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flamingfeet17
May 20, 2003, 12:34 AM
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I was just wondering what the hardest route in Utah is and where it's found
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alpinerocket
May 20, 2003, 1:03 AM
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Bolt Route BCC 5.4!!!!!! :lol:
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kennoyce
May 20, 2003, 1:10 AM
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i am pretty sure that the hardest route in utah is i scream in hell cave, american fork canyon. it is rated 5.14c, and has only had three ascents that i know of. boone speed, a hard ass from salt lake, i donīt remember his name, and dave grahm, i am not sure if sharma has done it. also there is a project that some say sill go at 5.15 in pipe dream cave, maple canyon, its called dreamtime extension, but i think that it will go at like 14c or easier. hope this helps.
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billburning
May 20, 2003, 1:29 AM
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How about Epitaph, 5.13+ crack climb on tiny gear or Infitada A6 on cottontail tower, or any number of Jim Beyers routes all over the state are probably a little harder than some 5.14 clip up.
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tradmanclimbs
May 20, 2003, 2:24 AM
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:twisted: Just about any 5.10+R gearless sandy chimny that you need goggles, a snorkle, serious life insurance and a prayer to get up is going to be harder than a clip up, regardless of the grade. Just ask the One armed dude with the pocket knife, I'm sure he will be able to steer you twords somthing exciteing :twisted:
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fieldmouse
May 20, 2003, 4:40 AM
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In reply to: How about Epitaph, 5.13+ crack climb on tiny gear or Infitada A6 on cottontail tower, or any number of Jim Beyers routes all over the state are probably a little harder than some 5.14 clip up.
finally someone with some sense.
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cory
May 20, 2003, 4:58 AM
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As far as the hardest free climb goes, Psychadellic, 14d, at the Gorilla cliffs is my guess.
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rockprodigy
May 20, 2003, 4:59 AM
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There's a 14d at the Gorilla Cliff in Santa Clara. Dave Graham did it a year and a half (?) ago, and to my knowledge it hasn't been repeated. Boone Speed worked it for awhile and couldn't do it. It's very bouldery, not very long...50' or so.
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rockprodigy
May 20, 2003, 5:03 AM
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In reply to: Psychadellic, 14d, at the Gorilla cliffs is my guess
...that's what I was talking about.
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photon
May 20, 2003, 2:41 PM
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Since none of you "bad ass" armchair mountaineers has even the faintest idea of what it takes to climb 5.11, let alone 5.14, your basesless comparisons are humorous and revealing. You may as well give your opinion on brain surgery compared to piloting an F-15 or something it's just as valid and less prone to come under scrutiny on this site at least.
I'm assuming the person who started this thread was wandering what the hardest free climbing rock route in Utah was, not who the biggest idiot on this site was? I agree with the lazy boyz/girlz though, generally an impossible question to answer.
Hardest crack climb- maybe it is Dean's "new" climb (which I believe was "worked" in a sport climbing fashion over many tries over several years to be able to finally do it.) Obviously there are a ton of hard crack's in S. Utah. I can guarantee you though that Dean will never be able to (or want to) send the hardest sport routes in Utah. So that nullifies his climb, right? (armchair mountaineers logic sucks, no?)
Hardest sport route- Take your pick Psychedelic, Ice Scream or Nec Evil, (no AZ climbers had really anything to do with the VRG, so it's a Utah crag imo) Teach Dave how to use a cam he could probably send most any crack in Utah within a month or so, like Sharma and every other good sport climber who cared to dabble.
That's a hard pill to swallow isn't it "trad" dudes! Probably the greatest day of trad climbing ever, The Nose free, was done by a woman sport climber! Ha ha ha ha that is rich! oh yeah right behind her, Yuji, Huber bros, Tommy Caldwell, (all card carrying die-hard "sport climbers"),
Well, actually, they are just pure climbers who don't let training and close mindedness get in their way.
so the answer is, climb it all or you won't be able to have as much fun
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w6jxm
May 20, 2003, 3:12 PM
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You did not answer the question either photon. Why don't you take tham imaginary cam of yours and stick it up your butt where it belongs before you start bashing others for the very thing you did not do either.
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brianinslc
May 20, 2003, 3:31 PM
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In reply to: Since none of you "bad ass" armchair mountaineers has even the faintest idea of what it takes to climb 5.11, let alone 5.14, your basesless comparisons are humorous and revealing. You may as well give your opinion on brain surgery compared to piloting an F-15 or something it's just as valid and less prone to come under scrutiny on this site at least.
Does fixin' F-16's count? (...har har...sorry, couldnt' resist)
From my armchair, my non bad ass wonders:
Has anyone repeated Dog Eat Dog at the S-Curves in Big Cottonwood?
How 'bout a ground up on site ascent of Sheer Lunacy (straight up, not jog right) in Zion? Free climb of Space Shot or Touchstone in Zion?
Enquiring mountaineers want to know...(stirrups and jumars for me)...
Brian in SLC
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photon
May 20, 2003, 3:56 PM
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w6... I did list some of the hardest climbs in Utah and tried to make a point which obviously was lost on you. Please do what you want with your climbing pro and your imagination, I'll use my gear for climbing rocks.
"Does fixin' F-16's count? (...har har...sorry, couldnt' resist)"
only if you try to relate it to something you have no idea about.
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hasbeen
May 20, 2003, 5:17 PM
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I guess the word "hard" is just too subjective but, really, it must mean the most physically challenging route. I know this isn't fashionable with the "mountaineers" but the best climbers sport climb really friggin' hard. I mean, name anyone that does hard stuff in the mountains, Potter, Thaw, Hill, Destiveville, Yuji, Hubers, Holding, Vickers, Dunne, Glowacz, Gerhson... on and on and on. All of those people sport climb like mad. They may not redpoint the hardest routes (though some of 'em have), but they're right there. They certainly never use any lame rational like, "I'd never clip a bolt", which is just someone's excuse to be lazy and not train or ever really push themselves. Good climbers like to test their limits, no matter what the terrain. Since only a lunatic would push safety limits on a daily basis, every world class climber I've ever met or climbed with will pretty much climb anything, anytime, and don't care whether they lead, toprope, clip bolts, or dicker with crap gear, as long as they are going up.
Think Lynn Hill's pretty tough? She once said to me (when I was trying to use rational to be lazy, like saving something to lead), "never turn down an open toprope."
As for Beyers' routes, have any of you people ever done any hard aid climbing? I mean, it's friggin' easy physically. Christ, anyone can hook a little edge and walk up some ets. I've copperhead "bouldered" and stood on some insane placements. Is it hard? No. It hardly feels like climbing at all. When something blows you don't even feel like you'll fall. You're just standing like and Ping, you're off. What this is, for certain, is scary. Like Mr. Way once said in the Mountain Room, "I've never been so bored and so scared in all my life. Every second I though I was gonna die but I was so bored I didn't care." Hard aid takes some engineering skill and a cool head. Is this "hard"? I guess. Though I'll bet the hardest aid pitches ever will be put up by someone on the verge on sanity, not the "best" climber. After all, Eric Cohl, who's done some of the hardest, did em all with two fat boy Old English cans duct taped to his harness, with the cry of "hard aid is too scary to do sober!" Personally, I don't think this is what the posed question was looking for as an answer.
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billburning
May 20, 2003, 6:09 PM
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In reply to: As for Beyers' routes, have any of you people ever done any hard aid climbing? I mean, it's friggin' easy physically. Christ, anyone can hook a little edge and walk up some ets. I've copperhead "bouldered" and stood on some insane placements. Is it hard? No. It hardly feels like climbing at all.
Wow. And you know Lynn Hill? You are SOOOOOOO fucking cool.
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hasbeen
May 20, 2003, 6:53 PM
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It's not exactly the NFL we're talking about. The climbing community is a tiny little world. Climb long enough and you're likely to meet just about everyone you've ever read about.
A surfing friend of mine was perusing a climbing mag and read something in an interview where someone was complaining about young climbers that climbed only for fame and glory. He said something like,
"Is this a joke? Someone who would take up climbing as a means of becoming famous would have to be the most misguided person on the planet."
This was a while ago but last I heard, Chris Sharma wasn't building a mansion in Bel Air. What we do is the ultimate sport of passion (except maybe freediving).
But, hey, you live in Durango. You must know Bob Roll. Now THAT would be COOL.
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on_sight_man
May 20, 2003, 7:20 PM
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So far? Battle of the Bulge (didn't send).
Oh, you meant for ANYONE! I wouldn't know.
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moonshine
May 21, 2003, 12:06 AM
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the one you take a lead fall on and snap your spine or crush your skull or that rips your testicles off.
or if your a petite woman with extra small hands, free solo supercrack.
or belaying at maple canyon when someone pulls a large cobble free and drops in on your un helmeted head.
or the one you take your newbie girlfriend on and never see her again.
all of these rate high in difficulty.
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fieldmouse
May 21, 2003, 12:12 AM
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the hardest route i ever did in utah was the long walk to my car from the brewpub in moab, realizing I just spent my last 30 bucks and was even more sober than when I started drinking there.
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dlintz
May 21, 2003, 2:00 AM
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fieldmouse wrote:
In reply to: the hardest route i ever did in utah was the long walk to my car from the brewpub in moab, realizing I just spent my last 30 bucks and was even more sober than when I started drinking there.
Amen brotha!
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billburning
May 21, 2003, 3:09 AM
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In reply to: Since none of you "bad ass" armchair mountaineers has even the faintest idea of what it takes to climb 5.11, let alone 5.14, your basesless comparisons are humorous and revealing. You may as well give your opinion on brain surgery compared to piloting an F-15 or something it's just as valid and less prone to come under scrutiny on this site at least.
That's hilarious because I do climb 5.11 cracks and I have aided plenty of hard desert mank. Your assumptions are both humorous and revealing. Dick. Oh and photon, you live in Kansas and climb at Wild Iowa, the grid bolted home of the z-clip and the most inflated grades anywhere. When I road trip out east this summer I'm stopping by so I can onsite my first "5.12d". Now that's funny.
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socalbolter
May 21, 2003, 4:00 AM
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although i've enjoyed reading this thread as it progressively become less and less recognizable as a response to the original query, and became more of the all too familiar bashing contest, i still think that it might have taken an interesting turn without directly meaning to.
therefore, i propose a new question:
in each of the different disciplines (sport, trad, aid, bouldering, ice, mixed, etc.) what would be the most difficult ascent?
although i'm mainly a sport climber these days, i can't help but appreciate the top efforts of the other styles. i'm hoping that i am not in the minority on this.
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k9rocko
May 21, 2003, 4:23 AM
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The hardest route in Utah is the trip to the liquor store. I give that one 5.13R. Yeah... laugh it up you 5.14 climbers with 12 QD's. Lets see if you can make it in, and out with 12 of something I would be interested in drinking. No Miller for me, try something with an EtOH content suited for adults.....
Seriously, I hope you find your hardest route. Meanwhile I will focus on stuff I can actually climb. Somthing in the 5.2, 5.3 class....
peace...
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rockprodigy
May 21, 2003, 4:27 AM
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Wow, now this thread's gettin' good.
I think the best way to determine "what style is the hardest", is to estimate the chances of something being repeated.
If Steve House does some sick alpine route, there's probably another climber in the world who could repeat it, given good conditions and the desire. However, there just aren't that many alpinists pushing those limits, and those that are would rather do their own new routes, than repeat others.
That goes for all the sick aid routes, or obscure trad routes. Heck, I've done 5.11 trad routes in Ogden that haven't been repeated, that doesn't mean they're the hardest routes in the state, it's just that nobody wants to climb them, and I don't blame them. The only reason I did 'em was to get the FA.
When it comes to hard sport routes, they get tried more, and it's easier to say, that if you took all the best sport climbers and had them try psychedelic, or I Scream, etc....few of them would be able to send it. Dog Eat Dog, on the other hand, could probably be sent, same with Epitaph, if Huber, or Caldwell, or Hirayama tried it.
If you look at it like that, I think the hardest sport routes are usually "the hardest route".
Don't get me wrong, I climb trad, alpine, ice, etc. more than anyone I know, but I sport climb too (as hasbeen said, it's good training) and I respect the hardest sport routes and climbers.
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stickclipper
May 21, 2003, 4:36 AM
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the hardest route is Beyer's. A6. Any idea what that means? Takes a helluva more than walkin up ets.
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