Soul Ram

Post by **SCIN** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:52 am

Those lines sound insane man. The sick vert sends always kinda impressed me more than insane enduro sends like the .14d lines in France. Ever see or hear about that sick 5.15 slab that John Dunne put up? I remember reading about it years ago but never heard too much more about it. I think the sick vert lines at the Red get less repeats than the tough overhanging lines. I'm not sure if it's lack of interest or just the fact that vert lines are on average more difficult to bag than tough vertical lines.

Post by **Power2U** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:58 am

One-Fall:

Lets see Soul Ram is harder than:
Rifleman
OJ
Tissue Tiget
Buff the Wood
Super Slab
Ale-8-1
and the list goes on...

I want to get on it next weekend as it is sure to be wet this weekend... call me. I have been on it twice and it is powerful at the start and then never lets up.

Excellent.

Check out Casselphotography.com, gallery, red river2, and then the last couple of picts on that galery for 3 pictures of soul ram.

Post by **the lurkist** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 4:41 pm

I agree with you SCIN. Those vert lines are way harder (for me anyway) to do than a like graded enduro route. The holds are so small, so far apart, and so unforgiving.
OOAL, fuck.... I could barely do the moves with an assist from the TR.

Post by **One-Fall** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 6:25 pm

Hugh, if you think the holds are far apart . . . I am in a lot of trouble.

Post by **SikMonkey** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:55 am

No, the holds aren't far apart on Soul Ram. Hell, there are very few reachy moves if you ax me, and I am short.

Mj

Post by **rockman** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:38 pm

If you Ax me... NOBODY AXED YOU!

ITS NOT ABOUT YOOOOOUU!

Your just SIK.

Post by **SikMonkey** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:13 pm

BWAA HAAA HAAA HAAA! I am the SikNess Monster!

Mj

Post by **ATLdude** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:21 pm

Soul ram is much harder than OJ or those others (I think) not incl OOAL. Kinda like Super Slab (from the real start)- BUT, with no rests and smaller holds

Those old Porter vert. lines are really worth trying- great moves, usually good stone. Soul ram is awesome. I hear the bolts have been fixed- thanks guys- that shit was scary and girlie wants to try it

Post by **ninesixfour** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:15 am

Soul Ram is classic, and much easier on the brain with modern gear. The old spinning bolt at the crux did not inspire confidence.
OOAL is much, much harder.

Post by **Astroman** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:17 pm

You know I agree, 964. The day we climbed Soul Ram, we had to convince ourselves that we wouldn't hit the ground if/when the mangled crux bolt pulled (it was loose in the hole). It certainly added excitement to an already intimidating route. Definitely a very classic pitch.

CM actually climbed it a few times that day... we made a deal that if he top-roped it with no falls he would then have to lead it... He wanted to jump off so badly up up high on his TR burn...

As far as the difficulty goes... it may be a little harder than OJ but Hugh gave that route a rating of 12b back in the day... which might make Soul Ram soft 12c. And if Soul Ram is 12c, then Out On a Limb is 13c. The crimps on OOAL make Soul Ram feel like a jug haul.

HL mentioned Reed's Fairhope at Rumbling Bald (perhaps still unrepeated)... but Porter's vertical crimp fest-a-thons on the same wall, Spry Look (12b) and Battery Brides (12d), are also amazing (especially Spry Look with some of the best sustained 5.12 face climbing in NC). Both have total old-school, sandbag ratings (especially Spry Look). And Battery Brides is just painfully hard (it has the sharpest single hold I've ever wailed on).