RRC Archives

First, I agree with dlewis: the higher into the grades you get, the less you have to wait for routes. Secondly, that guide was a stupid shit for saying the routes were "reserved". You can't reserve a damn climb! You should have asked him which rope he wanted to keep up, then pulled the other one. A lot of those "climbing clubs" are supposedly quarantined to certain crags to minimize impact.

Mj

Climbing clubs "should" have to get a special use permit, but most don't. They can be very annoying for sure, but there are some that are really good as well.

If you can climb 5.6 trad, you can always find some open routes, although they might not be very good.

If you can climbing 5.9 sport, you will usually have to wait/or climb with a bunch of people around.

If you can climb 5.10 trad, you can usually find good lines that are open, but you have to do some walking.

If you can climb 5.11 sport, you still might have to wait in line, but you will have more options.

If you can climb 5.11 trad, you will just about always have *** routes open.

If you can climb 5.12 sport, you will have plenty of options, but might have to wait for the "super classics" at some crags.

If you can climb 5.12 trad, you will have to bushwack all over the place to find FA's or repeate some of the published routes.

5.13 sport, many options, but there might be draws on the route already.

5.13 trad, FA's or Welcome to ol' Kentuck.

Wes

Yeah, I've had to wait for some 5.11s, especially at the popular crags. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to do one more 5.11 climb, and was at Left Flank and had to walk all the way to Hen-Ry to find an open route. The other 11s were fairly crowded. Maypop even had a couple of guys just top-roping it. Judging from the fact they couldn't get up to the first bolt, I knew that was a lost cause.

BTW: Hen-Ry is a fun climb. I think more people should get on it. Much more solid 5.11b than, say, aquaduck pocket.

Hen-ry is an awesome climb, super technical and thin beginning. I just did it last year and was amazed that I had not gotten on it anytime before. There aren't many "arete" type climbs in the gorge, which is a shame because I have noticed lots of aretes and fins that look like they would make great routes.

I prefer to hit people with a #12 BD stopper. If you attach a sling to it you don't even have to get that close.

Or a full Nalgene, ditto on attaching it to a sling.

cap their ass.

or cut the rope.

In my humble opinion the whole lead or top rope thing is over and done with. First party to the route gets their shot, whether they are hanging a TR or racking up to lead. Now that said the party should realize others might want to do the route (or are waiting 'in line' behind you) and not hog the route for hours on end. And the first party shouldn't get offended if a party asks to play thru. We have to realize we don't own the rock, there are other climbers out there, and if the parking area is full you can go somewhere else.
Speaking of clusters, just go to Seneca on a busy weekend and be prepared to wait. The first half an hour it can be mildly entertaining to watch all these groups try to struggle up multi-pitch with a couple of dozen other people climbing every which direction, then it gets painfull.

Wes, is pretty close. I've rarely had to wait for 5.11 or harder anywhere. But why is it that you always have these groups of 5-6 people always bogging down the 8's and 9's, with one person who can climb and the rest who can't?
On the other hand
I was at Torrent last fall and we just got to the crag and started warming up on Bandolier. Right behind us, a guy and women came up and the guy started getting all hot cussing and carrying on, because they would have to wait for his girlfriend to send her project before they could make the "long" drive back to Chicago. Well, we said she could use our draws after we were done with it. By the time we (4 of us) had climbed not only Bandolier but the route left of it as well, the woman had still not made it half way up Bandolier. In fact, by the time we had cleaned the other route and started heading over to the 5.12 wall, she was still dogging out the top. We were laughing about that one for awhile. Don't always assume the people in front of you are going to take forever, have a little #$%^ing patience!

No kidding. If I see a crowd at the base of a climb I want to do, I politely ask how many more people are going up. If it's only one or two more, I will wait around and even offer to clean the route for them and put my own rope on it. If it's more than I would like, I just tell them thanks and move on. If they offer to let me run on their gear, I will do so only if I am just burning to get on that route or they say they will be there a while and it's the only warm up around. Politeness is generally reciprocated at the crag, though you will run into your occasional prick.

Mj