SummitPost.org

Different strokes for different folks, that's climbing ..

How do people feel about doing routes they've done before ?

Sometimes if I followed a route, then I want to go back later and lead it. Or if we swapped leads, then I want to lead the pitches I was following. Sometimes I just like a route so much that I'll do it again and again. Others, well .. once is enough

I found myself repeating routes a bit too often (usually because of an easy approach or to do with a different partner), so I have instituted a "10 year rule". I find that after 10 years, it is pretty much like climbing the route for the first time.

Of course, all self imposed rules are made to be broken.........

double post

Rob.

Sometimes once is good enuf.

Other climbs, unfortunately almost weekly.

Fred.

Sometimes I just forget if I have climbed something. So many climbs. Getting old has some advantages, no.

I seem to repeat easy routes over an over as a training exercise. Routes that required more effort, not so much.

Did the Reg Route on Fairview, again, yesterday, in under 2 hours, well under 3 hours CtC.

I have done it annually with my local climbing buddy, 4 times in as many years to better our time. Done it well over 20 times in the past 25 years.

Have done L-Streaks over 7 seven times. Can't remember how many times I've done G-Pumpkin, Rosseane, South Crack etc.

Done the EB & EF of Whitney over six times each and will do the EB for a "best time" CtC attempt, early this Sat morning.

As a guide, it's required....

While I don't 'Guide', I do guide for my friends and climbing partners to some degree. Being the one on the sharp end a lot of the time these days means I get to pick the routes we do to some degree but it also means that I constantly get to take new friends to meet old routes that I love. I think I probably do the routes on Low Profile Dome in Tuolumne at least twice a year. I have probably led Black Widow (the whole route, not just the approach pitch) 3 to 5 times each of the last 4 years. But then it is a classic and no one else ever does it because of the R/X rating. Same goes for the routes on East Cottage Dome. I can never get enough of good knob routes it seems.

THen there is Joshua Tree; and while there may be 8,000 routes in the place, only a few hundred are worth doing more than once, so they have been done many times in the last 38 years.

To put this all in perspective though, I also boulder twice a week all year at the same place (Stoney Point). I have done some boulder problems there thousands of times. It's just climbing though and it doesn't matter if I have done it once or a thousand times, I still love the thrill, the movement over stone, and being outisde with good friends!

I've done the yellow route next to the door about 20 to 30 times.....it's a beauty

Black Widow looks cool. I would like to lead the first pitch, since it sounds like it's within my abilities. The second pitch sounds pretty serious. I keep meaning to check out Low Profile Dome ..

Rob, the first pitch is very much in your comfort zone. You can put as much pro in as you want and there are rap rings just to the right of the route to get off. Seems less than 5.7 to me.

The nice thing about the second pitch is that you can make it sort of safe if you carry some tri-cams. I generally use a pink or two and a black or two (.25). Mastercams (or Aliens) can be used in at least one of the placements. Up high I quit placeing gear but there is a nut placement to make the top a little safer assuming the piece stays in place. You slide a small stopper into a hole and then turn it sideways and slide it to the other side of the hole. I would hate to test it but I used to place it anyway. The way I do it, it is probably only PG except that I run the top out to the point that if I fell off just before the anchors I would probably deck. But then it gets quite easy up there and so I feel safe (knock wood!).

ShortTimer wrote:
THen there is Joshua Tree; and while there may be 8,000 routes in the place, only a few hundred are worth doing more than once, so they have been done many times in the last 38 years.

Less than a few hundred, maybe like 50. Max.

Guyzo wrote:

ShortTimer wrote:
THen there is Joshua Tree; and while there may be 8,000 routes in the place, only a few hundred are worth doing more than once, so they have been done many times in the last 38 years.

Less than a few hundred, maybe like 50. Max.

Oh oh, I feel a list coming on.

50 max? I could name 25 stellar climbs in each grade from 5.7 to 5.12 without thinking hard about it.

Just sayin'...

ksolem wrote:

Guyzo wrote:

ShortTimer wrote:


only a few hundred are worth doing more than once, so they have.......

Less than a few hundred, maybe like 50. Max.

Oh oh, I feel a list coming on.

50 max? I could name 25 stellar climbs in each grade from 5.7 to 5.12 without thinking hard about it.

Just sayin'...

I think the key here is more than once, lots to do for sure but why do we keep going back to the same ones??

Just saying

Guyzo wrote:
I think the key here is more than once, lots to do for sure but why do we keep going back to the same ones??

Just saying

That's because folks don't want to walk up to Oz, or out to The Fortress, or up to Indian Country, or be in the shade, or be in the sun, or get out of camp before 10AM...

Just sayin' ...

Great White Book: free-soloed about 50 times (sometimes drunk, sometimes high, sometimes both)
Lazy Bum: led about 50 times
Lembert Water Cracks: 20 times