Sport route distribution in the Red.

Post by **caribe** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:37 pm

Tell not thy brother get thee to thine dwelling to copulate lest he respondeth in kind.

Post by **Pangea** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:43 pm

caribe, go home and make love to your significant other. i seem to remember a blatant cry for that from her a few pages back on this post.

And I thought I was being subtle but ashtray is on it!.

Post by **Wes** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:17 pm

In all my looking, I have never found a wall with several 5 star, 5.8 and under routes in the red. When the rock gets to the that angle, it is just isn't nearly as good. As someone who started in the rrg by hangdogging 5.7's and progressed to hangdogging 12's over the years, I can say that the climbing really does get much, much better on the harder lines. There are some cool easier routes out there, but not nearly as as many. And those of you that have started in the last few years at least have some options now, when I started leading there were like 5 under 5.8 sport routes, total.

The best place that I have been to for easy sport routes is maple, though not sure how many are 5 stars.

And Bill, I would disagree with that study, as the trad climbing in the red is generally not nearly as concentrated as the sport routes, but where it is (fortress) the impacts are pretty much the same. There is no trad area like the 10 wall at roadside, or the 12 wall at military. If there was, then I think you would see pretty much the same as you do at sport areas. Just check out the creek to see what impacts trad climbing can have...

Post by **512OW** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:31 pm

Funny, I can't think of any area I've climbed in that lends itself to quality 5.9 and under sport climbing... that is unless its super low angle slab.

Vedauwoo and Josh have TONS of easy routes.

The Red is steep... and the lower angle walls are generally of less quality. It DEFINITELY doesn't lend itself to easy sport climbing.

Now that I've climbed alot of sport in the Red, I can honestly say that the harder I climb, the more fun the routes become. For lots of reasons... pushing limits, creative movement, quality of rock, position, and aesthetics.

9 times out of 10, harder routes are just better. No question.

Post by **Wes** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:37 am

A more fun stat to look at, is what % of the total for new routes are 5.10 and under for the last 8 years, compared to the 8 years before that.

Post by **tomdarch** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:54 am

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the fact that almost every 13 and 14 in the US is given 4 or 5 stars?!? Baloney! There's no way that they're all that good. (and this is at basically all areas so it isn't a function of the rock)

Post by **Josephine** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:20 pm

tomdarch, that's an interesting point. of the 19 routes that came up when i searched 5.13 & 5.14 in the online guide they all have at least 4 stars. i can't wait until i'm an Elite Climber so i can finally get on the good routes!

I'm also surprised there's only 19 routes in those grades. i assumed there were lots of them since I thought the rock was better for hard routes.

Post by **Andrew** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:52 pm

There are way more than 19 routes 5.13 to 5.14

I found 72

Post by **Horatio Felacio** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:55 pm

there are 74 of them according to the search I did. 318 sport routes from 5.0-5.10d. 101 of those are in muir, 107 are in the southern region, 42 are in natural bridge area, then the rest are scattered around kinda evenly.

Post by **Josephine** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:33 am

typical me - i didn't realize i had to type 5.13a to 5.14d. apparently the A and D are important.