What is your least favorite sport crag?

[THB]

Jordan, I agree with you, Chica Bonita is a PILE! I didn't like it and I'll hopefully never go back...

Sorry, Phil, you are over-ruled on this one, buddy! (And I like vert/slabby climbing...)

Speaking of good slab climbs, go climb on Snapper at the Lode, SO GOOD! Wait, huh? Slab at the Lode, what?? Plus, the RRG is good for it's overhung sport climbs... so climb on the overhung sport climbs! If you want good vert/slab sport climbs, go climb at the NRG. NRG is hands-down better than the RRG for slab/vert and can hold it's own against the RRG in terms of steep sport climbing.

[nik]

also saw someone almost kill themselves on the 9+ -- he fell going to the finishing flake, swung out, swung back in towards the wall, managing to clip himself into a draw at the second or third bolt, which swung him closer towards the wall, and he very nearly hit his head (at that point he was kind of "sideways," almost upside-down).

This sounds like a TR story, but it's more impressive when I picture the guy taking a lead fall and clipping himself into the 2nd bolt to avoid decking.

bcombs: totally agreed on the Unlode. Had a really fun[ny] day there with Paul and VA years ago, and haven't ever been back.

no, he was on lead...but i didn't explain it very well.

he managed to climb the route on lead up to that point but fell as he lunged sideways toward the flake such that when he fell his momentum carried him sideways across the rock, as well as the more typical, you know, down. and, somehow (and to this day i don't know exactly how it happened -- it happened so fast) as he came sideways the rope clipped itself into one of the draws down low which pulled the rope taut just a bit and caused him to very nearly hit his head on some sharp looking rock. he righted himself physically, had his girlfriend lower him, and then proceeded to fuss at her for "pulling him off the wall" although several witnesses agreed he fell of his own accord. he was visibly shaken (understandably) and was happy to agree to someone's offer to fetch his draws.

the good-hearted red river local who made the offer then walked the route in approach shoes which, i'm guessing, added to the embarrassment of the situation.

i've seen other shaky situations in my time in the red (and i'm sure most of you who climb there more than i do see stuff like this all the time), but this one was especially notable given just how close he came to serious, potentially life-threatening, injury. i'm not a licensed medical doctor, but my guess is that rock would've split his head like a coconut.

[pawilkes]

Jordan, I agree with you, Chica Bonita is a PILE! I didn't like it and I'll hopefully never go back...

Sorry, Phil, you are over-ruled on this one, buddy! (And I like vert/slabby climbing...)

Speaking of good slab climbs, go climb on Snapper at the Lode, SO GOOD! Wait, huh? Slab at the Lode, what?? Plus, the RRG is good for it's overhung sport climbs... so climb on the overhung sport climbs! If you want good vert/slab sport climbs, go climb at the NRG. NRG is hands-down better than the RRG for slab/vert and can hold it's own against the RRG in terms of steep sport climbing.

Snapper is a great FACE route, no way in hell that is slab

[Brentucky]

Jordan, I agree with you, Chica Bonita is a PILE! I didn't like it and I'll hopefully never go back...

Sorry, Phil, you are over-ruled on this one, buddy! (And I like vert/slabby climbing...)

Speaking of good slab climbs, go climb on Snapper at the Lode, SO GOOD! Wait, huh? Slab at the Lode, what?? Plus, the RRG is good for it's overhung sport climbs... so climb on the overhung sport climbs! If you want good vert/slab sport climbs, go climb at the NRG. NRG is hands-down better than the RRG for slab/vert and can hold it's own against the RRG in terms of steep sport climbing.

No way dude, Chica is way cool. "You Take Sally" and "That's What She Said" are some of the finest at their grades. Plenty of other cool routes there too.

[climb2core]

he managed to climb the route on lead up to that point but fell as he lunged sideways toward the flake such that when he fell his momentum carried him sideways across the rock, as well as the more typical, you know, down. and, somehow (and to this day i don't know exactly how it happened -- it happened so fast) as he came sideways the rope clipped itself into one of the draws down low which pulled the rope taut just a bit and caused him to very nearly hit his head on some sharp looking rock. he righted himself physically, had his girlfriend lower him, and then proceeded to fuss at her for "pulling him off the wall" although several witnesses agreed he fell of his own accord. he was visibly shaken (understandably) and was happy to agree to someone's offer to fetch his draws.

the good-hearted red river local who made the offer then walked the route in approach shoes which, i'm guessing, added to the embarrassment of the situation.

Ironically, during my only day there I had a remarkably similar experience. A guy fell near the chains on the 5.8. His brother was belaying and had out slack as well. The guy fell to within a few feet of the ground. He was visibly shaken. Then his brother (after laughing and making fun of him) proceeds to do the climb in his flip flops. Only he was not as solid as he apparently thought he was at the grade because he started gripping out near the top an barely clipped the chains.

[krampus]

Sorry, Phil, you are over-ruled on this one, buddy! (And I like vert/slabby climbing...)

You are clearly wrong THB, Chica Bonita is bad ass, not every rout is a gem but everything past cheaper than a movie is great.

[Wolf]

Jordan, I agree with you, Chica Bonita is a PILE! I didn't like it and I'll hopefully never go back...

Sorry, Phil, you are over-ruled on this one, buddy! (And I like vert/slabby climbing...)

Speaking of good slab climbs, go climb on Snapper at the Lode, SO GOOD! Wait, huh? Slab at the Lode, what?? Plus, the RRG is good for it's overhung sport climbs... so climb on the overhung sport climbs! If you want good vert/slab sport climbs, go climb at the NRG. NRG is hands-down better than the RRG for slab/vert and can hold it's own against the RRG in terms of steep sport climbing.

The New has the Red beat when it comes to vert routes, but the Red beats the New when it comes to slabby routes. Snapper is good, but vert. Ballscratcher, though, is slabby fun at the Lode. Swahili also looks amazing.

[captain static]

My vote for least favorite sport crag at teh Red is Global Village.

[camhead]

The New has the Red beat when it comes to vert routes, but the Red beats the New when it comes to slabby routes. Snapper is good, but vert. Ballscratcher, though, is slabby fun at the Lode. Swahili also looks amazing.

Uhhh, no. The sandstone of the NRG or the RRG is not really conducive to a lot of really good less-than-vertical routes (especially not pure smearing climbs), but the New definitely has mo'beta slabs than the RRG. Team Machine, Stretch Armstrong, Ruchert Motion, Pudcasso, Le Futuriste...

Oh, and I agree with the ancient comments on page one that Solar Collector is my least favorite crag at the Red. Its climbs are good, but there are none that really stand out, or are that memorable. Seriously, I think I've onsighted Buddha Hole like four times. With the people I climb with, Solar Collector is like Denny's; its where we go when nobody takes a stand and is psyched on a particular crag. We just sort of wind up there.

[toad857]

No, you wind up at Denny's because Denny's is totally awesome.

So...