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krga20
Mar 3, 2004, 4:32 PM
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Curious to know everyone's personal experience at the tree!
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flagpolewizard
Mar 3, 2004, 4:41 PM
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I forget the name, but it was a smooth face and the first bolt was around 20 some feet, kid you not, the dicey thing was that the approach to the start of the climb was going out on this ledge over a sheer slab that was over 50, so I had about a two foot wide spot to land before I rolled down down it, I didn't care for that one, it was somehwere north of hidden valley
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stick233
Mar 3, 2004, 4:48 PM
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mine was a 5.8 trad line called continuum. it was my first successful 5.8 trad lead and my friend matt (hendicrimpin) backed off it. he is a WAY better climber than me so I went into it pretty sketched, but perseverence reigned and i got the redpoint!
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cracklover
Mar 3, 2004, 4:53 PM
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I have a TR about it, will try to locate it... GO
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caughtinside
Mar 3, 2004, 5:04 PM
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In reply to: mine was a 5.8 trad line called continuum. it was my first successful 5.8 trad lead and my friend matt (hendicrimpin) backed off it. he is a WAY better climber than me so I went into it pretty sketched, but perseverence reigned and i got the redpoint! shudder. That climb made hamburger of my ankles. I left blood all the way up that one. :oops:
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pjbrabham
Mar 3, 2004, 5:22 PM
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When Sheep Ran Scared (10c), The Vice President (10b), I can't Believe it's a Girdle (10a), Figures on a Landscape (10b), Puss 'n Boots (11c), Yellow Brick Road (with missing hangar, 11c). One of these is sure to get your attention.
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micronut
Mar 3, 2004, 5:23 PM
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I've been terrified many times at Josh, but can't remember a lot of them. All I know is I was WAY happy to get that 4th bolt clipped on Solid Gold. I was praising God when the rope fell through the biner. That thing is THE definition of .10a.
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esoteric1
Mar 3, 2004, 5:52 PM
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I have an odd habbit of climbing with a cigarette in my mouth when leading, so when i get to the belay, I can burn one while bringing up the second. there has been a handfull of routes that have made me spit my smoke out and abandon all thoughts of having a victory smoke on top of a hard pitch. these are some of the ones ive spit my smoke out on such a savage. I didnt get to the first bolt before i spit this one out. I believe i spit one out on stick to what a while ago and thin mans nightmare i believe was one i will never do again....
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seabee
Mar 3, 2004, 6:01 PM
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In reply to: When Sheep Ran Scared (10c), The Vice President (10b), I can't Believe it's a Girdle (10a), Figures on a Landscape (10b), Puss 'n Boots (11c), Yellow Brick Road (with missing hangar, 11c). One of these is sure to get your attention. Hey Brabham-- What about that one on Super Creeps Wall (can't remember the name)? Not that I can throw stones, considering my performance that day...
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mreardon
Mar 3, 2004, 6:04 PM
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Are there any leads in J-Tree that aren't scary? :D Not so much scariest, but two that made me pause, Poodles are People Too and Scary Poodles.
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pjbrabham
Mar 3, 2004, 6:08 PM
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Scary Poodles...isn't that the belly crawl route on Poodle Smasher Dome that finishes with an overhanging hand traverse?...Yikes, that got my attention as well!
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hardmanknott
Mar 3, 2004, 6:19 PM
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On-sighting Sidewinder was the 8th climb I'd ever led. On-sighting Papa Woolsey was #10. They were both very, very scary. I quickly went back to the gym. Hardman Knott
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drkodos
Mar 3, 2004, 6:34 PM
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Oddly enough, I have never found J Tree routes to be scary. Committing? Yes. Physical? Absolutely. Perhaps it is from doing too much climbing at areas such as The Needles in South Dakota, and launching out onto the unprotected faces and exposed headwalls of the Gunks for years before I ever climbed there. Or it could also be due to the onset of jadedness from familiarity (over 900 routes climbed at the monument) I do not wish to disparage the reputation that Josh has, for it is well deserved and I do enjoy the spoils of it, but I find that the majority of routes have protection where it is needed, if one is solid at the grade they are attempting. Sure, there some Pucker-fests, but no more so than a lot of other areas known for anal tightening adventures. I've been a lot more scared, and more often, high up on some stuff in The Valley. And anyone that has climbed a lot in North Carolina will usually not be too intimidated. This is just one man's interpretation, of course, as I relish commitment and appreciate climbing with consequences. Most of my fear comes from exposure. Every once in while I just don't want to be so high off the ground (perhaps more often than not, and that is why I am into "sport tradding" (see profile)). The nature of much of the climbing at Josh is balancy and insecure, so I think this adds much to the scariness for some. But, the rock is so highly textured, sticky rubber sticks just about everywhere you place it. I think once one masters some Monument techniques, some of the routes get defanged to the point of being merely compelling. All that being said, I have found my scariest moments at Joshua Tree have come while bouldering......
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vincent
Mar 3, 2004, 7:10 PM
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drkoodies your a badass, can i carry your rack for u next time in joshua tree?
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iamthewallress
Mar 3, 2004, 7:14 PM
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This isn't a scariest route...more like the scariest recurring events: 1. The unprotectable slab "approaches" to the cracks that always seem shorter and lower angle before committing to them. 2. Arriving at the crack to realize that its really more of a shallow dent. 3. The fifth class down climbing to get off of many of them.
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drkodos
Mar 3, 2004, 7:30 PM
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In reply to: drkoodies your a badass, can i carry your rack for u next time in joshua tree? Weather is clearing up and temps will be in the 70's by saturday. Anyone wanna go get scared this weekend?
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jammin
Mar 3, 2004, 8:35 PM
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About 8,9 years ago, when I first went there, I got on a climb called "Damn Jam", some 5.6 in the intersection area :oops: . I had been leading trad for about 4 months a that point and decided that since it was 5.6, "yeah dude, I can do it :) ." Didn't have enough HUGE pro (ie BD 4 and 5) and ended up running out lots of sections in an offwidth too small to fit my body into and too large for chicken wings, etc :? . Dancing in my head were images of my nose and teeth breaking off in a fall. The worst part was when I got my head stuck as a was looking for my BD 4 (remeber it like it was yesterday). After the climb we took in the sunset ate some great ribs and had a few brews to calm my nerves 8) .
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murf
Mar 3, 2004, 8:45 PM
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In reply to: Scary Poodles...isn't that the belly crawl route on Poodle Smasher Dome that finishes with an overhanging hand traverse?...Yikes, that got my attention as well! Nope, you're talking about "Poodle Smasher ". Most recent frightfest; "Smiles for the Grim Reaper", AKA Satan's Flake, AKA, Airwalk. Nothing like committing to an overhung, semidetached, VW size flake/coffin lid.
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vincent
Mar 3, 2004, 11:52 PM
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i'll be there this weekend drkodos sir, i want to check out hall of horrors... how about dogleg on the old woman. a pretty hard 5.8. pretty kinda sorta maybe scarry
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brutusofwyde
Mar 4, 2004, 2:40 PM
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In reply to: Oddly enough, I have never found J Tree routes to be scary. Committing? Yes. Physical? Absolutely. Have to agree with drkodos on this regarding most JT routes. Many of the ones mentioned in particular. However, years ago, when I was first breaking into 5.9, I found an on-sight lead of Ballet on Chimney Rock, (a Tobin Sorenson route) when it was rated 5.9, to be one of the scariest leads I have ever encountered in climbing. Right up there with a free lead of the 9th pitch of Magic Mushroom in the Valley, or the last pitch of Royal Arches when it was covered with water and algae... unroped. But now, in my dotage, having not climbed much at the tree for decades, I run from just about anything there... because of the crowds. (Oddly, I've never seen another party on Ballet though. I wonder why,) Brutus
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clymber
Mar 4, 2004, 2:50 PM
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drkodos if you are willing to buy my plane ticket and be my driver for a few days i would be more then willing to be scared with you this weekend i would be nice and even bring my own rack
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cracklover
Mar 4, 2004, 3:59 PM
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I got benighted on The Swift, on Lost Horse wall, just over a year ago. Here's a link to the TR. And here's a sample:
In reply to: Pitch 3. No question about it now, the sun has set. We're operating on perhaps 1/2 hour of residual light now. I've never led as fast in my life. Save some cams for higher, place what you can and MOVE I tell myself. (That damn song is playing round and round, at full volume now). I've climbed the last 70 feet in about 10 minutes. Somewhere during this final push, the line I'm supposed to take splits off to the right. But there's no way I could know this; it's marked in neither Phil's book nor mine. Nearly there. Continuing to follow the line in the guidebooks, I climb over a bulge and... GO
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rockprodigy
Mar 4, 2004, 4:35 PM
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EBGB's was pretty exciting... What a cool move though! You don't find that kind of stuff in the climbing gym.
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thomaskeefer
Mar 4, 2004, 4:50 PM
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I will second or third continueum.. that route is a sand bag.... As for scariest for me there.. Loose Lady with a steady wind that was gusting hard enough that when you were moving the rope was bowed out between what few bolts there are... and you could just hear the gusts coming from off in the distance and watch the trees shaking closer and closer until it blasted you.. As for my scariest lead period... Thank God Ledge on Half Dome (standing up, not the hand traverse method).. had to toss those drawers in the poop bucket after that lead.
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jumaringjeff
Mar 4, 2004, 4:56 PM
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The Eye, because my fingers were totally numb (and the R/X rated pro). Good thing it's only 5.3!
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