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bbevans039
Sep 11, 2002, 12:46 AM
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What is the hardest aid route known in America ? I am not quite sure , Is it Wyoming Sheep Ranch on El Cap ? Does anything compare or currently match up?
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dsafanda
Sep 11, 2002, 1:06 AM
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I'm not capable of answering the question and I doubt any one else is. Aid ratings like all other climbing ratings are subjective.
That said, I do know for sure that Wyoming Sheep Ranch is not even close to being the hardest. It's way down the list in terms of difficulty according to experienced aid climbers(I don't consider myself one of them)
There are a number of routes on ElCap that have not seen repeats. Some would nominate "Nightmare on California Street" as the hardest. Who knows.
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pbjosh
Sep 11, 2002, 1:11 AM
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Sheep Ranch was probably the hardest route in 1984, there are a sh*twad of harder/deadlier routes since then - Plastic Surgery Disaster, Reticent Wall, Gulf Stream, Get Wacked, Born Under a Bad Sign, Jolly Roger, Scorched Earth, Nightmare on Calif. Street, and more routes on Half Dome and other walls. I doubt that anything on El Cap is the hardest route, however. Probably something sick on Baffin.
Depending on your true definition of wall, though rated only 5.9 A2 (classic Canadian sandbag), the Emperor Face on Robson has seen only 2 ascents in 30+ years and has shut down many of the best climbers in the world. North Face of North Twin is unrepeated as far as I know, has a rating of maybe 5.10 A3 or something, but ratings really mean different things in different places and can't be compared.
josh
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bigwalling
Sep 11, 2002, 1:26 AM
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If anyone has the topo to Nightmare on California Street please sent it to me.
Wally Barker led a pitch on Baffin that took 20 something hours!
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atg200
Sep 11, 2002, 3:31 PM
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Also remember that the Fisher Towers, Mystery Towers, and Zion have pitches at least as if not harder than anything in Yosemite - with much worse rock as a bonus.
I doubt the hardest aid pitches are in Baffin - too much hardship involved in just being there to have really looked for the absolutely grimmest lines possibles.
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elcapbuzz
Sep 11, 2002, 3:58 PM
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In my opinion there are two climbers in the world that could claim to have the hardest routes in the world.
Eric Kohl would be one of them. He has put more "hard" routes in Yosemite than any other person, most of them unrepeated. Eric has climbed pitches that HE himself, said he would not repeat. That should tell you something.
Jim Beyer is the other one. This year he put up an aid route near the Reticent called Martyrs Brigade. He rated it 5.11, A5c R. He called it a 1/2 grade harder than the Reticent was in April of 2000. Jim also put up route on the W. Face of Mt. Thor called Project Mayhem. He calles this "The Hardest BigWall Route on the Planet". It very well might be. He rated it VII, 5.10, A5c. He spent 57 days on the wall, solo. It has 4,300 feet of climbing on a 3,700 foot face.
These are the facts, hope this helps.
Cheers, Ammon
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fishypete
Sep 12, 2002, 8:15 AM
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A5c??? What is that???
Related to C5?? Does this mean that clean ratings dont go all the way up to 5?
Sorry if this is obvious, I have just never seen A5c before.
Cheers
Fishy.
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climbingcowboy
Sep 12, 2002, 8:43 AM
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It means at A4 you die A5 you really die and A5c you really really die if ya fall.
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fishypete
Sep 12, 2002, 9:06 AM
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Any other attempts?
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glockaroo
Sep 12, 2002, 1:50 PM
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Fishy, Jim Beyer proposed a further subdivided aid rating scale. Similar to freeclimbing's 5.10a, 5.11c, etc. I read about this in a profile on him in Climbing a few years back. I think he starts subdividing at A4: A4a/b/c/d, then A5a/b/c/d, then A6. A6 is where all placements on the pitch are bodyweight-only plus the belay anchors will not hold a fall.
I'm still working up to onsighting A1c myself.
[ This Message was edited by: glockaroo on 2002-09-12 06:51 ]
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