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pbjosh
Jan 15, 2004, 1:54 AM
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(This was lost in the depths of a thread about Suzy's Discharge and it was suggested that I repost it here).
Please feel free to comment on grades or worthwhileness or anything else, as well as make additions / deletions, I've added some stuff.
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The real place to crack climb in San Diego is Woodson. Here's a good way to start. I put solo next to the ones that tend to get soloed more or that make more sense, as obviously anything COULD be soloed if you wanted. I wouldn't recommend solo'ing at Woodson much on stuff that you don't have wired. You look at the height, landing and climbing though and be the judge :)
Elsa's Crack 5.6 hands/fingers - lead, solo or TR from gear
Backside of righthand entrance boulder 5.7 fists - boulder (also the downclimb, could counterweight rappel)
Poison Oak Crack 5.7 fists - lead or solo (rappel or downclimb the route)
Tower 2 crack 5.7 hands/fingers - lead or solo
Sickle Crack 5.8 OW - lead or TR from bolts
Sunday Afternoon Boulder 5.8 crack - lead or TR from gear or solo
Slant Crack 5.9 hands - boulder
John's Crack 5.9 hands - boulder
Sunday Afternoon Boulder 5.9 hands - lead or TR from gear or solo
Sunday Afternoon Boulder 5.9 crack - lead or TR from gear or solo
Baby Robbin's Crack 5.9 off fingers - boulder
Grainstorm hand crack 5.9 hands - solo or TR from gear
Grainstorm finger crack 5.9 fingers - solo or TR from gear
Out of Sight 5.9 hands - lead, TR from gear or solo
Eric's Crack 5.9 squeeze/OW - TR from above, belayer sits in crack
Milkbar 5.9 lieback - TR from gear or solo
Robbin's Crack 5.10a hands - lead or solo
Elephant's Trunk 5.10a hands - boulder
Rockwork Orange 5.10a hands - lead, solo or TR from gear
Big Grunt 5.10a chimney - boulder (once you're in it it's secure, start is probably harder than 10a)
Hamburger Crack 5.10a hands - boulder
Blackfinger 5.10a lieback - boulder or TR from gear
Airplane Crack 5.10b fingers - lead or TR from gear
Manuel's Horror 5.10b hands/fists - lead, solo or TR from slung block
Backside of the Ogre 5.10b hands - lead
Crucible 5.10b OW - TR from bolts or lead
Marshmallow Tower crack 5.10c fingers & traverse - lead
Monkey Crack 5.10c hands/fists - TR from gear or lead
Razor's Edge 5.10d lieback - TR from bolts or solo
Digit's Delight 5.10d fingers - lead, solo or TR from bolts
Bat Flake 5.10d fists/OW - TR from bolts
Left Longs Crack 5.10d lieback - TR from bolts
Ride the Lightening 5.10d cupped hands, wicked steep - TR from gear or solo
Mariah 5.10d OW - dunno?
Jaws 5.11a fingers to hands - TR from gear or solo
If you get through this, here're are some classic hard cracks
Ogre 5.11a OW to hands to fingers - lead or TR from bolts
Test Tube 5.11a Fingers/Funk - TR from gear
California Night 5.11b fingers - boulder or TR from bolts
Werner's Wish 5.11b fingers / hands - TR from gear
Hear My Train Acomin' 5.11c fingers - solo or TR from bolts (realistically 5.12)
Fall Semester 5.11c lieback - TR from gear, burly
Columbo Crack 5.11c tips/fingers - TR from bolts or solo
Summertime Blues 5.11c tips/seam - TR from bolts (Kennedy lists as unknown 12a fingers on Tower 1, this is on the rock that supports Tower 1, facing down towards Aid's Victim and Hear My Train Acomin')
Hard as Nails 5.11c tips/fingers - lead or TR from gear
Driving South 5.11d fingers - solo or TR from gear - steep!
Mother Superior 5.11d OW to fingers - TR from bolts
Right Longs Crack 5.11d OW - TR from bolts, need spotter as well
Starving in Stereo 5.12a fingers - TR from bolts or lead, stellar!
Aid's Victim 5.12a tips/seam - TR from bolts
PhD 5.12a tips/seam - TR from bolts or lead, longest route at Woodson
Vice Principal's Office 5.12a fists - TR or lead?
Undertow 5.12a OW roof - TR or lead?
Widow Bereft 5.12a fingers - TR?
Lie Detector 5.12b tips - TR from bolts, lead or solo
Robbin's Crack is the most classic and good training for hands. When you're really solid on it and can lead it with one piece of gear, think about solo'ing it, the crux is low. Then down solo it. This is the first real Woodson right of passage.
Hear My Train Acomin' is definitely the crack to work towards at Woodson, it is very demanding, very classic, very sandbagged, and earns you some bragging rights. Soloing it , you pass the Woodson hardman test or something like that - definitely a right of passage beyond Robbin's Crack.
Some stuff that I haven't tried yet includes Undertow and VP's Office as well as Donny's Par 3, Widow Bereft, Spring Break, nor Laverne, Shirley or the .12b thing on K2 or Everest.
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dmr
Jan 15, 2004, 5:12 AM
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That's an amazing amount of quality crack boulder problems. Most days you can have the whole place to yourself.
A couple of others that I thought were worthwhile:
Black Finger 5.10a fingers or lieback
Monkey Crack 5.10c thin to fists near top
Werner's Wish 5.11b thin hand traverse to vertical thin crack
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pbjosh
Jan 15, 2004, 7:33 AM
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Good call I added them to the above.
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amedee
Jan 16, 2004, 9:59 PM
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THIS IS NOT MY LIST. I do not know the author. I copied it from another post on this site because I enjoy the cracks at Woodson and eventually want to climb the harder stuff. It is a little redundant but I like the descriptions.
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Jaws.
check, fantastic
California Night.
hard... makes Jaws seem like a hike
Colombo Crack.
haven't tried it...
Blackfinger.
good easy fun
Bat Flake.
way way hard
Hear My Train 'A Comin.
almost, makes California Night seem easy
Mother Superior.
makes bat flake look like 3rd class
Robbin's Crack.
the ueber classic
Digits Delight.
harder than it looks, rad
Boulder 13.
dunno this one
Maria's Crack.
not bad
Crucible.
fantastic. full body workout. right shoulder exfoliation treatment.
Monkey Crack.
way fun.
Undertow.
haven't found it
Drivin' South.
brutal, need to work on it some more
Razor's Edge.
pull hard and go fast
Sickle Crack.
way fun
Lie Detector.
so so so thin
Manuel's Horror.
good fun
Firefly.
haven't found it
The Ogre.
haven't tried it
The Test Tube.
looks awkward, haven't tried it
Don't forget:
Baby Robbins. Rockwork Orange. Out of Sight. Fall Semester. Right Long's Crack. Left Long's Crack. Hard As Nails (personal favorite). Aid's Victim. Mariah's OW. Eric's Crack. Slant Crack. Big Grunt. John's Crack. Starving in Stereo...
_____________________
Does Milkbar deserve a mention?
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njari
Jan 22, 2004, 6:33 AM
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Thanks for the lists!
Since I saw this Pic of Sickle Crack, I've really wanted to give it a go.(http://www.giantsoftware.com/sdcc/photo_gallery/woodson/sickle.html)
http://www.giantsoftware.com/...on_photos/sickle.jpg
Last time I tried to get to it, the brush was way to thick to bushwhack. Does it clear up at a certain time of the the year? How do you get back there?
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pbjosh
Jan 22, 2004, 6:45 AM
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There's a pretty good trail heading down there... head around the NW side of the painted boulders and off downhill on some trails until you come to the top of a really large boulder and cut around the uphill side of it, and down the far shoulder/side (still on a good trail) - you'll pass a huge cairn that people use to get up into a slot from which a crack starts. From here the trail continues down and right and deposits you at the uphill end of the boulder that Sickle Crack is on. It's on the downhill end. Pretty easy to find. Trail is in good shape last I saw it.
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towshab
Jan 23, 2004, 3:22 AM
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Beause of its absence from the lists I assume that Airstream has been overlooked in your climbing ventures at Woodson, for what it is worth, I highly recommend it. As grades go at Woodson this website's suggested rating of 12d seems somewhat inflated. Give it a go I'd love to hear what you guys think.
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matisse
Jan 23, 2004, 10:41 PM
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12d seems a bit inflated for Airstream to me too.
probably more like 12b.
needs a new bolt on top.
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pbjosh
Jan 23, 2004, 11:20 PM
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In reply to: needs a new bolt on top.
Guess in looking at it it looks more like a slab climb to me than a crack but I have not been on it yet - you're right. I should hopefully be getting a rotohammer soon which will greatly increase my motivation and speed at replacing crappy Woodson anchors. Hand drilling is getting old :)
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automaticman
Jan 26, 2004, 10:14 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: needs a new bolt on top. Guess in looking at it it looks more like a slab climb to me than a crack but I have not been on it yet - you're right. I should hopefully be getting a rotohammer soon which will greatly increase my motivation and speed at replacing crappy Woodson anchors. Hand drilling is getting old :)
Hopefully nobody goes around chopping them like they did on alchoa
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asandh
Feb 4, 2004, 5:23 PM
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:D
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bubbatolius
Feb 4, 2004, 5:38 PM
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I concur, Alcoa take perfect pro. Stairway to heaven also takes good pro but you are right setting it up can be a bit scary. I have climbed stairway more times then I can count using the natural pro and never had problems. As far as I am concerned they are convenience bolt. I'm not into chopping bolts or into placing unessecary bolts so my advice is to just let them be. Like the bolts on Uncertainty Principle I think they were unessesary but I sure regret missing out on leading that climb before the got yanked! Just go with the flow (another great climb by the way...)
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asandh
Feb 4, 2004, 5:45 PM
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:?
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pbjosh
Feb 4, 2004, 5:50 PM
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In reply to: Re: the chopped bolts on Alcoa that climb takes excellent pro, if you disagree then you don't know how to use pro. It has been that way for many years. I did not chop the bolts and am neutral on the issue but I guarantee as long as there are still climbers around who climbed Woodson in the 80's or earlier, any bolts on Alcoa will get chopped. Now the climb next to it "Stairway to Heaven" may be a different story. Takes good pro but pretty awkward to set up. PBJosh, if you have a list of bolts you think should be replaced, we can probably help you. We replaced around 40 back in 2002 but there are still many more. Art San Diego Climbers Coalition
Heya Art,
I've replaced a fair number up there over the past few years, usually when I go uncover some obscure thing that I want to get on or if it's something that I get on more than once that has lousy bolts (I replaced the second of the two buttonheads atop Uncertainty, and put the new rap bolt on Marshmallow Tower, which used to feature a single 30 year old 1/4" with a flexing hanger for a fun rappel - some other obscure stuff as well). I have a list floating around somewhere... if there's going to be another Woodson adopt-a-crag day I'll be sure to make it.
How do folks feel about 1 or 2 bolts atop Hard As Nails? I usually take a short rope up there and the boulder is so big it's a pain in the ass to counterweight off it, and the descent is otherwise a funky 5.10 slab... Looks like there used to be a bolt up there (way old 5/16" shaft sticking out)...
Oh yeah, the bolts atop Right Long's Crack aren't looking super hot - old non stainless 3/8" that are rusted like mad as I recall. I'll replace them at some point. Also downhill of Hard As Nails is that big split boulder with a pair of aretes. The 5.10 arete (on the left when looking at it from below) has nice bolts, the 5.11 arete has a pair of nasty old 1/4" rust mongers with homemade hangers.
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asandh
Feb 4, 2004, 6:04 PM
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:D
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td
Feb 4, 2004, 6:50 PM
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[quote="asandh"]
We're a bit busy bolting somewhere else right now but ...
Art,
I'm surprised you would call attention to that bolting on a public forum,
if you're talking about any area that's supposed to be closed.
--tom
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td
Feb 4, 2004, 8:47 PM
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Nice list. Good to see more consensus on ratings.
Here's a few more cracks for you:
Laverne is excellent and easy to get to. Hand sized start, mostly fingers, about 11c toprope. Also leadable. Just park in the big dirt parking lot and it's the crack about 40 yards up the hill. Shady in the morning.
The short thin 11a-ish crack #37 in Kennedy is fun - no rope needed.
Sorta cracklike: 5.10a on the Outside is ok, as is Scream Seam
Dudleys Crack is about 11b, harder than it looks, just past Retro.
The crack on the SE side of Grand Central Station is a good 10c. Called Rock On in Kennedy book. Left of Widow (12a/b) & aid route.
opinions on ratings (source of interminable discussion)
Many are finger size dependent.
I'd call Fall Semester 11b, Aids Victim 11d, Mariah 10c (easier than Bat Flake), I agree on Train being harder than 11c.
I don't see how you could lead Lie Detector without it being mostly a solo through the crux, unless you preplaced wires tiny enough to not get in the way. Or you could sew it up as a 5.13 lead.
Spring Break is excellent, about 11d? (though I have only tried & failed)
Some of the hardest cracks I've never done are more thin seams, kinda like Airstream, so thin they're more like face climbing: Fade to Black, Donny's Par 3, Welcome Home, I would Die for You, Korean Cowboy, Sineater.
Leavitt's 5.12 crack/lieback America's Finest City is too powerful for me, on the rock below K2.
--tom
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pbjosh
Feb 5, 2004, 3:54 AM
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In reply to: Laverne is excellent and easy to get to. Hand sized start, mostly fingers, about 11c toprope. Also leadable. Just park in the big dirt parking lot and it's the crack about 40 yards up the hill. Shady in the morning.
I bushwacked up there once on recon, looked cool. I'll get back to it for sure now that the fire has removed the brush there. Also want to check out Shirley and in general explore that hillside.
In reply to: The short thin 11a-ish crack #37 in Kennedy is fun - no rope needed. Sorta cracklike: 5.10a on the Outside is ok, as is Scream Seam
I've done Scream Seam, ok but not notworthy really... Never been to the other two.
In reply to: Dudleys Crack is about 11b, harder than it looks, just past Retro.
Also not really a crack climb heh, liebacking and face climbing.
In reply to: The crack on the SE side of Grand Central Station is a good 10c. Called Rock On in Kennedy book. Left of Widow (12a/b) & aid route.
I haven't been over there in a long while and when I was there just solo'd the 5.9 fingers and the 5.9 dihedral, but I want to get back over there for Widow Bereft soon so I'll check that out.
In reply to: Many are finger size dependent. I'd call Fall Semester 11b, Aids Victim 11d, Mariah 10c (easier than Bat Flake), I agree on Train being harder than 11c.
Hard to say, I tried to go with the consensus of ratings as I've heard them. Aid's Victim is f-all hard for me, Fall Semester is pretty burly and hard to get off the ground for sure. For what it's worth I think California Night is .11d, and Hear My Train Acomin' and Driving South are both probably .12a or .12b.
In reply to: I don't see how you could lead Lie Detector without it being mostly a solo through the crux, unless you preplaced wires tiny enough to not get in the way. Or you could sew it up as a 5.13 lead.
I guess that yeah you'd do it with a pad, I guess I assume it's been done but have no clue. Most people TR most stuff up there in reality, myself included :)
In reply to: Spring Break is excellent, about 11d? (though I have only tried & failed)
Haven't been there yet... I'll have to find that and VP's Office and Undertow this season, never made it to them last season.
In reply to: Some of the hardest cracks I've never done are more thin seams, kinda like Airstream, so thin they're more like face climbing: Fade to Black, Donny's Par 3, Welcome Home, I would Die for You, Korean Cowboy, Sineater.
I haven't done most of those, calling Korean Cowboy or I would die for you any kind of crack climb is really stretching it though :) Technically they are cracks in the rock but yowsa, no jamming there!
In reply to: Leavitt's 5.12 crack/lieback America's Finest City is too powerful for me, on the rock below K2.
I have never been over to K2 or Everest... figure I'll wait until I'm stronger to check out more of those things, plenty to keep busy w/ at Woodson lately.
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towshab
Feb 10, 2004, 4:05 AM
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Has anyone climbed the nice looking dihedral on the left side of the 67 heading east bound before you get to woodson. It is on the other side of a small valley, about 40 to 50 feet in height, and appears to have a small crack in the back of it. I was just interested because i have always wanted to go and try it but never had the motivation.
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chauky
Oct 14, 2005, 6:37 AM
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On my last trip to San Diego, I climbed an off-width/chimney that shares an edge with Big Man on Campus. I'm not sure if this is one of the Grainstorm finger/hands cracks that's on the ladder list, I think Kennedy calls it Arch crack. I know this thread has been idle for awhile, but I just wanted to add to my ticks.
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snowey
Apr 8, 2009, 1:01 AM
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I believe that area is called rexroads.
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glahhg
Apr 8, 2009, 1:25 AM
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I love woodson cracks!
A couple of comments:
I'm gonna say it: The Bat Flake is harder than Mother Superior!!!
Also: Hear my train a comin feels impossible... until you get it... then it feels 11c.
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glahhg
Apr 8, 2009, 1:46 AM
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[quote "towshab"]Has anyone climbed the nice looking dihedral on the left side of the 67 heading east bound before you get to woodson. It is on the other side of a small valley, about 40 to 50 feet in height, and appears to have a small crack in the back of it. I was just interested because i have always wanted to go and try it but never had the motivation.[/quote]
That thing is about 5.9...
Some buddies and I went to check out that area once. After parking on the side of the road Idiot #1 and I decide "fuck it all", we're gonna thrash straight down and make a direct line for that crack. My two non-idiot friends decided they'd walk around and try to find a trail.
Well the manzanita gets thicker and thicker and we find ourselves belly-crawling and charging through the thick brush, when we hear some hollering and look up and see those assholes onsight-soloing our line. Fuckers! After half an hour of thrashing we make it to the rock to find a trail you could ride a bike on leading right to the car. And then we had poison oak for 2 weeks. I love Woodson!
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