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lemon_boy
May 30, 2003, 5:39 PM
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this goes out to those with an affinity for the wide:
i'm looking to make a list of recommended wide cracks in the 5.7 to 5.11 range in the colorado area (vedauwoo, utah desert, and other areas fairly close fo colorado are welcome also). in particular, i am looking to hit as many as possible in the south platte area this summer.
which ones do you guys recommend? what size of crack? what sort of gear? etc. a few of my big goals are 'road warrior (10d)' on mount evans, 'the maelstrom (11a)' in the south platte, and 'crack of fear (10d)' up at lumpy ridge. i have been on COF before and it gave me a heavy handed beatdown.
so, if there are any heinous fatties that you have been on in this neck of the woods, let's hear about it.
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tradkelly
May 30, 2003, 5:58 PM
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5.8+ Bushes of Baalzebub, on Bucksnort Slab near Pine. Relax with a beer at the Saloon afterwards, but take cash! Take care not to stick hands into the crack/holds at the crux on the second pitch - you might upset the hornets' nesting there.
If you've got average or smaller hands, Gobble Up on Turkey Perch (yep, it's open again, but you gotta hike to get there) is prety nice at 5.8. If you've got large hands, it's a perfect fist crack. For me, it was a hundred feet of o/w fun.
kelly
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telluryan
May 30, 2003, 6:07 PM
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Big Baby
Indian Creek, Battle of the Bulge!!! Have fun.
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crankenstein
May 30, 2003, 6:08 PM
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The Grand Giraffe has a pretty user friendly off-width crux in Eldo. Not very hard, but a lot of fun! Also for a moderate off width that is really enjoyable in a beautiful setting try Grapevine on Sundance Buttress at Lumpy Ridge. There are many more to be found at Lumpy.
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flamer
May 30, 2003, 6:36 PM
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Saddle up Cowboy!
A couple of must's at Lumpy; Peach's and Cream 5.11c, Twister 5.10b. of course there's the classic Kor's Flake.
On the Diamond; the Obelisk.
Tradkelly, Bush of Beluzabub? I don't remember doing a single off-width move on that route. It takes some big gear but that doesn't make it an off width.
There's a big nasty on the dome in Boulder canyon, but I can't remember the name right now.
Veduwoo, aren't they all wide?
I'll think about it, because I know there's morfe that I just can't remember right now.
josh
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uncle_big_green
May 30, 2003, 6:43 PM
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I had to bail off of Road Warriors and scoot over to Good Evans last summer because we were told no 5 Camalot/6 Friends were needed. I had one 6 with me and it was the belay anchor. I'd bring about 3 those size and leapfrog them. The other OWs you mention look really good, but I haven't done them (yet).
Here are some that I have done and liked around here and I'll even include fist cracks and chimneys:
Sidewinder, Turkey Tail in the S. Platte (10-)
Dungeon, the Castle in the S. Platte (10)
Hurt Dance, Block Tower, S. Platte (10-)
Utah:
Wiggins I
Meat Hooks
Mondo
(the above IC routes 3 involved at least a little flailing, where the amt. was directly proportional to the amt. of blood lost)
Honeymoon Chimney, the Priest, Castle Valley
If you ever head to TN or KY, I can hook you up with a bigger list.
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polarwid
May 30, 2003, 6:46 PM
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You could spend a week at TURKEY and still have offwidths left over...
Try "For Turkey's Only"
Messner's Delight
Whadamuddafucka
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lemon_boy
May 30, 2003, 7:44 PM
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ah, good to see uncle_big_green and polarwid are sharing. i was pretty sure that you guys could add to the list. hopefully atg200 will add some as well. thanks for the important gear advice for road warriors.
here is a list (in no particular order) of some that i have done, ranging from onsight leads to shameless top-rope dogging, but probably more weighted towards the latter.
vedauwoo - middle parralel space, fantasia, ss maywood (more rattly fists), vulture direct, hideaway chimney (best 5.5 on earth), horn's mother
south platte misc. - both OW's on vicodin rock (superb), the grunt on parachute rock,
turkey - everything at the perch, all the wide stuff on big turkey, waddamudda, sidewinder, quivering quill
pervertical sanctuary on the diamond (f'ing brutal)
i've been winched up some pretty hard ones at escalante and indian creek. despite the permanent psychological damage they were very good learning experiences.
for turkeys only looks impossible in my lifetime!
honeymoon chimney is definitely one that i would like to do
same with jah man
i've heard grand giraffe is pretty cool
oomph slot in boulder canyon looks heinous but i would like to try it too.
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atg200
May 30, 2003, 8:05 PM
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gobble up is hands to big hands for me - not even close to offwidth.
i can't add much to the list - lots of good choices there. osiris and wolf's tooth at lumpy ridge are good in the 5.7-5.8 range. everything at vedauwoo rules - fantastia is the coolest fattie i've done, and i really want to do main street 10a this summer.
honeymoon chimney is brutal - if the kor-ingalls offwidth is 5.9, that thing is 5.10+ i have never been so badly worked over by a pitch as on that one.
don't place gear too far back on sidewinder on turkey tail if your follower is bigger than you are. uncle_big_green has a funny story about me trying to lumber up behind him on that thing.
the kingfisher in the fisher towers has two really cool 5.8 mud squeeze chimney pitches on it, and the aid is pretty easy. phantom sprint on echo tower has a lot of fatness that has gone free, and some of it looks kinda reasonable.
the colorado final exam looks to me like black hole in the black canyon - god that looks sick.
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uncle_big_green
May 30, 2003, 8:23 PM
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Grand Giraffe is pretty cool, but only the crux pitch is OW - and not much at that. Bring a 4 and a 4.5 Camalot. Don't be a dork like me and use your one and only big piece (a 4) to back-up the pin near the start of the pitch.
If the Grunt on Parachute Rock is the left-most of all those cracks on the right, and in a corner, then I've done that also. It was OK, but I was able to stem through much of it. I'll have to check my book later.
I'm sure that I've done some other OWs and my mind has suppressed their memories. Another "good" one in Eldo is the one just to the right of Hand Crack on the West Ridge (some 9). The gear sucks and the rock is rough for Eldo. You are cheating if you reach over into HC.
For anyone wanting an EZ one to do in the Creek as a beginner OW, then try Way Nutter at Way Rambo Wall (shameless plug). It will be in Dr. Dave's soon to be released book. It's not too long and starts as hands and goes to a 6 Friend.
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bradhill
May 30, 2003, 9:34 PM
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Ice Nine in Eldo has a cool OW start, but very easy (5.6). New to offwidths, I climbed the upper half 'a cheval'; quite fun.
Devils Tower is closer than IC, at least to the front range, and has some great offwidth climbing. Assembly Line and Patent Pending are recommended. There are two absolutely brutal looking sustained OW cracks that start to the right of Durrance and come up under the second belay. 50m of constant 6"-8" crack. Damn.
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pt
May 30, 2003, 11:44 PM
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Registered: May 29, 2003
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Vedauwoo should give you some high quality training!
Try these:(in order of difficulty, which is debatable of course)
Middle Parallel space
Fantasia
Fallout
Mainstreet
SS Maywood (Fists/Offwidth)
Thing of Beauty
Pooh Corner - 2nd pitch is offwidth, 1st pitch is hands
Cool Hand Luke- upper crux
Grand Traverse - 2nd pitch (Fists/Off width)
Left Torpedo Tube (I haven't done this one but its rated 10d and looks HARD)
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ambler
May 31, 2003, 12:28 AM
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Back in the South Platte...there's a 5.11a offwidth, unnamed I think, on the east face of the Bishop near Cynical Pinnacle. That was good fun as I recall. Great rock in a fantastic position, high above the canyon, and it ends on a summit. There are a number of other good offwidths, just walk around and look, at the Top of the World area.
Eldo is not notable for its offwidths; Grand Giraffe doesn't count. Closer might be the offwidth start to XM on the Bastille. You can finish up the NW Corner if starting the second pitch of XM looks too hairy.
Boulder Canyon has some classic short squeeze chimneys -- By Gully and the Umph Slot come to mind. Skinny leaders can wear out their stout friends on the latter.
Up at Lumpy -- has anyone mentioned The Crack of Fear, a justly famous old Kor climb? Or Turnkorner, one of my favorites. Tiger's Tooth on the Owls is nice too, with the crux in the first 30 feet. Through the pinnacle from Tiger's Tooth is its 5.8 mirror image, Wolf's Tooth.
Lotsa good offwidth in Colorado.
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takeme
May 31, 2003, 12:49 AM
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Here is a list of nice offwidths that I have done or at least tried (or that did me--I basically suck at offwidths) in Colorado and environs:
* Turnkorner (Lumpy, 10-)--must do! You can actually avoid the the hardest section of OW with .10a face--but the face is @#^&*!ing scary--I had no choice though as the OW was beating me down. Above this is a long and supremely exposed, flared 5.9 chimney. Classic.
*Wolf's Tooth(Lumpy, 8)--OW and chimney--this is a must-do also, maybe the best 5.8 I've ever done. Great pro.
*Crack of Fear(Lumpy, 10+)--the crux of this route absolutely kicked my ass, and I wasn't even leading. I guess it's a classic.
*Pervertical (Diamond, 10+)--the 10a pitch is wide, but crafty weenies like myself will find ways to avoid most true OW moves, even on lead. Bring two #4 camalots, save 'em for the last 50 feet. Another must-do.
*Directissima (Long's Peak, 10-)--My partner dropped our #4 camalot, and got his just deserts when he whipped 20 feet on the .9+ squeeze/OW. The last pitch has a long wide 5.9 crack, but with lots of crystals and supplemental edges--it's easier than the previous pitch.
*Umph Slot (Boulder Canyon, 8 old-school, 11 new-school, 9+ squeeze if you're truly anorexic)--Aid. Much harder than Crack of Fear. Enough said.
*Lightning Bolt Cracks (Indian Creek, 11-)--last pitch is a 5.9 squeeze--I'm fairly big, and it was the hardest 9 I've ever climbed! The rest of the route (it's on a tower) is incredible.
*Big Baby (Indian Creek, 11+)--I got brutalized on TR, but prior to this I watched somebody send it--possibly the most amazing climbing performance I've ever seen!
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alpinestylist
May 31, 2003, 9:45 PM
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pervertical may be wide, but is it really OW????
Peaches and Cream rules!
Fist stacks make tasty snacks
Brent
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pt
May 31, 2003, 11:20 PM
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Pervertical is mostly fists, no pure offwidth - it just feels real burly because of the altitude!
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lemon_boy
Jun 2, 2003, 7:47 PM
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has anybody out there actually climbed 'for turkeys only' on the turkey tail? i was up there yesterday staring at it and it looks so heinous. jimmy dunn is a certified tough guy.
pt - thanks for the list up at vedauwoo. i have done a few of them and hopefully i will give the others a go. although i must say that left torpedo tube makes me nauseous just looking at it. the uneducated casual observer might look at it from 20 feet away and not think much of it, but when you crawl up under it, wow.. 10c????
also, thanks take_me and others for some fatties to check out up at lumpy. i need to get up there more often.
has anybody climbed any of the OW's near asshole rock? somebody had mentioned the top of the world area. hopefully i will check that out soon also.
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petsfed
Jun 2, 2003, 8:04 PM
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If going to Vedauwoo, even though there is blessed little off-width to it, do Ed's Crack (5.7). Skull (5.10a) has a taste of off-width but its mostly hand crack. Horticulture (5.6) is excellent for easy off-width. Also dig the three sisters. 2 are crappy, one is good, all three are 5.7. Anything crack on Poland Hill (except the aforementioned Skull) is 5.9 off-width. Unless its 5.9 handcrack. Either way. There are some things right next to Horticulture, but I'm not sure about the grade. One has a leaver stopper. Have fun.
And if you have the gumption, do Lucille. Its uh... 5.8... yeah that's it, 5.8! Actually 5.12d, some call it the hardest off-width/squeeze chimney in the world. There are TR bolts though, if you don't have enough wide gear for a 30 foot roof off-width plus the vertical and less than vertical start and finish. Get on top of Turtle rock and head north until you see Hassler's Hatbox and the only crack that made me cry just to look.
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