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rockfax
Aug 8, 2003, 1:40 AM
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The Owens River Gorge is one of the best sport climbing areas in the US.
What are your favorite climbs there?
I'm compiling a list for an Eastern Sierra Climbing guidebook.
The list so far is below.
Is there any more routes that people think I should add to this list?
all the best.......Mick
5.6
Clip Jr
5.7
Crotalulsley Challanged
5.8
Crowd Pleaser, Babushka
5.9
Welcome To The Gorge, Child Of Light, Heart Of The Sun, Don’t Look Down, Gangsta Lean
5.10a
Abitarot, Fear Of A Black Planet, Tsing Tao, Extreme Caffeine
5.10b
Show Us Your Tits, Sendero Luminosa, Don’t Look Up, Machine Gun Jumblies, Post Partum, Gorgeous
5.10c
Members Only, Cajun Barbeque, Melts In Your Mouth
5.10d
Love Stinks, Hardly Wallbanger, Peking Duck, Blood Sugar Sex Magik
5.11a
Crash Landing, O.R.G.asm, Walk The Yellow Line, Pick Pocket, Escapade
5.11b
Hungover, Expressway, Mandarin Orange, The Towering Inferno, Grindrite, Knucko's Pride Of The North, C'mon Knucko, Pop Goes The Weasel
5.11c
Menance To Sobriety, Lalaland, Venom, Ya Should'a Killed Me Last Year, Flex Your Head, Caldera, Thumbs Up, DWP
5.11d
From Chocolate To Morhine, Dr.Claw, Probation Violation, Sex, Pumping Groundwater
5.12a
Darshan, Hard Copy, Black Hole, Thieves In The Temple, Klingon, Sex Packets, Bazooka Country, Tower Line
5.12b
Enterprise, Pirahna, Flashflood
5.12c
Cry Baby, Gape Index, Loony Binge, Phasers On Stun, Faith No More, Baby Please
5.12d
Excelsior
5.13a
Hocus Pocus
5.13b
Shocker, Looney Tunes, Fight Club
5.13c
Sneak
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sbclimber
Aug 8, 2003, 2:11 AM
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Gorgeous is like 5.9/10a. I really like "Posers on the Rig", I think it is about 11b.
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alpnclmbr1
Aug 8, 2003, 2:43 AM
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A lot of good memories in that list.
Before the flood, Santana was my favorite climb in the gorge.
Skeleton’s in the closet would make my list.
Hard copy wouldn’t
George bush might make it except for the name
Orange peel used to be one of the most popular routes although the climbing is not that great.(location is everything?)
light within
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rockfax
Aug 8, 2003, 3:20 AM
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In reply to: Before the flood, Santana was my favorite climb in the gorge.
It still is accessible. There's a wooden belay seat at it's base.
Thanks for that.
Also if any one has any opinions on difficulty ratings they would be much appreciated.
Mick
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alpnclmbr1
Aug 8, 2003, 4:04 AM
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Thanks for the info on Santana, it’s worth a trip all by itself.
These are routes that I have been back on in the last ten years.(so take it with a grain of salt)
I always thought of Gorgeous as being a 10a, but it is harder then abitarot and easier then sendero
China doll is a good 8
Enterprise 12a/b? it is easier then flashflood and comparable to rip off
O.r.g.asm 11a for sure
Expressway 11a/b? easier then pickpocket
Knucko's Pride Of The North is easier then C'mon Knucko,
wish I still had my old guide with my old grade opinions.
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davidji
Aug 8, 2003, 4:14 AM
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Mick,
You could add these classics:
Pumping the Slots, 5.8, use gear
Dr. Evil, 5.10a
IMO you could remove Show us your Tits. It seems popular, but I think it's more for the name than the climbing.
I wanted to download the Costa Blanca guide, but as far as I could tell, you only sell hardcopies. Now I'm thinking it'll be too hot when I'm there anyway...
David
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fredbob
Aug 8, 2003, 4:53 AM
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In reply to: 5.10c Members Only, Cajun Barbeque, Melts In Your Mouth 5.10d Love Stinks, Hardly Wallbanger, Peking Duck, Blood Sugar Sex Magik 5.11a Crash Landing, O.R.G.asm, Walk The Yellow Line, Pick Pocket, Escapade 5.11b Hungover, Expressway, Mandarin Orange, The Towering Inferno, Grindrite, Knucko's Pride Of The North, C'mon Knucko, Pop Goes The Weasel 5.11c Menance To Sobriety, Lalaland, Venom, Ya Should'a Killed Me Last Year, Flex Your Head, Caldera, Thumbs Up, DWP 5.11d From Chocolate To Morhine, Dr.Claw, Probation Violation, Sex, Pumping Groundwater 5.12a Darshan, Hard Copy, Black Hole, Thieves In The Temple, Klingon, Sex Packets, Bazooka Country, Tower Line 5.12b Enterprise, Pirahna, Flashflood 5.12c Cry Baby, Gape Index, Loony Binge, Phasers On Stun, Faith No More, Baby Please
I'll throw my 2 cents worth in (even though according to some idiots I really haven't climbed anything here; ha!)
Light Within 10c is good
Warning Signs 10d is good
Santana 11b/c is classic
Orange Peal 10c is very good, even if it is popular
Skeletons In The Closet 11b is worthy
Mind Meld 12a is good
So is Phasers On Stun 12b
And Photon Torpedo 11a while your at it
And others....
For some reason Members Only was never a 4 star route for me.
Hungover is more like 10d/11a
Menace To Sobriety might be 11b, maybe.
If Expressway is 11a or even 11b, then nothing on the Pub Wall (with exception of High Ball) is harder than 10d; which come to think of it is probably true anyway.
Haven't done Flashflood in years, but remember it being 12a (maybe something broke?)
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alpnclmbr1
Aug 8, 2003, 5:07 AM
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I am pretty sure the upgrade on flashflood was due to a broken hold.
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smithclimber
Aug 8, 2003, 5:37 AM
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I agree with your list, but here's my opinions.
Hardly Wallbanger is 10c, not 10d
Abitarot 10a (more like 5.9)
Gary Gray 10b at the Pub
Another vote for Light Within 10c at the Pub
Hungover 11b (sure felt like 11b to me, I wouldn't downgrade it)
Nobody's mentioned Hammered 11b (also at the Pub), it's a pretty fun jug haul.
Nirvana 10a at the Social Platform isn't the best 10a in the gorge but is a decent warmup.
Expressway 11b at the Social Platform
Ambassadors of Funk 10b at the Negress Wall
Welcome to the Gorge 9, great warmup
High Seas 7 at the Warm Up Wall
Crowd Pleaser 8 at the Warm Up
Humbly, Mumbly, Jumbly 10 at the Warm Up
Babushka 8 at the Warm Up
Great Wall of China:
Child of Light 9
Heart of the Sun 9
China Doll 8
Tsing Tao 10a
Mandrin Orange 11b (can't believe nobody mentioned this one!)
Peking Duck 10d (felt easy for the grade, I'd give it 10c)
Solarium:
Show Us Your Tits 10b (it is more than a name, it's a really good climb)
Sendero Luminoso 10b (not quite as good as Show Us Your Tits, but very good nontheless)
Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik 10d at the Staying Powers
Dilithium Crystal:
Photon Torpedo 11b
Extreme Caffeine 10a
Gorgeous 10a (might be 10bish for some)
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kalcario
Aug 8, 2003, 5:51 AM
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Mind Meld 12a
Malcolm X 11d
Bloody Pawprints 11d
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alpnclmbr1
Aug 8, 2003, 9:57 PM
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bump
show us your tits 10b is a good route
abitorot would be a 9 in my book
not for sale 12d was one of the more popular hard routes in the gorge
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maculated
Aug 8, 2003, 10:11 PM
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I don't know if Clip Jr should be in that list. There are good 5.6's and other than being aesthetic in terms of photography, there's not much 'fun' involved.
Hey Wes, what was that last climb we did with the roof when you were visiting?
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rockfax
Aug 8, 2003, 11:56 PM
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In reply to: I don't know if Clip Jr should be in that list.
This is a list of the best routes at each difficulty rating...not necessarily the best routes in the Gorge irrespective of difficulty.
Hence at the 5.6 level you don't have that much choice in this area.
The whole point of the list is to direct climbers to the best routes at their ability level - which is even more important if they are on a short trip.
This is one of the purposes of a guidebook.
Mick
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hasbeen
Aug 9, 2003, 12:25 AM
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I can't remember many damned names but, let's see, I agree with some of the mentioned routes:
light within
escapade
santana
all that dilithium crystal stuff
gorgeous and the knucko's
show us... is steep and, maybe, boring but exceptional for the grade b/c it's so long and steep.
cry baby, is the route left of desire? if so, yes, very good!
desire is interesting, but short, but better than the credit is gets
choc to morph...
There are some cool cracks--or partial cracks--but I haven't a clue what they're called.
what's the 5.10 bolted crack next to wallbanger? it's very good, as is the steep route to the right, hammer-something
What's that long thing right of the Eldorado roof? It's really good.
On the China Wall, there's something that is 2 pitches. 2nd pitch is hard 11. It's excellent.
Man, can't remember but you're missing some really good long thin lines (some are now in water) on the east side of the north gorge--that long corner... you know...
And, my favorite route in the Gorge is the 2nd pitch of some 5.10, maybe Black Planet, certainly on that wall. But's it's an 11b slab--slick as slate--that has a flake through part of the pitch. Friggin' beautiful, I tell ya.
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rockfax
Aug 9, 2003, 1:40 PM
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SS....where the hell is Dolworth?
M
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yjchang
Aug 13, 2003, 11:02 PM
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Excellent thread. :P
Based on the list, I know what to do for my 1st visit to the gorge.
But, how's the weather over there during the end of September to early October??
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hasbeen
Aug 13, 2003, 11:47 PM
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Weather should be bueno.
Dolworth is currently peddling jewlery in Vegas. This is between his ranching gig in Goleta.
"Well I'll be damned." - Dolworth
"Most of us are." - Fardan
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cracksniffer
Aug 14, 2003, 12:46 AM
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my votes:
10A - Gorgeous
10B - Sendero Luminoso, Show Us Your Tits, George Bush
10C - Orange Peel, Hardly Wallbanger
10D - Timeless, Brothers in Arms, Warning Signs, Chossman of the Desert
11A - Escapade, O.R.G. asm, James Brown, Hungover, Love Stinks
11B - C' mon Knucko, Knucko's Pride, Expressway
11C - Santana, Probation Violation, Thumbs Up
11D - SEX (best route I've done @ Owens), From Chocolate to Morphine
12A - Desert Storm, Enterprise, Ripoff, Hardcopy
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pbjosh
Aug 14, 2003, 1:07 AM
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In reply to: I always thought of Gorgeous as being a 10a ... easier then sendero Knucko's Pride Of The North is easier then C'mon Knucko,
agreed on both
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