RRC Archives

Question:

Along time ago there was a dead tree hangning over the top of Stunning The Hog and I don't thinnk you could finish the climb / do the mantle at the top. You can actually stretch pretty far off of the jug at the lip and clip the anchors and skip the mantle move. This tree probably casued a lot of people to "do" the route with out doing the mantle.

I was wondering who has been on this climb and what they think about the mantle finish. Do you have to do the mantle finish to tick the route

Just looking for a consensus opinion..I'll tell you mine after a few other coments.

Being that BBerlier doesn't get on here to often I'll put in his two cents!

Yes, he has done the mantle finish and it's not bad, just dirty. FUn, pumpy route!

this route is hard, if I clip the chains I am happy-the mantle isn't that bad. fun actually

the mantle is like a 5.8 mantle on humongous jugs. i don't think it matters.

this route looks burly as shit, even after watching some little 12 yr old fly right up it.

Thanks for your input... I think that the mantle is a good part of the climb...like you all said "kinda fun actually"...even though clipping the anchors creates heinous rope drag.

Porter put the anchors there for a reason, and I am pretty sure you could only clip the anchors from below the mantle if the draw was pre-placed. I think the extra moves add a little more fun to the climb, but adds nothing to the difficulty. Although I have seen people fall from there do to the pump.

I think Stunning is a must do route.

I think Stunning is a pile compared to everything else at Left flank. But I guess if you do everything else there then you might as well do that short crappy route. It seems to me that everyone with no endurence go and gets on it for an easy 12c tick to go and brag about later. But, I guess what ever makes people happy is cool

At Left Flank, the only routes that even come close to being as good as Stunning IMO are:

To Defy the Laws of Tradition
Too Many Puppies
Mercy, the Huff
Table of Colors

What's not to like about the route? Except for the last 5 feet, the rock is bullet hard, the moves are fantastic and unique (unlike ALOT of the motherlode routes), and unlike a lot of the routes at the Red, it isn't just about avoiding the pump. Even if the grade is soft, and it is true that I have no endurance (probably why I like the route so much), I have never bragged about doing a route (or heard anyone outside the Lode or Miguel's brag about doing any route).
So Allah, take a break from the Dark Side and the Lode and see for yourself that people actually climb for the fun of it, not just to brag about what they have done. Climbing is an amazing thing once you can separate yourself from your ego.

Hey man I got some endurance and I still think Stunning is Cool....and 12d!!! Like stated above... great rock, unique moves, awesome super steep angle!