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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 19, 2015 - 07:54pm PT
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Mine was probably one I put up at a place called Estes creek. I did a ground up hundred foot crack but upon going back later to clean it and I peeled off about half the route. One particular section yielded a 6x6 inch 20 foot long rock beam that came off surprisingly easy. After cleaning the route turned out pretty good. It also had a great scenic view of a boot camp like youth facility and was possibly the place they hung out to drink when they ran away.
I am sure there are some better worsts out there....
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 19, 2015 - 08:04pm PT
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Can't really say, so many climbs, so many years. I will say that, whatever it was, it was better than my best day in church.
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Oct 19, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
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Hmmmm, my situation is the exact inverse of Donini's.....except for the better than church part.
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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Oct 19, 2015 - 08:36pm PT
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some choss pile in Humboldt that by now has crumbled into the sea.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Oct 19, 2015 - 08:39pm PT
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Something on the Seward highway....Or Eagle Valley..or maybe something in Portage Valley..Well..for sure it was in the Chugach.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Oct 19, 2015 - 09:12pm PT
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I had to think about it for a few seconds, then
I ------RE-called the day I went climbing on Choss with Jesus.
(sorry, Mike, I shared this story with you before, but it really was the worst route ever.)
North Ridge Goat Perch in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range is a pretty nice route. Other places on Goat Perch are not as pleasant.
Summer 1982: I decide a “direct start” for the classic North Ridge Goat Perch route in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains would be an “interesting challenge.” I had already climbed the North Ridge of Goat Perch, and thought rock quality would be good.
I went in with Bruce: a friend that I had climbed with very little. That mattered not, since this man was in every way my superior. He had the good genes to the max and was: athletic, intelligent, tall, handsome, and fearless. In fact he was just out of the Navy and had been a fighter pilot and then was in the Blue Angels. Oh-----and he was a born-again Christian, but he tolerated my Pagan ways. He even secretly carried a six-pack of beer up to the lakes under Elephant’s Perch, for my drinking pleasure.
The first lead on our north-face Goat’s Perch route, was up a steep chimney/gully, with a jam crack at its back. At the end of the first lead, the choice was overhanging off-width, or an inviting ledge that went left to less-steep terrain above. Bruce led left and quickly turned a corner. The rope stopped. Then he called back, “there’s a little loose rock here.”
In the next half hour, he must have pulled off 10 tons of rock. The snowfield below was soon a blackened war zone. Slowly, the rope played out, then more crashes and booms would shatter the quiet.
At last I heard “On Belay” and followed the lead. The traverse was just horribly-loose, but then I reached the line that he had climbed up to his belay. Everything was stacked: small loose blocks, at a 70-80 degree angle. There was some “protection” slotted between obviously loose blocks. It was not an easy lead to follow, and when I reached Bruce I was both scared and angry.
“How could you justify leading that?” I barked. “Everything is loose and your protection wouldn’t have stopped a falling squirrel”
Bruce thought for a minute and then calmly replied: “It was pretty iffy, but whenever I got to a tough spot I asked Jesus where to go.” He then smiled and added: “he takes care of me.”
Never before had someone asserted to me: that Jesus took a personal interest in his climbing.
I was truly staggered. I clipped into the belay nuts, noting that they were worthless to stop a leader fall.
Rappeling was out of the question, since we were now above an overhang. Down-climbing did not seem like a good option either. After some water and a little small talk, I decided that based on prior success: Bruce and Jesus could lead the next pitch too.
That pitch was not as bad, but it was worse for me: since I was now in the direct line of rock fall. I hung the pack above me and cowered as stones clattered by. The only rocks that hit me were mercifully small. Once again, when I followed the lead, the rock was all loose. The protection that Bruce & Jesus had placed would probably not have stopped a leader fall. Another similar, but easier lead for Bruce & Jesus followed.
When I reached Bruce again, I realized we were very close to where the North Ridge route started. We had done a “significant direct-start variation.” I was able to do a traverse over to the ridge on reasonably good rock.
Bruce was however, very disappointed in me. I adamantly refused to continue up the standard North Ridge route with him and Jesus.
I did not write the route up, since any future parties might not have the divine protection that we had experienced. I also confess: I did not “see the light” and continue as a pagan.
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MisterE
Gym climber
Being In Sierra Happy Of Place
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Oct 19, 2015 - 09:15pm PT
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Something on Camelback in Phoenix.
Urban, smoggy and loose. Yuck.
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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Oct 19, 2015 - 09:28pm PT
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Urban, smoggy and loose. Yuck.
you left out Hot. F*#kling Hot.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Oct 19, 2015 - 09:46pm PT
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You carried a full pack that day, right Big J?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 01:51am PT
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Possibly one of my first ascents at Pinnacles, which we named "Flies on a Pile". (a reference to "Figures on a Landscape" and "Boogers on a Lampshade").
 while belaying my partner up the first pitch, the rope inadvertantly moved across a patch of "perched gravel" and showered down rocks on a little kid on the trail directly belay. He started crying to his mom....
on the second pitch, I realized the route probably shouldn't get repeated so I just tried to get up it without placing more bolts after the lower hard bits. Perhaps only Brad has repeated it?
There are many other contenders, like "Gardening at Night" above "Aunt Fannie's Pantry" at the Church Bowl. It was the scene of one of the low points in my climbing, where I couldn't pull down the rap ropes, or ascend back up them and got rescued. (I hadn't brought proper prusik knots or ascenders, and tried to ascend using 1" slings, but it was extremely slow and I thought I might cramp up in the cold steady rain).
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Oct 20, 2015 - 02:46am PT
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Really?
I'm from New Joysee, road cuts are fun.
Then there is the diesel grit that builds up n Garret Mnt, (the main face) it over looks Rt 80 coming from the George Washington Bridge, & Manhattan.
The great falls in Paterson during the crack epidemic of the 80's
(actually that is fun all year long but especially in winter when it freezes . . .don't mind the dead chickens from the ,voodoo practice or the human waste)
[photoid=40875
Three pitches of a girdle traverse, on the now blasted into a hi-way exchange
on the border with Ny; at a place called Suffren, we called the cliffs Tory ledges.
***
Out west there is some glass like thing in The city of San Francisco ? A thirty foot high
Exposed rock in a parking lot? How did I even get there?
And then I soloed something in Griffith park?
As well as trying to figure out how to climb off the top of a ground up FA in the Owens river Gorge. Any one ever find a .75 green Camelot in a slot thirty feet of hellish, choosy rubble,
Below the low angle blocky rim of that loose pile?
It must be near the 'mountaineer's' entrance/exit gulley....
In town, in Saranac Lake Ny the Adirondack home of al Joley. . .
On the back side next to Johnson house behind the Hotel Saranac,( the hot Sara for the three years I was there) was a building that had a lower half and corners made of cobbles set in a matrix of Sandy 'not the right mix' concrete.
We rigged a top rope out a window, that was neat I was never sober in the hotel intern part of the curriculum . . When. the flopphouse across the street burned in mid winter -
The heat from that melted the rope to the cement . It might still be there?
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Oct 20, 2015 - 04:31am PT
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I can't ever recall a bad climb.
There is no such thing as bad snow, only bad skiers.
The same could be said of rock.
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:09am PT
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This is an interesting question. It's hard to single out a particular climb as bad, because I enjoy climbing just about any route. I guess that two poor climbs stand out:
The first was some climb on the E Side of Pinnacles N.M., a multipitch affair. I started up the first pitch, and a few feet off the ground, a big (like, 2 feet by 2 feet) chunk of rock I was holding onto with both hands pulled loose. The "rock" and I fell to the ground, it landed on my chest, and broke up into coarse gravel, so easily that it didn't even hurt. We bagged that, and headed back to the W side, where the rock seemed a little more fully baked.
The other was on "Dome de Chapelle" near Snell's field in Chamonix, in '87. Sport climbing had been the rage in France for a while already, and the routes on this limestone outcrop, which were smooth and slabby to begin with, were pretty well polished, too. The weather was warm and humid, the crag was crowded, and a thin French guy with a cigarette in his mouth was speculating on how the Americans would have trouble on the routes. Nevertheless, I still had a pretty good time, which goes to confirm the fact that any climbing is good climbing.
Ah, the what was left of last pitch of the Regular Route on Higher Cathedral Spire, shortly after the real pitch fell off during an earthquake, was not too fun. When doing the climb, we were not aware that there had been a quake shortly before.
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christoph benells
Trad climber
Tahoma, Ca
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:35am PT
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mt. service on the Juneau Icefield in alaska, as far as we know it was a 2nd ascent. And I know why...
I should put up a bounty for anyone who finds this summit box!!!,
Really though, kind of cool. Mountain named after Yukon poet Robert Service, the box contains Service memorabilia including his wallet and drivers license, and a handwritten note from his relatives.
the chossiest of all choss, and only requires an 80 mile boat ride, 4 mile swamp bushwack, and a 30 mile glacier and ski approach!
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Ryan Tetz
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:43am PT
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Oh this is an easy one...
The Riverside Quarry
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clifff
Mountain climber
rollin hills of California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 07:00am PT
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After climbing Royal Arches several times I thought there must be a nice direct way up. After unintentionally pulling off a giant loose block on the first pitch that could have been lethal for us or anyone below we realized the whole area was a dangerous choss heap and gave it up.
Climbing the now established rap line could be a nice fun direct line up? Climb the rap line and do the North Dome Gully descent.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Oct 20, 2015 - 07:26am PT
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well the route had potential, but when the mission shifted to escape ...
huge traversing runouts across wet slab. spongy mantles revealing
hopeless seams covered by grit and soggy sled sized mats of northwest moss
leading to teetering stacks of dinner plates. never even considered a name
but the whole concept of mountaineering took on real portent after that
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Oct 20, 2015 - 07:35am PT
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Nature:
some choss pile in Humboldt that by now has crumbled into the sea.
Yeah, I think you named it "Vomit Launch", too . . .
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:16am PT
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Possibly one of my first ascents at Pinnacles, which we named "Flies on a Pile". (a reference to "Figures on a Landscape" and "Boogers on a Lampshade").
while belaying my partner up the first pitch, the rope inadvertantly moved across a patch of "perched gravel" and showered down rocks on a little kid on the trail directly belay. He started crying to his mom....
on the second pitch, I realized the route probably shouldn't get repeated so I just tried to get up it without placing more bolts after the lower hard bits. Perhaps only Brad has repeated it?
You get no argument from me on that one Clint. The name fits the climb :)
(And we climbed it on a weekday since I knew of your inadvertent showering of rocks).
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:26am PT
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when I was 15 I tried to aid climb the cliff below the Pt. Fermin lighthouse in Los Angeles
That's insane!
For me: Carolyn's Rump on Cyclops at Josh.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:27am PT
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I honestly can't come up any with I've regretted doing, but that might be
due to other factors. I've done a lot with individual pitches that were
a hair's breadth from horrific, meaning terminal. There is one that I almost
regretted doing though. It was actually a really good route but I was a real
jerk on the descent and insisted on third-classing stuff that my future wife
was not comfortable on. She quickly put her foot down and I got the rope out,
which likely saved our future together.
There was also that guided climb where the client ran out of her meds but that's a loong story.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 11:13am PT
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Having attempted new routes on lots of choss piles gives me innumerable candidates, but each of those attempts was an adventure that was worth the try.
Coming down Michael's Ledge, however, made me realize why Roper made it clear that one should only use it as a descent route, not as a climbing objective. The section of "very loose rock" was "easy fourth class" only in the sense that we roped up because there was an obvious anchor at the start. It consisted essentially of ledges on a vertical sand dune. The "climbing" part was trivial, but the "rotten" part extreme.
I have since discovered empirically that it is much easier and faster to rappel the NW corner.
John
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 20, 2015 - 11:27am PT
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Interesting how the Pinnacles appear on this thread so much. Have to say, I climbed there a couple of times and came away with the feeling that it was a place that would be dormant if it weren't located near so many people. The condors were interesting and I saw a couple of tarantulas, other than that.....1 star.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 11:34am PT
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Funny Jim; of all the climbing locations in all of California, Pinnacles is one place where adventure - climbing with adventure - is still alive. Of course that's probably due in part to the rock quality.
I think fivethirty's comment above yours makes this point.
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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Oct 20, 2015 - 11:42am PT
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Dawn Wall
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 11:55am PT
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I posted these comments as part of a longer thread on the Mudn'Crud Pinnacles climbing web site. These (Pinnacles) routes are certainly among the worst climbs I've ever done:
TOP FOUR SCARIEST LEADS AT PINNACLES (that I have done; not in any intentional order):
Seldom Seen Pinnacle - West Face 5.8 X This 300 foot route has no belay anchor (and none is possible; use body position). I placed a few cams on the first pitch, but was certain that none would hold a fall. The second pitch has one bolt, 60 feet above the body position belay. Take a rope on the route though, it'll make you feel like you're not free soloing. Besides, with a rope, if the second pitch leader falls, he might take the belayer with him. Did this with David Harden.
Herchel Berchel 5.11a R The first pitch is easy, but is mostly moss and lichen (over good rock though). The second pitch is some of the worst "kitty litter" type rock I've ever climbed on. The third pitch has a well protected crux, but then a mandatory 60 foot runout with a 5.8 bulge. I had to be rescued from the third pitch of this the first time I tried it (thanks again Dennis). Did that first try with Mungeclimber. Then did it with Dennis - he led the crux pitch though. So I went back and led that pitch with Jennifer. I've led all three pitches.
Flake Don't Break 5.9+ A relatively new route, the first ascent was led, onsight by a young climber with an excellent sense of adventure. Will any of your gear hold a fall? Will any of your holds stay on the rock? Did this with Gavin.
Needful 5.8 R We joke about "kitty litter" at Pinnacles. On this one it's true. Total crap rock and total crap gear (most of which is huge cams). It goes most of a rope length. I estimate that, while leading this, I knocked off a cumulative total of at least 100 pounds of rock. Did this with Mungeclimber.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Oct 20, 2015 - 12:05pm PT
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Burcham's Folly - RRG
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 12:07pm PT
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Needful 5.8 R We joke about "kitty litter" at Pinnacles. On this one it's true. Total crap rock and total crap gear (most of which is huge cams). It goes most of a rope length. I estimate that, while leading this, I knocked off a cumulative total of at least 100 pounds of rock. It's pretty scary. I've actually led this 3 times now. First just to scout it for the guidebook, then twice to rebolt it. Going back that last time was slightly less scary, as I had removed several loose holds just one week previous and knew exactly which cams to bring. Don't forget navigating around the poison oak at the base, too. :-)
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 12:11pm PT
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^^^
Well it's had at least five leads then Clint; yours and mine and Dennis led it too (roped solo if I recall).
I'm smart enough not to repeat it (but then again, I've led an equally crappy 5.8 X route, Pigeon Crack three times while trying to figure out its history).
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aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 02:23pm PT
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In Roper's old Yosemite Valley Guide, I recall "Arches Direct" getting a write-up as being a really lousey climb? Anyone done it?
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Oct 20, 2015 - 02:56pm PT
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I obviously haven't climbed enough. All the routes have been different and fun, mostly because of the company I keep. :)
As for church, I have to agree with you Donini. The salt has lost its savor.
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Oct 20, 2015 - 03:18pm PT
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About a year ago went to a place in Paradise Valley, Montana called Allenspur. There is a route there called Jen's. It's named for a girl my sis went to HS with and whom I'd purchased my last truck from. Horrifying. About 30' into it and seeing teetering bowling balls on grass ledges I yelled to my belayer, "put your helmet on"!! After about 10' more I was in dirt/grass gully with toaster sized stuff ready to to fly. I then yelled "you need to move way around corner bro". Got to anchors with everything around VERY precarious. Pulled the draws on the way down,told my buddy to "skip it". He says "yeah,I was going to". Pulled out the guidebook and marked a big black hole next to it. Sorry Jen.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Oct 20, 2015 - 03:54pm PT
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It's not that The Embarrassment of Rich's at the Pinns is bad--it's actually kinda fun. The first piece is a purple TCU, quickly followed by a #6 Friend. That alone makes it novel. It even has a cool section of overhanging hands, probably the best part of the route.
But the hands are soaking with guano, and everything you touch on the route quickly becomes part of the gravel stacked at the base. Probably the worst part is the heinous rope drag that's caused by your rope squeezing ever farther into that guano-filled crack.
Highly recommended for those who need to do every route on Disco Wall.
Runner up is the route that Pat Kent and I did on the Lower Spire in Yosemite. We got lost trying to find the Regular Route, and thought the route began where we found a quick-draw hanging in a bush. Another teaser was an old bolt that we could see about 20' up.
Wrong.
I took the first lead and moved up to the very old bolt, the whole way showering Pat with dirt, dust, and detritus. Higher up, I found some perlon sticking straight up out of a dirt mound. I excavated down and found an old symmetric hex that I still cherish to this day. It was probably somebody's bail point.
We did one or two more pitches, until we found a notch somewhere that allowed escape.
I believe we ended up doing what in Roper's book is called Lower Cathedral Spire -- Lower North Face, the description of which starts thusly:
This frightfully ugly route ascends the slabby lower part of the north face...
I can't be sure that we weren't off route for even that, but the start of the description nails it perfectly.
That one is not recommended.
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overwatch
climber
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Oct 20, 2015 - 04:41pm PT
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Any route that has been "Nanooked"?
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Alpamayo
Trad climber
Davis, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 04:46pm PT
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Pretty sure it was something on Bishop Peak in SLO.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Oct 20, 2015 - 05:24pm PT
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It's not that The Embarrassment of Rich's at the Pinns is bad--it's actually kinda fun. The first piece is a purple TCU, quickly followed by a #6 Friend. That alone makes it novel. It even has a cool section of overhanging hands, probably the best part of the route.
But the hands are soaking with guano, and everything you touch on the route quickly becomes part of the gravel stacked at the base. Probably the worst part is the heinous rope drag that caused by your rope squeezing ever farther into that guano-filled crack.
Highly recommended for those who need to do every route on Disco Wall.
The Embarrassment of Riches!! What a route K-Man! And rating it "5.9+" was pure genius.
I led the route. Here's what I wrote to a friend about it:
"I pulled off a perfect lead. Scared shitless until I got into it and then I just kept going. Absolutely brutal. I'm so sore and stiff that I'm going to bed now after dosing on Ibuprofen."
Later I added:
"Two days later I'm realizing that this was an all-out, total effort for me mentally and physically. Everything I had. I still hurt all over like someone pounded me with a baseball bat. I still recall my (instant) thought process halfway through the last crux: "Sh#t - this is getting hard. Sh#t - I'm so pumped. Sh#t - I don't want to have to come back here." I pulled that off with nothing left."
Here's what I wrote to K-Man himself (if it isn't clear, he did the route's first ascent):
"I led it clean on Tuesday."
"Bad rock, guano, pro that varies from iffy to pretty darn good. Super exposed cruxes, one after another. Maybe not a route that is worth a "star," but what a brilliant effort, seeing and conceiving of such a natural line. The route may not be "quality" (whatever the hell that means), but, if I were you, I'd be really damn proud of it."
Yep, I would absolutely recommend this route to any climber who is determined to do every route under 5.10 at Pinnacles.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Oct 20, 2015 - 05:44pm PT
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Dingus, I cannot believe someone else did that trash heap. And that is totally it, two pitches up to the notch. Super funny. Mostly because it sounds like you weren't lost when you did it (like we were). Some day...must climb together...
Brad, I'm so happy you had a full-body experience on the route. I did the first lead with a pal that I rarely climb with and just before I start up the rig, he pulls out this big black wig and says, "Here, wear this." Somewhere I have a picture that some passer-by took and later mailed me. Of course you would never recognize me with a full head of gorilla hair. My idea was to go hammerless, to the Top! It was a battle, but success was finally had.
PS: For clarification, the name of the route is The Embarrassment of Rich's, possessive "s" and all. ;-)
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Oct 20, 2015 - 05:52pm PT
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Some buggy, wet, dirty, short, slimy thing in the woods in VT....
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:01pm PT
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Dawn Wall
Braggart!
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:01pm PT
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Nearly any thing at Heise, Idaho.
Short loose guano filled routes that often rain mud, and you have to pay to climb there.
A particularly slick 5.9 is so poorly bolted it has had multiple ankle fractures.
Ahhhh good times ;)
A close second is the midget widget wall near there, I wore sunglasses on cloudy days to keep the detritus and mud out of my eyes.
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lars johansen
Trad climber
West Marin, CA
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Oct 20, 2015 - 06:02pm PT
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I'm going to go with Pinnacles again. Route was in Juniper Canyon. In 1986 I peeled off a FA taking a 70 foot leader fall and broke my leg. Going back in 2011 I again was injured in the same place, this time critically. Man, that stretch of rock is voodoo!-lars
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martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Oct 20, 2015 - 07:49pm PT
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Johns Other Chimney 5.4 A1- Cathedral, Yosemite Valley
My first route on my first weekend climbing ever. First time crawling down steep gully's in the dark, first epic.
This is a can't miss climb.
The next day we did Lost Arrow from the Notch. We were so slow we had to bivy on top of the tip. We were all too scared to do the Tyrolean in the dark.
Marty
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:20pm PT
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For me: Carolyn's Rump on Cyclops at Josh.
That one's pretty bad, but the worst one I didn't do was some dirty groove that Tucker wanted to tick off.
After a sustained gravel shower belaying, I refused to follow it.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:33pm PT
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25 or so years ago I wandered solo up the northwest side of Little Bear Peak, a fourteener behind Blanca Peak in S. Colorado. Once committed I found that every move on very steep terrain had to be calculated and precise to avoid the rock collapsing. Nerve wracking.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Oct 20, 2015 - 08:35pm PT
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Marty, sounds like your second climb was a bit more aggressive that your first! Way to pack in a good weekend.
Lars, one word: Holyfriggingcrazyshitman!
Hope you can still get after it after a less-than-perfect day at the Pinns.
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Gary
Social climber
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:42am PT
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That one's pretty bad, but the worst one I didn't do was some dirty groove that Tucker wanted to tick off.
TGT, was that Not Worth Your Pile? on Wothwhile Rock? From the name I should have known better than to get on it. It was like climbing on eggshells. My belayer was in real danger.
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Stewart Johnson
climber
lake forest
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:52am PT
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Climbed this super pile four times.
The north buttress has some of the worst
Stone around.
Most people drive right by..
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Gunkie
climber
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Oct 21, 2015 - 05:59am PT
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I've done a lot of crappy, lichen covered climbs in the Gunks. But one that I would truly consider crappy is where we bushwhacked in a couple of miles on the promise of a 'splitter hand crack in the back of a pristine dihedral' in the Catskills.
Two hours of uphill hiking through dubious areas of private properties landed us at a scruffy cliff band with a dihedral that has obviously been climbed and it had a crack in the back. One approach pitch of dirty, scary 4th class where getting the chop was a distinct possibility and would have been painful and embarrassing all at the same time.
The dihedral pitch was a crappy layback to start, to a really decent 25' of climbing, to a final stemming section through pine needles and guano. The topout was a slopping nightmare with choss being bound together with moss.
Ended up being almost a full-day adventure ending with a 'I'll never do that again.'
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Oct 21, 2015 - 09:16am PT
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Theres this thing on the highway where I left, for the first time, a cam to rap from and bail. I haven't even gone back to get it and it'd be easy to rap into....maybe thats a sign.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Oct 21, 2015 - 09:19am PT
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TGT, was that Not Worth Your Pile? on Wothwhile Rock? From the name I should have known better than to get on it. It was like climbing on eggshells. My belayer was in real danger.
No, it was some gravel heap back in Oz or the Poppy Fields somewhere.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 21, 2015 - 09:20am PT
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I LOL'ed at all the posts about the Pinnacles. Dudes, go to the Cascades,
Rockies, Pamirs, Andes, etc., where you can do 20-40 pitch routes like that!
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Oct 21, 2015 - 10:35am PT
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I had an execrable bushwhacking experience, with devil's walking stick, yellow jackets, rain-soaked forest, and giant slugs, while attempting to find the Picket Range. But that doesn't count, as we never even saw the mountains.
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Oct 21, 2015 - 10:41am PT
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I recall when I first started climbing in Spain, a guy was showing me several of the areas around Barcelona. On the hike up to one cliff, we passed a 15 meter high, low angle, blocky and brushy outcrop, and he remarked "The British would climb on this".
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gumbyKing
Trad climber
Vancouver, BC
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Oct 21, 2015 - 11:22am PT
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Barney Rubble, 5.9, Barn Bluff, Red Wing MN, 35 feet
Start up with some loose sandy rock, where tight hands erode the rock to loose hands by the time you've finished setting your gear. Then move into the house of cards sections with 200-500 lbs. loose blocks ready to blow and wiggling if one of the many many local wasps lands on it. This leads to the sand section - where first sized souvenirs can be acquired that once were the best looking hand holds around, and everything else is covered in 3-4 inches of sand. Downclimb 25 feet to the base, and wonder just how good the last 10 feet of the climb are if the guide book gives it 2 stars.
[Edit: forgot to mention, on the way down I was able to pull my cam out just by applying a very small amount of force and grind it through the sorta sticky sand that was the best looking stone on the route]
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Oct 21, 2015 - 11:35am PT
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It's so bad it's awesome.
This is why we do it....
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Capt.
climber
some eastside hovel
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Oct 21, 2015 - 11:49am PT
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Oh yeah, I forgot. Anything in Cabo San Lucas.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 21, 2015 - 12:02pm PT
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Interesting how the Pinnacles appear on this thread so much. Have to say, I climbed there a couple of times and came away with the feeling that it was a place that would be dormant if it weren't located near so many people. The condors were interesting and I saw a couple of tarantulas, other than that.....1 star.
While I suspect that may be true, I still like Pinnacles enough to make a couple of trips there a year, even though I can get to superb granite climbing in an hour's less driving time. It may just be that I did some of my first roped climbs there, but it remains adventurous and, if you hike any distance from the parking lots, full of uncrowded routes.
In Roper's old Yosemite Valley Guide, I recall "Arches Direct" getting a write-up as being a really lousey climb? Anyone done it?
With four years of drought, I thought this would be the year for someone to give it a go. Any route about which Kor allegedly said (and meant) "Never again" must be something to see.
Roper's guides had another climb - The Inconsolable Buttress (III, 5.7, A3)- that he made sound even worse, and that isn't easy. After all, he called one route "the most worthless climb in the Valley," and said of another "This 'death march' type of climb cannot be termed popular." Nonetheless, the description of the rotten rock, unenjoyable climbing, a miserable approach and an even worse descent (IIRR, the "descent" goes up 850 vertical feet of talus until one can contour into flood channels to follow down for 2,500 vertical feet). I doubt anyone has repeated this route since the publication of Roper's red guide.
John
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Oct 21, 2015 - 12:22pm PT
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Nutcracker
I just like the feeling of actual rock with a bit of grit or lichen or loose stuff and that was the only route I've ever done that felt greasy and had a big stripe of clean granite going through the normal rock.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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Oct 21, 2015 - 12:35pm PT
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Some really, really lose, dangerous and crappy Todd Swain route in Josh. The only question is which one was actually the worst!
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Oct 21, 2015 - 12:47pm PT
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Something on the west face of Winchell. Roper says of the SW Chute "No one really knows where this route goes, perhaps..."
Secor says "Southwest Chute... this route is also known as the SW Arete." Hmmmm.
Eve L. and I went looking for this mystery. We figured by the books it couldn't be technically hard so we took one 9mm 50M cord, a few slings and a set of stoppers. Big mistake.
After a couple pitches of crappy 5.9 we found ourselves at the base of a gigantic chute. Seemingly vertical, this chute featured excellent quality granite. The problem was this rock was cleaved into plates, each about two feet thick and about the size of a two car garage door. They were stacked one upon the other and the whole house of cards was held together by the concave nature of the chute which wrapped around us in the shape of a huge horse shoe. Arming myself with the logic that this house of cards had survived countless seismic events I led up.
This place really gave me the creeps like nothing I have ever climbed before or after. I had this weird taste in my mouth all the way up. Eve insists that there were some 5.11 bits, finger traverses back and forth across the tops of some of the plates. My brain was too fried to know what I was doing.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Oct 22, 2015 - 06:59am PT
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Okay, I'll bite. the worst climb that I ever did was a volcanic plug in New Mexico. The rock quality on the first 4-5 pitches weren't bad, but the final summit pitch was vertical, loose, soft ash conglomerate.
My brother led the final summit pitch. There was no belay at the bottom and no protection on the lead.
He was sending down TONS of debris and rocks. So he told us to untie from the rope and seek shelter while he finished the lead. Basically he free-soloed the pitch.
On the summit he had a scree bollard for a belay.
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Gunkie
climber
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Oct 22, 2015 - 07:46am PT
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on the border with Ny; at a place called Suffren, we called the cliffs Tory ledges.
I climbed a lot at that place in the mid-70s to mid-80s. We called it the 'Transit Authority' probably because it sits behind a school bus depot and one of my favorite Chicago albums at the time was 'Chicago Transit Authority'.
I actually think the rock is quite good there with numerous quality pitches and some really intimidating roofs (central section). There is an upper tier with some very short, but awesome cracks in the finger to OW size. Basically bouldering or TR kind of play.
We got many warnings about climbing there before finally getting caught by some NY state police and I was an adult by that time. Not good.
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rmuir
Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Oct 22, 2015 - 08:07am PT
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Probably the worst first ascent I have ever done… The Escarpment outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a.k.a., Jebel Tuwaiq (pronounced "Twayg", Arabic: جبل طويق). A 600 m cliff running about 800 km through the plateau of the Nejd—certainly some of the crappiest Jurassic limestone this climber has ever seen. Two expats, one American and one Brit, in search of adventure… The ledge I was standing on in this picture fell off from under the feet of my partner as he left.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Aug 21, 2018 - 03:33am PT
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My nomination is of the Regular route on the Rotwand in Eldo Canyon. Starts out by wading through enormous patches of poison ivy. First pitch is entirely fractured and is something like a pile of stacked-up large bricks/concrete blocks. Pull outwards on a hold--slides out like a drawer--don't like it? slide it back in. I think on the entire first lead I was able to get a single wired stopper that had maybe a 50% chance of holding a short fall. Last pitch has the only redeeming climbing, a piton protected small roof/overhang that went at 5.7 (old school ratings). The descent sucked since it too went through a forest of poison ivy.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Aug 21, 2018 - 09:17am PT
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I haven't done any of these but they are listed in guidebooks:
Cdn Rockies - "The Worst Route in the Rockies" and "Crapaloose"
Skaha - "A Real Piece of Shit" route description: an awful crack climb disowned by the first ascentionists
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