Forums: Climbing Disciplines: Trad Climbing:
why are there no 14d cracks
RSS FeedRSS Feeds for Trad Climbing

Premier Sponsor:

 


euthanasia


Feb 13, 2005, 6:09 PM
Post #1 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: May 2, 2004
Posts: 127

why are there no 14d cracks
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Are they rated harder than faces?


ikefromla


Feb 13, 2005, 6:13 PM
Post #2 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Oct 23, 2002
Posts: 1216

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

because for anyone to climb 5.14d on gear is going to be very difficult and committing. it will happen soon enough though.


slavetogravity


Feb 13, 2005, 6:47 PM
Post #3 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 9, 2003
Posts: 1114

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Recently an incredibly strong and I'm taking STRONG. Spanish team had a crack at repeating Lyn Hills free accent of the Nose on El Cap. Despite these guys ability to climb 5.14d they were unable to free the Great Roof pitch and the Changing corners pitch. Iger Pou (I think that's how you spell his name) Suggested a grade of 5.14c for the changing corners pitch and a grade of similar difficulty for the Great Roof. This was only after they didn't climb it. Had they stuck around and worked those pitches who knows what they would have gon fee at.


Partner camhead


Feb 13, 2005, 6:58 PM
Post #4 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

what Ike said is true, although not all gear climbs are cracks. In fact, the world's hardest trad climbs that I know of are face climbs (i.e. Huber's Bellevista, with a .14b crux protected by A4 gear).

However, I believe the original poster is thinking of "pure" cracks– ideally, lines that allows jamming, laybacking, and little else for an ascent. The hardest consensus "pure" crack climbs have kind of stagnated around 5.13+ for nearly a decade (Fiddler on the Roof, No Way Jose), but recently, two 5.14a roof cracks have gone up, one in the Italian Alps, and one in Quebec (can't remember the names). I think that both were led on pre-placed gear.

So, yeah, whether or not we worry about a redpoint/pinkpoint argument, the fact remains that there are no hard or even solid 5.14 cracks.

This probably has something to do with the fact that, despite the obvious difficulty of mastering hard crack skills, the techniques are less varied and simpler than those required for hard sport climbing. I have no first hand experience, of course, but I do recall reading that Steve Hong, author of numerous 5.13 crack routes, considered them easier than the sport routes he put up in Rifle.

think of it this way: once you have mastered all of the sizes of cracks, from offwidth to tips, and built up the massive endurance to camp out on each jam and place gear, it is difficult to find something REALLY hard. Despite this, there are some really strong climbers out there who are finding that crack climbing does not have to top out at 5.13+.

I guess that with this in mind, it is possible to see why crack climbing standards would evolve quite a bit more slowly than mainstream sport standards.


josephgdawson


Feb 13, 2005, 7:13 PM
Post #5 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 20, 2004
Posts: 303

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

There are not any 5.14d cracks because no one has put one up yet.


slavetogravity


Feb 13, 2005, 7:15 PM
Post #6 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 9, 2003
Posts: 1114

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Don’t forget Ron Kauk’s accent of Magic Line in Yosemite, that’s a “pure crack line” and was graded 5.14b. Dean Potter has also freed a 5.14 crack line in Moab a few years back. He placed all gear on lead with the exception of the very first piece that was pre placed.


Partner gunksgoer


Feb 13, 2005, 7:31 PM
Post #7 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 1290

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

i think the main reason there arnt to many hard cracks, is simply, if the crack is good enough to take gear, then its good enough to keep the grade down. the exception would be uber-thin seams and very shallow cracks, but then its a matter of finger size. plus, if the crack is small enough, its not really crack climbing, more like climbing a bunch of vertical crimps. more hard cracks will appear with time, but for now there are just a handfull of 14s.


slavetogravity


Feb 13, 2005, 7:32 PM
Post #8 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 9, 2003
Posts: 1114

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
There are not any 5.14d cracks because no one has put one up yet.
Not necessarily true. Someone may have freed a 5.14d trad line but just didn’t claim that they did. As I said before, Lyn Hill is the best candidate for this accomplishment but it’s going to take a few more accents for a consensus to be made.


smearhound


Feb 13, 2005, 7:56 PM
Post #9 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Dec 16, 2004
Posts: 83

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Slightly OT, but Dean Potter recently ascended "Sasquatch," a 20-foot, 45-degree overhanging crack problem on Yosemite's Le Conte Boulder. The problem is unrated.


Partner camhead


Feb 13, 2005, 8:30 PM
Post #10 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Don’t forget Ron Kauk’s accent of Magic Line in Yosemite, that’s a “pure crack line” and was graded 5.14b. Dean Potter has also freed a 5.14 crack line in Moab a few years back. He placed all gear on lead with the exception of the very first piece that was pre placed.

I'm pretty sure that Magic Line was led on pre-placed gear. Potter has not put a grade of 5.14 on any of his lines, although his last two, Epitaph and Concepción, both have tentative 5.13+ ratings. These ratings are just assumptions by magazines and internet pseudo-climbers such as ourselves, however; Potter has not rated them.

Also, not to take anything away from Lynn Hill, but it is pretty well-established that her small finger size was key to freeing the Great Roof, as well as key to the pitch's lack of repeats. Just because she has small fingers does not mean that it is 5.14d, especially considering that she has not climbed anything else harder than 5.14a.


Partner gunksgoer


Feb 13, 2005, 8:37 PM
Post #11 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Posts: 1290

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Just because she has small fingers does not mean that it is 5.14d

lynn hill has small fingers, so fingercracks are easier for her. this is just like how fred nicole has crazy upperbody strength, so overhanging problems are easier for him. Some people could say "his strength was the key to sending dreamtime". Well duh. Its the same thing, you cant say "oh its not that hard because the person who did it was really good at that type of climbing." Hats off to Hill.


chossmonkey


Feb 13, 2005, 9:03 PM
Post #12 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Feb 1, 2003
Posts: 28414

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
This probably has something to do with the fact that, despite the obvious difficulty of mastering hard crack skills, the techniques are less varied and simpler than those required for hard sport climbing. I have no first hand experience, of course, but I do recall reading that Steve Hong, author of numerous 5.13 crack routes, considered them easier than the sport routes he put up in Rifle.

think of it this way: once you have mastered all of the sizes of cracks, from offwidth to tips, and built up the massive endurance to camp out on each jam and place gear, it is difficult to find something REALLY hard. Despite this, there are some really strong climbers out there who are finding that crack climbing does not have to top out at 5.13+.

That is pretty much the reason.

A crack can only get so small before it needs to be beat out with pins to be climbed free. There just aren't that many cracks that are overhanging, super long, and at a size that is hard to climb but not too small. There may be 5.15 pure cracks waiting to be climbed but for every unclimbed super hard crack there are hundereds if not thousands of just as hard or harder unclimbed faces. Most of the future 5.14 "trad" routes will be face climbs that follow thin seams.


keinangst


Feb 13, 2005, 9:51 PM
Post #13 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Apr 1, 2003
Posts: 1408

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Anyone seen La Zebrée in Quebec?

It's supposedly a mid-14 pure crack (featured on MoDump.com and Climbing mag late last year), and the FA'ist plans to attempt it again this year without pre-hanging some of the gear. He had to do it that way for logistical simplicity--besides, sport climbers often do the hard stuff with pre-hung draws, so it seems pretty equivalent.


collegekid


Feb 14, 2005, 12:02 AM
Post #14 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 7, 2002
Posts: 1852

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Crack climbing isn't in the mainstream like sport climbing is, so sponsored climbers aren't as motivated to put up a crack testpiece as they are to put up a hard boulder problem or sport route. However, as has already been said, there are hard cracks out there...they're just not as well known as the hardest boulder/sport routes.

If professional climbers were actively searching San Diego for 5.14+ cracks, they would probably find one. Mt. Woodson is home to numerous 5.11 and 5.12 cracks, i'm sure there's harder stuff to be found.


rockclimbergabor


Feb 14, 2005, 12:49 AM
Post #15 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Oct 18, 2003
Posts: 131

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Also, people dont climb cracks for the difficulty like sport climbs, but for fun and daring reasons. I think pre-placing gear on a 5.14a crack is the same as sending a 5.14d sport climb, not just becasue it is a lot harder but because its a lot more scary.


ikefromla


Feb 14, 2005, 12:51 AM
Post #16 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Oct 23, 2002
Posts: 1216

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Crack climbing isn't in the mainstream like sport climbing is, so sponsored climbers aren't as motivated to put up a crack testpiece as they are to put up a hard boulder problem or sport route.
That is a REALLY bad argument. top-end sponsored climbers are motivated to climb what they're motivated to climb. Caldwell was motivated to climb the Dihedral Wall, a 5.14 bigwall, so he did. i sure hope that was just a bad joke.


chriss


Feb 14, 2005, 1:56 AM
Post #17 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 92

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

[quote="chossmonkey]
A crack can only get so small before it needs to be beat out with pins to be climbed free.

Most of the future 5.14 "trad" routes will be face climbs that follow thin seams.
Not trying to start anything, but. I don't believe the first statement. However the second makes sense.

When a crack gets that hard (5.14+) to climb, it makes sense to use other features, ie the rock face. So, are there some .14+ pure cracks? Maybe.

chris


thegreytradster


Feb 14, 2005, 2:32 AM
Post #18 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 7, 2003
Posts: 2151

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

There are plenty of unrepeated hard .12 and .13 cracks out there. That fact by itself speaks volumes.

Won't catch me on any of em' :shock:


rockprodigy


Feb 14, 2005, 3:53 PM
Post #19 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2002
Posts: 1540

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

I think most of you have covered all the bases. I think if a crack is big enough to get your fingers in, then it just isn't that hard. Theoretically, I can imagine cracks that would be in the 14+ range. For example, many of the hard routes out there have surprisingly short cruxes, what if those crux sections lasted the entire length of the route?

There is a crack in Zion that I'm pretty sure is 5.14, but but probably not 14+. It will be awhile before climbing standards rise to the point where someone who is good enough to climb it is desperate enough to spend the time working it. I'll describe it, and you tell me if it's 5.14:

#.75 camalot-sized splitter crack through a 150 degree (near horizontal) 10' roof. I know it's possible because it's wide enough, but it's going to be crazy hard!!


rockprodigy


Feb 14, 2005, 3:55 PM
Post #20 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2002
Posts: 1540

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Furthermore, hand size does matter. There is no way that the Great Roof was 5.14+ for Lynn Hill, if so, it would have taken a lot longer to do it. In crack climbing, you can't just assume a universal rating for everyone. Until someone with big fingers repeats those pitches, they are 13+.


Partner neuroshock


Feb 14, 2005, 4:12 PM
Post #21 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Nov 5, 2003
Posts: 680

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
When a crack gets that hard (5.14+) to climb, it makes sense to use other features, ie the rock face. So, are there some .14+ pure cracks? Maybe.
and if you're ascending that line via the face holds, are you crack climbing any longer?


lambone


Feb 14, 2005, 7:41 PM
Post #22 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: May 1, 2003
Posts: 1399

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Recently an incredibly strong and I'm taking STRONG. Spanish team had a crack at repeating Lyn Hills free accent of the Nose on El Cap. Despite these guys ability to climb 5.14d they were unable to free the Great Roof pitch and the Changing corners pitch. Iger Pou (I think that's how you spell his name) Suggested a grade of 5.14c for the changing corners pitch and a grade of similar difficulty for the Great Roof. This was only after they didn't climb it. Had they stuck around and worked those pitches who knows what they would have gon fee at.

Lynn has very small fingers, any male is at a huge disadvantage. I think she rated those pitches 13d?

There are 14d cracks, they just haven't been climbed yet.


iamthewallress


Feb 14, 2005, 7:51 PM
Post #23 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 2, 2003
Posts: 2463

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Also, not to take anything away from Lynn Hill, but it is pretty well-established that her small finger size was key to freeing the Great Roof, as well as key to the pitch's lack of repeats. Just because she has small fingers does not mean that it is 5.14d, especially considering that she has not climbed anything else harder than 5.14a.

This is so offensive to me that it makes me shudder. Guys have many strength advantages on us, generally, and tend to be taller so perhaps, Lynn Hill should get to upgrade her burlier strength-orient climbs or maybe her reachiest ascents to keep things even?

If you haven't seen the Great Roof or Scott Burke's fingers, I don't think you can dismiss her send as being all about the small fingers. Contrary to what would seem to be popular belief the Great Roof is not really an incipient KB seem. It still takes Aliens pretty much the whole way across.

Whose hardest send does not play to their strengths?


iamthewallress


Feb 14, 2005, 7:58 PM
Post #24 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 2, 2003
Posts: 2463

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
In reply to:
When a crack gets that hard (5.14+) to climb, it makes sense to use other features, ie the rock face. So, are there some .14+ pure cracks? Maybe.
and if you're ascending that line via the face holds, are you crack climbing any longer?

Most cracks that I've climbed have involved using at least some face holds too.

The thinner the crack gets, IMO, the more climbing the crack itself becomes like face climbing.


curt


Feb 14, 2005, 7:59 PM
Post #25 of 47 (6434 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Aug 27, 2002
Posts: 18275

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
In reply to:
Also, not to take anything away from Lynn Hill, but it is pretty well-established that her small finger size was key to freeing the Great Roof, as well as key to the pitch's lack of repeats. Just because she has small fingers does not mean that it is 5.14d, especially considering that she has not climbed anything else harder than 5.14a.

This is so offensive to me that it makes me shudder. Guys have many strength advantages on us, generally, and tend to be taller so perhaps, Lynn Hill should get to upgrade her burlier strength-orient climbs or maybe her reachiest ascents to keep things even?

If you haven't seen the Great Roof or Scott Burke's fingers, I don't think you can dismiss her send as being all about the small fingers. Contrary to what would seem to be popular belief the Great Roof is not really an incipient KB seem. It still takes Aliens pretty much the whole way across.

Whose hardest send does not play to their strengths?

Wasn't Scott burke able to follow that pitch free, anyway? If so, that kind-of shoots down the finger size argument. Or, am I mistaken?

Curt


moonshine505


Feb 14, 2005, 8:20 PM
Post #26 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Feb 25, 2004
Posts: 148

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

I find the pseudo-maunufactured argument more interesting than the finger size / play to your strengths argument, not because I believe one or the other more, but becuase it's essentially true that many hard crack climbs that ascend old pin scars are not ethically different than drilled-out pockets on the sport climbs that so many "trad hardmen" love to rail against.

So, why are there no .14d cracks to being climbed? Because a generation ago people bashed the hell out of them so that they could be aided, resulting in the creation of holds the size they would need to be for free climbing. Hypocrisy is a mother, eh?


Partner camhead


Feb 14, 2005, 8:22 PM
Post #27 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2001
Posts: 20939

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
In reply to:
Also, not to take anything away from Lynn Hill, but it is pretty well-established that her small finger size was key to freeing the Great Roof, as well as key to the pitch's lack of repeats. Just because she has small fingers does not mean that it is 5.14d, especially considering that she has not climbed anything else harder than 5.14a.

This is so offensive to me that it makes me shudder. Guys have many strength advantages on us, generally, and tend to be taller so perhaps, Lynn Hill should get to upgrade her burlier strength-orient climbs or maybe her reachiest ascents to keep things even?

If you haven't seen the Great Roof or Scott Burke's fingers, I don't think you can dismiss her send as being all about the small fingers. Contrary to what would seem to be popular belief the Great Roof is not really an incipient KB seem. It still takes Aliens pretty much the whole way across.

Whose hardest send does not play to their strengths?

hehe. you totally missed the point of my statement, but I knew that my comments would make someone jump up and take on this oft-repeated argument.

However, I was responding to slavetogravity, who implied that the Great Roof was a candidate for .14d because of its lack of repeats. This is a faulty way of looking at it, for the reasons that I stated in my comment that "made you shudder" or whatever.

Rockprodigy addressed the same topic in slightly less provocative language:
In reply to:
There is no way that the Great Roof was 5.14+ for Lynn Hill, if so, it would have taken a lot longer to do it. In crack climbing, you can't just assume a universal rating for everyone. Until someone with big fingers repeats those pitches, they are 13+.


atg200


Feb 14, 2005, 8:41 PM
Post #28 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 27, 2001
Posts: 4317

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
#.75 camalot-sized splitter crack through a 150 degree (near horizontal) 10' roof. I know it's possible because it's wide enough, but it's going to be crazy hard!!

are you talking about that crack past the headache? i've wondered when that would go free.

you are kidding yourself if you don't think hand/foot size and ratings for crack climbs go hand in hand.


Partner iclimbtoo


Feb 14, 2005, 9:23 PM
Post #29 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Feb 10, 2002
Posts: 645

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

If I could even DREAM of what it would be like to possibly climb a .14 crack, I would participate in this conversation. But I think people who can are not quite human. I am amazed just reading these posts...I wish I could see it in action...I'd probably wet myself, sh*t my pants, and faint all at the same time.


chouca


Feb 14, 2005, 9:35 PM
Post #30 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Feb 12, 2003
Posts: 149

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

It has more to do with geology than anything else. If you can barely squeeze your fingers into it, it's usually 5.11 -.12+. If it's also steep, that may bring it up to a mid .13. If it's finger sized, steep AND has tricky jams or odd moves or body positions, it may creep into the 5.14 range.

How many cracks like Asteroid Crack, Acid Crack, Grand Illusion, or Fiddler on the Roof do you see at your local crags? These cracks are aberations. Even Sphinx Crack was manufacured with dynamite, and that is THE perfect thin hard crack, sharp AND slippery at the same time. It's sequences are more like a sport climb than a jamfest. Perhaps the strong youth will follow Sonnie Trotter's lead and put away their pads for awhile and get a rack of RP's put that bouldering skill to good use and produce some 5.14 crack climbs.

Marc B.


rockprodigy


Feb 14, 2005, 9:51 PM
Post #31 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2002
Posts: 1540

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
are you talking about that crack past the headache? i've wondered when that would go free.

Yes. It's called "Masterblaster". I hear Captain Grumpy worked on it for awhile, and possibly some others, but that thing will wait until some truly talented lightweight person (like Dave Graham) tries it. And I doubt someone with his abilities would bother. That's the trouble. We'll have to wait until that type of talent is somewhat commonplace before random stuff like that gets done.


bvb


Feb 14, 2005, 10:04 PM
Post #32 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 3, 2003
Posts: 954

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

postcount+++


bvb


Feb 14, 2005, 10:16 PM
Post #33 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 3, 2003
Posts: 954

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

double postcount+++++


bvb


Feb 14, 2005, 10:17 PM
Post #34 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 3, 2003
Posts: 954

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
How many cracks like Asteroid Crack, Acid Crack, Grand Illusion, or Fiddler on the Roof do you see at your local crags?

quite a few, actually. but that's a topic or a different time.

your question is "why are there no 14d cracks?" -- are you assuming there are a bunch of 14c cracks, and folks hacve hit the wall at 14c?

anyway -- there are plenty of established .14 cracks out there, imho. and the potention or many more is there -- my guess is that a perfect, unwavering, inch-and-a-quarter splitter, with no constrictions or wide spots to allow for a rest, through a 20 or 25 foot roof would go well into the .14 range.

another example -- a free climb of the old aid roof above bishop's terrace would be well into the .14 range.

saqsuatch (that new thing on the boulder by the curry) is probably .14. let's see how long it takes for a repeat. it only took 35 years of steady attempts by generations of the world's best crack climbers before someone did it....yeah, it's probably only 13d.

fianlly, there are scads of unrepeated "13+" cracks out there. my guess is if these routes (stingray, no way jose, potters route on the tombstone) ever see a few repeats, they'll get .14 consensus ratings.

:roll:


Partner angry


Feb 14, 2005, 10:29 PM
Post #35 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 22, 2003
Posts: 8405

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Because 5.14d has never been climbed!!!!, explanation below.

My theory on crack climbing is one of ratings and subjectivity. The YDS was developed and perfected primarily through crack climbing (or at least on routes that require placing gear), sport climbing has used the 7b, 7b+, etc scale for it's mass development. Sport and trad are barely comparable, just as bouldering is barely comparable to either sport or trad (this is most true as climbs get really hard). Lets use that french system for sport, the YDS for trad, and the V system for bouldering. Yes there would be inherent shades of grey, but overall, I think it would be an improvement.

I know of a roof that is probably 25-30 feet long with a perfect green alien size splitter. No-one has ever even tried it. I think cracks can get much harder.

I get so sick and tired of the hand size arguement. I know so many people who use that as such a crutch. If you climb more than one size it will all even out. When I started climbing long cracks I thought #2 friends to be impossible, now they are locker. If you can't do a size, practice.

A few weeks ago I climbed a thin crack (only a mere 12a, not sick like the 14d being discussed), I didn't get my fingers in the whole way, I crimped the crisp edge and tried not to cry. My friend couldn't follow it and blamed it on his hand size, he couldn't get his fingers in either. Unless you are sending roofcracks at the 13+ and up level, the whole finger size arguement is worthless. Practice you jackasses!!!!


sierrabc


Feb 14, 2005, 10:37 PM
Post #36 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jan 19, 2005
Posts: 49

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

All I know is that a 5.14d crack would be sick.
Happy Sending!
Sierra 8^)


petsfed


Feb 14, 2005, 11:35 PM
Post #37 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 25, 2002
Posts: 8599

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
#.75 camalot-sized splitter crack through a 150 degree (near horizontal) 10' roof. I know it's possible because it's wide enough, but it's going to be crazy hard!!

That'll go. There's a route out at Vedauwoo that needs a repeat that's steeper than that and the same size, its a lowly 11d. .75 camalots are way tight hands and rattly fingers. I've seen worse. Much worse. Like 5 feet of thin finger locks, followed by a 4 foot blank section, then cruiser hands. All overhung by 45 degrees by the way. We're guessing it'll go mid 11 in the hands section, but the start could be a v7/v8 boulder problem by itself. And still, not as bad as Zebree. If you can jam it, its not that bad. That's why we don't see hardly any .14 pure crack lines. Now 5.14 trad lines... that's a whole other story.


rockprodigy


Feb 16, 2005, 2:01 AM
Post #38 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2002
Posts: 1540

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

There's a HUGE difference between coarse Vedauwoo rock (which is probably flaring, no?) and slick Zion rock with no flare at all. This thing is solid 5.14...I promise. A regular sized person will have to basically campus on ringlocks...f'in A dude!


rokshoxbkr19


Feb 16, 2005, 3:37 AM
Post #39 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Oct 30, 2002
Posts: 767

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

I am 5'2" and I don't see why people think a hand size/body size argument is reasonable for cracks. It could be said of anything or any type of climbing. It's like saying I didn't run the mile in 4 minutes because my legs aren't long enough. That isn't the case, the fact is that you aren't fast enough. When I can't climb something I don't say it's because I am not tall enough, it's simply because I am not strong enough. Why is it ok to say I can't climb that crack because my hands are too big, but it isn't ok to say I couldn't do that face climb because I wasn't tall enough to reach that hold. I could say that the 5.10 I climbed was really 5.12 because of those intermediates I had to use, but that woudl be bullshit! That is why we have ratings. A 5.12 is 5.12 and so on and so on. No one can climb everything because we all have different strengths and weaknesses. But it is ridiculous to say that something isn't as hard because of someone's body size, if so then we need to have an infinite number of ratings for each person. "I think we should incorporate body fat percentage into a climbs rating. So climbing a 5.10 with 32% body fat is like climbing a 5.14 with 2%"


hyhuu


Feb 16, 2005, 2:13 PM
Post #40 of 47 (5711 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 25, 2001
Posts: 492

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Does anyone know if there is a crack boulder problem graded in the V-double digit? If there is one, I would imagine that 14d crack is a possibility.


onbelay_osu


Feb 16, 2005, 4:16 PM
Post #41 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: May 5, 2002
Posts: 1087

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Down at Quartz Mtn. Oklahoma


Anorexia
Difficulty: A3
Protection: Aid
Description: Located on the far right of The Headwall, it actually begins to the right of The Headwall, just to the left of The Hobbit. After some mandatory slabbing, you begin up the overhang, come over the lip, and follow the seam up and underneath the roof to some anchors. It goes clean, so do your best not to scar it any further than it already has been... F.A. Duane Raleigh, Chris Rowins (1979)



it has been sugested that is this was to go free it was be a mid 14...


petsfed


Feb 16, 2005, 4:22 PM
Post #42 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 25, 2002
Posts: 8599

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
There's a HUGE difference between coarse Vedauwoo rock (which is probably flaring, no?) and slick Zion rock with no flare at all. This thing is solid 5.14...I promise. A regular sized person will have to basically campus on ringlocks...f'in A dude!

Actually its one of the more splitter cracks I've seen out there. And the rock out at the Roof Ranch (at least the side this thing is on) has pretty compact crystals. And besides, you can still get tenuous foot jams, even in a Zion .75 camalot splitter. It'll go, just maybe not 5.14.


Partner angry


Feb 16, 2005, 5:02 PM
Post #43 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Jul 22, 2003
Posts: 8405

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Horizontal .75 camalots. I can't climb them but I can hang the jams and make one move or two. If I can even move, it ain't 14d.

I can't believe I agree with petsfed.


rockprodigy


Feb 16, 2005, 5:37 PM
Post #44 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Sep 10, 2002
Posts: 1540

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

Well, you two rockstars should go tick it off...it sounds like it would be a warm up for you. I've climbed some hard $hit, and I couldn't do a single move, so have fun.


bvb


Feb 17, 2005, 1:18 AM
Post #45 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Mar 3, 2003
Posts: 954

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Does anyone know if there is a crack boulder problem graded in the V-double digit? If there is one, I would imagine that 14d crack is a possibility.

sasquatch.

plus a few el obscuro cracks at woodson that have probably never seen repeats.


bubbahotep


Feb 17, 2005, 2:05 AM
Post #46 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 97

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

In reply to:
Well, you two rockstars should go tick it off...it sounds like it would be a warm up for you. I've climbed some hard $hit, and I couldn't do a single move, so have fun.

Perfect. :righton:


socrate


Feb 17, 2005, 3:19 AM
Post #47 of 47 (5712 views)
Shortcut

Registered: Feb 17, 2005
Posts: 19

Re: why are there no 14d cracks [In reply to]
Report this Post
Average: avg_1 avg_2 avg_3 avg_4 avg_5 (0 ratings)  
Can't Post

sombody asked about the 5.14 crack in quebec. The name is la zebree. Here is a good picture of it. http://outreocean.free.fr/valdavid3.html


Forums : Climbing Disciplines : Trad Climbing

 


Search for (options)

Log In:

Username:
Password: Remember me:

Go Register
Go Lost Password?



Follow us on Twiter Become a Fan on Facebook