered 5.9 when I did them, both OW

1. OW pitch on Grand Giraffe
2. Umph Slot on the Dome

I guess Umph Slot doesn't technically count since I grabbed the rope for a rest.

PellucidWombat

Mountain climber

Berkeley, CA

Apr 23, 2012 - 11:48pm PT

Secret Storm at Camp 4 Wall this past Saturday.

The heat & direct sunlight did not help with the two offwidth cruxes. Not only did I feel like I was about to puke, but I was seeing stars and starting to black out as I quickly shimmied inside the shady chimney past the second crux. I spent a while relaxing in that cool chimney before I continued up to the anchors.

Fun route, though. I'll be back in the winter for another round for sure!

In some ways Doggie Do seemed harder, but the crux on that one is short & gear doesn't get in your way. Secret Storm's cruxes were longer and in both cases I had to climb past gear at the cruxes that I was too nervous to take out!

StahlBro

Trad climber

San Diego, CA

Apr 23, 2012 - 11:57pm PT

Saucer Full of Secrets at Dome Rock in the Needles

covelocos

Trad climber

Nor Cal

Apr 24, 2012 - 01:12am PT

Taxman, JTree

bergbryce

Mountain climber

South Lake Tahoe, CA

Apr 24, 2012 - 01:52am PT

Sacherer Cracker
But that was when I was pretty new to crack climbing. Need to get on it again.

mike m

Trad climber

black hills

Apr 24, 2012 - 01:59am PT

That crack in Arkansas looks cool.

klk

Trad climber

cali

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:10am PT

hardest ten a i ever did was damnation crack at leavenworth. it was rated 5.8 at the time. or maybe that 5.8+ wide crack on the other side of the crag, i forget the name. they're both probably rated 10b now.

comic book had like one weird 5.9 move off that big ledge and the rest of it was like 4th class. exorcist is a 5.8/9 finger crack to a single, height-dependent move that is probably an ungradeable jump move for all you shorties.

i'm with munge, five nine has way more old-skool potential than anything in 5.10

and donini is right, these days all the backwater areas without cutting edge difficulty overcompensate with chestbeating moderates. we may not have any real five fifteens (fourteens, thirteens, etc.), but just wait til you get on one of our 5.9s.

Inner City

Trad climber

East Bay

Apr 24, 2012 - 04:23am PT

Crest Jewell...Kidding!! hmm, not a lot of good choices for me here...uh,Cryin' Time Again...er,

maybe that 10 wide crack at Echo Summit, what is the name? OOh, that sh#t was bad...Jam Session that was it! Holmes led it and I thought, holy phu....brutally hard and sustained and vertical and...oh no...

I preferred the easy 10a's like Crest Jewell (easiest ever at the grade?)

Crescent Arch is nearly 10a eh, 5.9 plus is a great rating! A little harder than Crest Jewell!

The Vision is a great 10a. One Move.

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

Apr 24, 2012 - 09:14am PT

I would suggest The Crack of Doom is the most daunting 5.10a I have ever done. (June 1971). It makes a farce of grading! It is 5.10a regardless; the rating is correct and I thought so back then too. But the route has so much power and foreboding, it one of those "5.10a routes for 5.11 trad leaders". But don't forget that a 5.10 rating (no letters back then yet) was a very heavy rating, the highest actually.

Even the first pitch is scary: a dead vertical to overhanging black jagged chunky lieback flake leading to the slot starting the actual main crack system---this feature is never any harder than 5.9 on lead but is really steep, scary, highly unusual and quite burly--- very off-putting! In fact today many would rate this pitch 10a just because they would be so blown out doing it. It looks like "non-climbing" actually!

The middle pitches are largely S-chimney and miles of heel-and-toe mostly with little protection---- you just climb. And the shorty final pitch, the only pitch of 5.10 on the four pitch route, is also very unusual, exposed, and would be an awful place to screw up, especially so very close to the belayer (very little rope out in the system) and with maybe two things in for your lead. Terrific route as an ensemble of leads located in the awe-inspiring giant alcove right next to Despair. That the final moves on the route are actually the crux---- really operatic! You are finishing off four hundred feet off the ground, doing trick moves close to your belayer, forced out of the crack system to surmount a small overhanging. Never as technical as many of the harder Pratt routes but Doom really is a masterpiece..... your understanding broadens, considering it was done fifty years ago, ground up. Leading off into its features was more than Roper could handle even and he along with Sacherer were roundly defeated by this climb. Very very few climbers today are capable of matching what Chuck did on first ascents in his best luminary years and I am thinking that this one climb best represents the depth of mind he had in those early sixties. He really believed, 'Technique is your protection' and climbed this way from the beginning.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Apr 24, 2012 - 09:15am PT

Here we go again, the ST obsession with grades. The hardest 10a is not 10a and the easiest 10a is not 10a, they are both something else and you can either do them or you can´t.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Apr 24, 2012 - 09:26am PT

Sandbagging.....now I can get into that. Good weather today in Rio, going out to clip some not very close together bolts....shudder.

MisterE

Social climber

Apr 24, 2012 - 09:31am PT

Modern Warfare, Joshua Tree.

Knee-size dependent, and my knees are too big. The only climb that Maidy could do that I couldn't, ever.

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Joshua Tree

Apr 24, 2012 - 10:30am PT

hardest ten a i ever did was damnation crack at leavenworth. it was rated 5.8 at the time.

Still rated 5.9 AFAIK.

Evel

Trad climber

Nedsterdam CO

Apr 24, 2012 - 11:50am PT

Hardest 5.10a I've ever done was some 5.9 at Seneca.

can't say

Social climber

Pasadena CA

Apr 24, 2012 - 12:39pm PT

Siberian Swarm Screw in Yose

Rankin

Social climber

Greensboro, North Carolina

Apr 24, 2012 - 12:49pm PT

Chingando.

steve shea

climber

Apr 24, 2012 - 01:02pm PT

omph slot, crack of doom

matisse

climber

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:07pm PT

I'm with Seamstress on Bird on a Wire. I followed Emily on the crux, and I think it was her second 10a lead. I didn't think it was harder than 10a and I'm a whiner too (even on top rope)

David Wilson

climber

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:15pm PT

I'm going with Reeds left side, knowing full well it is much easier than Crack of Doom ( that I haven't done )

Bruce Morris

Social climber

Belmont, California

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:38pm PT

I've led the OW pitch on the left side of Reeds and it had that I'm glad to be alive now that it's over feeling when I pulled onto the belay ledge. But I think I was more grateful to be alive after finishing the 5.10a crutch on Pink Dreams. So that's my index of hardness: How grateful you are to be still alive after you've finished the lead. Not too many 5.10a's out there like that, but those are two I can think of.

Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber

San Francisco

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:48pm PT

Chingando.

I would say it is pretty easy for a 10a OW. Compared to 10c Generator Crack (which I can't even fking start) is a walk up. I need to do more OWs to understand the whole rating thing for them. Seems like either you know the technique, or you don't. When you don't it's a 5.11, when you do it is a 5.9. But I would rate Generator as 11+ with all the variety of techniques it requires, and irregularities/being part overhanging too.

michaeld

Sport climber

Sacramento

Apr 24, 2012 - 02:50pm PT

My first ever sport lead. Mentally hard.

Was some 4 or 5 bolt slab climb at Auburn Quarry.

Onsighted :)

Wade Icey

Trad climber

www.alohashirtrescue.com

Apr 24, 2012 - 03:12pm PT

well...5.10 always seemed like 5.9 to me...but then i realized somewhere along the line things changed...and now 5.9 always seems like 5.10...

Largo

Sport climber

The Big Wide Open Face

Apr 24, 2012 - 04:37pm PT

I think that the Crack of Despair is harder than Doom. Despair requires more pure off width techinque whereas the hard wide on Doom is a chimney.

Lost Arrow is probably only 10a but nasty and burly - for 5.11 trad leaders. You used to have to do it off very old tat and bolts with no hangers - basically soloing.

Chingando is simple if you have your offwidth dialed. Flakey Foont on the Apron is rated 5.9 and feels like 5.11 in EBs.

The first Dogleg pitch on Sentinel West Face is SOLID 5.9. I did the route at least six times and never got any pro in that pitch at all.

The Waterchute out at Josh was rated 5.9 till like last year and that just ate people alive.

I remember the 2nd pitch on Comic Book being a kind of keyhole kind of squeeze flared hand thing that was for sure at least 10a but rated 5.9 "To keep the fluff off."

The last pitch of both Sundance and Iron Cross at Suicide were always pretty stout for 10a.

Are there more?

JL

paul roehl

Boulder climber

california

Apr 24, 2012 - 05:02pm PT

The worst day of climbing I ever had included Sacherer Cracker. I followed after belaying the leader (John Bald... who was one of the very best climbers I've ever known) in the early spring shade and my frozen, numb hands felt like two clumps of hamburger meat as I finally started up. To top that off I was wearing an old pair of Kronhoffers (sp?) that felt like roller skates. Everything seemed to come together in a perfect storm of desperation... made that climb feel like one very nasty struggle! Pretty depressing.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

merced, california

Apr 24, 2012 - 08:37pm PT

Chingando, the sweater-tearing, needs-a-whole-tube-of-Vitalis butch!...but I liked it rough.
I would never use protection, Chingee-baby, never! It's more fun that way.

Wait-a-go, I did the easiest?

And whahoppen to Moby Dick Center, used to be "five-niney as hail" before they added plus signs to anything. In con see vuh bull sh#t.

Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Topic Author's Reply - Apr 24, 2012 - 10:08pm PT

Ho man! I had forgotten all about this thread. I would now like to add a few more.

I have to agree with Bruce Morris in his mention of Pink Dream, on Elephant Rock. I did this last fall with Mike Waugh & Dan Hershman and we thought the 2nd pitch was stout for the grade & kind of hard to protect. The crack is an odd, two way deal & kind of has weird places that form an hourglass shape where it is difficult to palce good protection quickly.

Mowing The Yawn - @ Buck Rock. This route is very steep for the grade & some of the movement is kind of rugged for a mere 5.10a.

I keep seeing Chingando mentioned but it seems to me to be fairly graded at 5.10a. There are few technical moves & the rest knobs keep the pump factor low. Up high the crack opens up & you can get into it & rest if you want to.

PellucidWombat

Mountain climber

Berkeley, CA

Apr 24, 2012 - 10:31pm PT

I keep seeing Chingando mentioned but it seems to me to be fairly graded at 5.10a.

Perhaps it is both the first and last 5.10a OW that many people climb? :-)

As far as technical cruxes it felt no harder than a 5.9 OW to me. It's a long pitch and that makes it tiring, but there are good rests that can keep it chill. You can catch your breath enough to recover however much you want to.

Russ Walling

Gym climber

Poofter's Froth, Wyoming

Apr 24, 2012 - 10:51pm PT

Mental Block

nutjob

Gym climber

Berkeley, CA

Apr 24, 2012 - 11:14pm PT

Cookie Left
1st move of Moby Dick Center (unless you reach out left to bypass the initial thin crack)

Trad climber

Apr 24, 2012 - 11:26pm PT

Not sure but i suspect it would be at the Gunks. Learned at Gunks, got to be a relatively decent climber In the Valley and then moved back east and was humbled again at the gunks

Fogarty

climber

BITD

Apr 25, 2012 - 01:56am PT

People we are missing one, Joshua Tree Taxman 5:10a this 100 foot pitch has it all, face, fingers & hands, steep and don't forget about the pump. I think this route for a 5:10a climber puts them to work?

Bruce Morris

Social climber

Belmont, California

Apr 25, 2012 - 02:25am PT

Re: "Pink Dreams" (5.10a) on Elephant Rock, you have to keep in mind who did the FA: Barry Bates and Steve Wunsch. I think their original piton is still there on the crux pitch, and it must have been a desperate affair pounding it in on the lead.

John Vawter

Social climber

San Diego

Apr 25, 2012 - 02:43am PT

I felt pretty shaky following the first pitch of Ciebola on Medlicott. Seemed harder than the second pitch.

justthemaid

climber

Jim Henson's Basement

Apr 25, 2012 - 07:42am PT

Could just be my style... but I find Taxman easier than Exorcist. Exorcist is pretty polished these days. I just can't stay in the damn thing. Neither is the hardest 10a I've done.

There's have been several 10a's I just can't get up at all so I'm not even sure what my choice would be. Something like Shiela's Crack would certainly shut me down if I dared to try it. That thing looks gnarly and hand-size dependent.

Gunkie

Trad climber

East Coast US

Apr 25, 2012 - 08:26am PT

I've always struggled with 'Simple Suff' in the Gunks. I feel like my hip is going to pop out of joint on that climb. Most people tell me it's the easiest 5.10, ever. I find 'Matinee' (now rated 5.10d/5.10+) way easier.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 25, 2012 - 11:35am PT

Any 5.9 in Wales.

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Apr 25, 2012 - 07:21pm PT

Base104, no dude, that's Diamond Dogs. While rated 10a is easier than Exorcist. Isn't that the definition of 9+?

.....and no, DD is not the hardest 10a.

Brandon-

climber

The Granite State.

Apr 25, 2012 - 07:33pm PT

For me, it is Farewell to Arms on Donner.

Only the hardest though because I was just breaking into the grade.

hobo_dan

Social climber

Minnesota

Apr 25, 2012 - 07:53pm PT

I figured I became a good climber when 10a was easy.
The very first moves off the ground for Rixons West Face--I could not do. Step up slab and I wanked it every try. My partner steps up and on and off. Funny how that goes.
Hardest 10a was the 5.9 offwidth at the top of the Good Book- Right side of the FOlly

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Apr 25, 2012 - 08:07pm PT

So when Pinched Rib was rated 5.8 it was a 5.8 climb- by definition. Ratings are effectively DEFINING a climb rather than trying to humbly describe their relative difficulty.

MH2

climber

Apr 26, 2012 - 10:32pm PT

This seems to be the place to say that Atman crack at RR put up a good fight for a 10a.

But maybe I was fighting my "self"?

martygarrison

Trad climber

Washington DC

Apr 26, 2012 - 10:57pm PT

The first Dogleg pitch on Sentinel West Face is SOLID 5.9. I did the route at least six times and never got any pro in that pitch at all

Ha, glad I wasn't the only one!

Enzo

climber

California

May 15, 2012 - 12:43pm PT

The Crack of Doom certainly gets mentioned a lot. As I recall, the 5.10 had nothing to do with cracks, but a few face moves at the beginning of the last pitch; the rest was pleasant, if "old" 5.9.
At least that's what Chuck told me, and I agree.

B-Dog

Trad climber

LOUISIANA

May 15, 2012 - 12:49pm PT

+1 for Sacherer cracker

Mar'

Trad climber

Fanta Se

May 15, 2012 - 12:53pm PT

haha!! El Camino Real. I'm not sure if it was so hard, because I still can't figure out why I took 4 falls trying to put a stopper in at the end of the crux… Oh, I see— because it's a 5.9+!!

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

May 15, 2012 - 12:54pm PT

I always heard the first pitch of New Dimensions was 5.11 til Bev Johnson sent it and it was then downgraded.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

merced, california

May 15, 2012 - 01:03pm PT

JB was pretty flustered. His status, you know, was based on the adulation of young pukes like me who couldn't struggle up a 5.11, of which there were so few. She was not just infringing on his space at the top, which is limited, she was a girl and we were young pukes. We universally rated her as a 5.10. She should be a 5.11, but that's another topic. Poor Bird...He got over it.

Spanky

Social climber

boulder co

May 15, 2012 - 01:10pm PT

Don't forget vedawoo, that place is full on burly. I thought mainstreet was on of the hardest 10a's I've done

pvalchev

Social climber

Mountain View, CA / Calgary, AB

May 15, 2012 - 01:48pm PT

Hoodwink roof. The slab was a cake walk in comparison - if the roof is 10a, that slab is 5.7... and the bolt is close by during the hard move.

I found the Hoodwink roof way harder than anything on Blues Riff, which I did the following day - WTF? I seem to be in the minority though...

Bruce Morris

Social climber

Belmont, California

May 15, 2012 - 02:43pm PT

I never found the Hoodwink roof itself to be very hard. It was being scared when I stood up after pulling over it that was the worst part of the operation.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

May 15, 2012 - 02:54pm PT

That's somewhat true Fluoride, but the pitch was initially way over rated...it simply isn't 5.11. God, I wish there wasn't such an emphasis on ST on such an arbitrary, flawed and relatively unimportant thing like the grade of a climb- you can do the damn thing or you can't. The elegant, rock architectures that end up becoming the best "climbs" are degraded by nearly everything we climbers do to them. No worries, they'll be there along with the cockroaches long after we are gone.

BuddhaStalin

climber

Truckee, CA

May 15, 2012 - 03:20pm PT

Hoodwink was first to come to mind. Felt like a bunch of old 9+ with a V1 or 2 roof move. It was v2 in my mind before I located the hold of course. The Sting, at 10b felt about the same for difficulty except for that weird move after belaying above the roof, which of course felt a tad harder than 10b.

GhoulweJ

Trad climber

El Dorado Hills, CA

May 15, 2012 - 03:24pm PT

So what this thread (a really good CLIMBING thread too!) says is:
Sometimes 5.8 through 5.10....... Can kick your arse!

Magic Ed

Trad climber

Nuevo Leon, Mexico

May 15, 2012 - 03:42pm PT

Any 10a at Devil's Lake.

http://magicedspotrerochico.com

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber

Pomfert VT

May 15, 2012 - 04:36pm PT

INMOP the gear rateing is far more important than the dificulty rateing. If it is harder than I suspected but the gear is good i am most likly not going to die. If the the climb is sandbagged and the gear sucks as well that is not nice.

eagle

Trad climber

new paltz, ny

May 15, 2012 - 06:17pm PT

intimadation at cathedral ledge, nh.

jfailing

Trad climber

Lone Pine

May 15, 2012 - 06:39pm PT

I thought Sacherer Cracker was pretty stiff at the time...

Not really that hard, but a good route name is "Yosemite 5.8" in the Owen's River Gorge, rated 5.10a...

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

May 15, 2012 - 10:08pm PT

That damn Chin Strap Crack shut me down several times, inches from the end.

Peter Haan

Trad climber

San Francisco, CA

May 15, 2012 - 11:06pm PT

Fluoride, yeah you are right. First pitch of New Dimensions initially rated 5.11-whoseyourfather!! later downrated to 5.10aish/bish was seen this way because the route was not done yet when Lloyd Price and his belayer Rod McKenzie were diddling around just with the first pitch, over-rating it without adult supervision. It became this little tempest in the teapot back then until top climbers were doing the whole route and it turned out only the last pitch was actually maybe 5.11a. I remember listening to this nonsensical voodoo diatribe about that first pitch and even falling for it for a little while. One of the more extreme cases of losing perspective on a climb or pitch in the Valley that I can recall.

paganmonkeyboy

climber

mars...it's near nevada...

May 15, 2012 - 11:13pm PT

every crimpfest 5.10a on the quartzite in big cottonwood...10a my ass, where are the f*#king holds, why is the bolt so damn far from here and No, it doesn't open up if I keep going, stfu and belay...

...sigh....good times, man....good times...

davidji

Social climber

May 15, 2012 - 11:42pm PT

I'd agree on Doggie Do if the question were "what's the hardest route rated 5.10a you've ever bailed from?"

Rustie

climber

Coeur d\\\\\\\'Alene

May 16, 2012 - 07:19pm PT

I am sort of glad that Granite Mountain AZ has entered the "Sandbag 5.10a" comp. These notorious grades- including the epochal Jump Back Jack Crack - have done much to keep these fine routes from getting too crowded.
However, from a historic perspective, one should remember that, in the 70's, Granite Mountaineers used the Syndicato grading system, not the "objective" Yosemite Decimal System. The fact that very few people knew (or agreed) how this system worked, added to the charm and ambience of the place.
For those who feel, with some justification, that such ideosyncracity leads to insult and injury I can only add (sympathetically) --"Death and Taxes..........."

gonzo chemist

climber

Fort Collins, CO

May 16, 2012 - 07:59pm PT

"The last pitch of both Sundance and Iron Cross at Suicide were always pretty stout for 10a."

The thing about the last pitch of Sundance (the original pitch up that funky water streak), is that the gear is not all that inspiring. And the climbing isn't that technically hard, it just feels really insecure.

The 'Sundike' finish, however, is outstanding.

As for P1 of New Dimensions. I thought it felt dang challenging. But maybe it was the heat. I think that Stone Groove and Sacherer Cracker are easier. In fact Sacherer Crack may be the first 5.10a I ever led (I can't remember now). But I was surprised at how straightforward it felt.

As for "hard-for-the-grade" climbs....take your pick of practically anything in Vedauwoo.

mike m

Trad climber

black hills

May 16, 2012 - 10:31pm PT

Kamp's Crack on Bell Tower in the Black Hills Needles is pretty sandbagged. Sex Never Did This to My Hands 5.8+ is just about as hard.

Tadalac

climber

Napa, ca

May 16, 2012 - 11:21pm PT

Definitely reeds direct. D, def, definitely. Definitely.

Levy

Big Wall climber

So Cal

Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2012 - 05:14pm PT

Just did the Left Side of Reed's Pinnacle last Friday and as Marty Garrison, Bruce Morris & Largo have mentioned earlier on this thread, it is quite tough for 5.10a. You better have your act together for this route as just getting to the crux pitch is a real workout for a "lowly 5.8".

I took on the first pitch which is a rather intimidating slot that soars up the cliff for 130' to the belay anchor, which is comprised of slings around a chockstone & a funky old piton. There is a hand sized crack that joins the chimney about 50' up that may be the 5.10b variation shown in the Don Reed 1992 guide. Beware, there is a very loose block just as you enter the chimney if you take the crack I just mentioned to the left of the slot. It almost came off in my lap as I pulled into the slot. Yikes!

The crux section was not too bad with modern cams but the moves were tough & very slick. There is an old bolt & couple of fixed pins but you could push #5 & #6 BD cams along with you most of the way. I did it right side in but maybe it is easier left side in. The way I did it, I did more chimneying and stemming than by offwidthing & got rug burns on my lower back & upper glutes.

IMHO - Reeds Leftside is much harder than Chingando, perhaps about as hard as Ahab but easier than Generator Crack. The final OW part of Reeds direct is not even as hard as the left side.

tom Carter

Social climber

May 22, 2012 - 02:06am PT

I remember how mystified I was in 1972 when Luke Freeman so matter-of-factly said, "Anyone can climb 5.10".

It took me a while to realize he was right, we just have to want it.

eagle

Trad climber

new paltz, ny

May 23, 2012 - 09:48pm PT

every five ten rated five ten in the gunks. especially matinee.

David Wilson

climber

May 23, 2012 - 10:00pm PT

Levy - Right you are, that left side is hard and much harder than both the final section of the center route on Reeds and Chingando. The bolt before you start the crux is a seriously vintage split shaft through an old arrow.

Ahab though is really next level I thought. It seemed two letters harder than Reeds left......

Steppin out is next for me. I'll report back

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

May 23, 2012 - 10:06pm PT

Steve L and I were in Tuolumne this past weekend. Did a couple of days on Little Sheeba on Lamb Dome. We both got it but it was burl....after the crux comes more hard work, at lead 50 ft of it.

Great climb though. One of the best cracks I've done in awhile. Don't know if it was the hardest of 10a's but sure was fun.

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

Sep 26, 2012 - 03:42am PT

After just doing Hoodwink yesterday I have to agree. There's no friggin way that roof is 10a.

Fairly manageable yet awkward route overall (first pitch is FUN but not indicative of any other pitch on the route) but that roof was the weeds for me. Felt like a V2/3 problem to conquer it clean.

Made me realize I need to start bouldering a lot more to pull moves like that one required.

After that the 10a slab moves off that belay to the 5.7 run out to the top seemed fine to me. But that's what plays to my strengths far more and I was so happy to be back on comfortable ground.

But that roof. Oh geez. What a nightmare. I botched it bad. Got up it eventually, but botched it big time. Burly is an understatement.

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

Sep 26, 2012 - 04:09am PT

mountainlion

Trad climber

California

Sep 26, 2012 - 05:18am PT

bjj I think your talking about a route called "grain surgery" 5.10b R *** in vogel 92 guide John Long route I think.

Aftermath in Jtree was a damn stout one for me

Norwegian

Trad climber

Placerville, California

Sep 26, 2012 - 07:09am PT

irate life experiences
tutilizing the yosemite decimal system,

this morning i awoke at 11:38 pm yesterday,
and dreamed the entire pacific ocean prior
to standing up.

if i shuffled, i don't remember it,
though i found my way to yesterday's
pot of coffee,

drank a cold cup
and took a shite.

definately a ten eh moment.
i almost fell to hell.

fosburg

climber

Sep 26, 2012 - 10:32am PT

A vote for Hoodwink, it's like stiff V2 pulling that roof!

Batrock

Trad climber

Burbank

Sep 26, 2012 - 10:47am PT

I had a hard time on the off-width section on Mithral. The guides rate the section anywhere from 5.9-10.b but it had me grunting and puffing like a dog with fleas.

eeyonkee

Trad climber

Golden, CO

Sep 26, 2012 - 11:06am PT

I'm thinking that the hardest 5.10a's are all ahead of me.

10b4me

Ice climber

dingy room at the Happy boulders hotel

Sep 26, 2012 - 11:51am PT

Any 5.10 in Indian Creek, right Jim?

Karen

Trad climber

So Cal urban sprawl Hell

Sep 26, 2012 - 12:04pm PT

The Exorcist in JT. I think if a person is tall (I am only 5.3) maybe its not so difficult!

Fluoride

Trad climber

West Los Angeles, CA

Sep 26, 2012 - 02:15pm PT

Thanks Fos, glad you agree. That thing is insanely stiff.

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Joshua Tree

Sep 26, 2012 - 05:10pm PT

Aftermath is easy, do a lieback move using your knees pasted above the roof.

Taxman is light, 5.8+.

The OW pitch on the Rostrum is pretty good value for 10a.

I always think the crack switch on p2 of Serenity is funky for 10a. Not a hard pull or pumpy, but weird enough that I will never solo the SS linkup.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Sep 26, 2012 - 06:39pm PT

First pitch of Genesis in Eldo.

TwistedCrank

climber

Dingleberry Gulch, Ideeho

Sep 26, 2012 - 06:46pm PT

All of them.

Ol' Skool

Trad climber

Oakhurst, CA

Sep 28, 2012 - 11:59pm PT

Illusion Dweller seemed pretty hard at the time- sustained with a tricky exit move.

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Sep 29, 2012 - 12:03am PT

> I always think the crack switch on p2 of Serenity is funky for 10a. Not a hard pull or pumpy, but weird enough that I will never solo the SS linkup.

There's a way to do it lower down which is not all slick like the upper traverse.