I have 2 weeks vacation around May, been to Yosemite a couple of years back and loved it, my pal wants to go to Indian Creek which is also a mega climbing venue, I`m torn between Yosemite or Indian Creek !
Do you think I should bite the bullet and go to the Creek or insist/bully my pal that we should go to Yosemite ? I would value your opinions why should I go to either venue over the other, climbing in the UK at a grade of E4/5 fr 7a+, 5.12a, I have heard that splitter cracks in the Creek can reduce us Brits to gibbering wrecks so I`ve set my goals to start on 5.10 cracks and hopefully working up to 5.11c !
In Yosemite I climbed Serenity/Sons of Yesterday, loads on Cookie Cliff and The Regular route on The Rosterum.
Your feedback will be really appreciated

mills.

IC: Better Cragging, better crack climbing. Need lots of cams. (for example, it's recommended that you use 8-10 #2 Camalots for Generic Crack [5.10a], 13 #2's for Bunny Slope). We went last February and it snowed on us, the roads were muddy as hell.



Yosemite: Better multipitch, great, but not the best crack climbing. Wet weather is almost a guarantee this time of year. Lots of wet routes now.



I recommend Indian Creek. The Valley maybe for fall and mid-late spring.

you've tasted the valley.
try indian creek but but be sure to do a few classic desert towers as well - check out Dow Williams' page on "Desert Towers" here on SP (http://www.summitpost.org/moab-desert-tower-climbs/561713)...top of that list perhaps would be Primrose Dihedral on Moses (so I'm told -have not done it...think there's an access issue now due to washouts???, do your homework), Lightning Bolt Cracks on North Six Shooter (IN indian creek), Castleton, Sister Superior, Washer Woman etc...I'd use a few days in IC as a warm-up & then focus my trip & efforts on classic tower routes. Note that you might want a high clearance/4X4 rental esp. for some towers. my much more humble collection: http://chossclimbers.com/?page_id=166

EDIT IN: and the Fine Jade on the Rectory, and Honeymoon Chimney on The Priest, and do a quick run on Ancient Art just because it's too easy and too out of this world to pass up....I'm getting a chubb just thinking about this - gotta run.

The main reason for the trip is to make a short film about climbing in the States, I`ll be climbing with my buddy whom is quite talented, personally I`d like to go to Yosemite again and have a crack at Astroman and other classic routes.
One advantage of climbing in Indian Creek would be that filming would be much easier, one of my concerns would be that if you film one splitter crack then they tend to be same and make for tedious watching (runs and hide)
Could any of you guys recomend 5 routes of different character in the Creek which would make compulsive viewing, grades not important, thanks again

mills.

mills wrote:The main reason for the trip is to make a short film about climbing in the States, I`ll be climbing with my buddy whom is quite talented, personally I`d like to go to Yosemite again and have a crack at Astroman and other classic routes.
One advantage of climbing in Indian Creek would be that filming would be much easier, one of my concerns would be that if you film one splitter crack then they tend to be same and make for tedious watching (runs and hide)
Could any of you guys recomend 5 routes of different character in the Creek which would make compulsive viewing, grades not important, thanks again

mills.

If it means anything, I'd pick a short film of yosemite climbing over indian creek any day. Yosemite is just on a whole different level as far as interesting goes in my opinion.

Thanks drpw, I love Yosemite on my last visit we filmed The Rosterum, Seperate Reality and various shorter routes on Cookie Cliff, as we only have 2 weeks with the travelling and all it might be a better option for a visit to Indian Creek ! It does look immenseley beautiful, and as I have not been before maybea I should bite the bullet and go there, hopefully I wont be dissapointed

If you've done the Rostrum, and a bunch of stuff at Cookie Cliff, don't worry about the reputation of Indian Creek (actually I'll say Southern Utah, since you can do Indian Creek, Moab (ie: Desert Towers, and also sneak over to Zion for longer free stuff). Actually after a few days you may think the ratings are a bit soft. Its also a good place to push yourself since if you have enough gear there USUALLY isn't any runouts. A free ascent of Moonlight Buttress would be a good video clip snippet. Ok, the reputation for gear is true, I have 6-9 of each size and on some routes my rack feels anoerexic, but you can always talk others into loaning a few cams if you have something in particular in mind, especially if you stay in the Bridger Jacks Camping area. Its nice camping and people are friendly.

Great visual opportunities,

-Ruby's Cafe (5.13a) start in a left facing corner (small corner that is) at tips (I can only get my pinkie in and I have thin fingers), to an easy lie back, to a small "crux" to a short "easy" section, to a 1.75meter roof to a short jaunt to the chains. The route has already been done for "Return to Sender" but its a beautiful route nonetheless. I can also give you a short video clip when I tried it after haven't been on it in about a year.

-Annanuki (easy 5.11d/5.12a) an eastetic overhanging hand to fingers crack

-Johnny Cat (5.11d) a beautiful ringlock/finger crack that you can see for miles, (you can see it here: http://www.summitpost.org/a-weekend-of- ... eek/460181 if you scroll down a bit)

A couple of routes at a crag no one goes to "Cliffs of Insanity" such as Men In Black, Inconcievable (not as good as a photo op) Puzzle Factory, and BirdBrain (all 5.12's)

I'll get back with you on a route later this winter/early spring which looks amazing and has had mixed reviews from friends (from amazing to ahhhhh....) which is Learning to Fly (5.13c/d depending on who you ask) which is overhanginging fingers with virtually no feet. I'll get back this spring also on Optimator (5.13a) for photo op quality

Slot Machine (5.12): interesting formation (in a big V-slot)

a classic hands at Super Buttress (which made the creek famous)

some of the thin stuff like Burl Dog (5.12d), Less then Zero (5.13a: looks good but I'll have more beta this spring).

Let me think about it for a while. This is just a first pass off my head

a classic offwidfth such as Brother From Another Planet (5.12) Big Baby (5.11)

I have to say I love both places, I had climbed 10/11 years in Yosemite and go back often and now climb in the desert southwest. While Yosemite is beautiful, in my mind the southwest desert is more photogenic due to the deep rich colors.

Initially, I'd say that it's really hard to go wrong with either place. If you're from the UK, the scenery around Indian Creek/Canyonlands area will seem so surreal. I'm from the West, and it seems surreal to me.

I think the distinction is what you'll feel like climbing more. The notion that the crack climbing at IC is better than the Valley is foolish to me. The rock is simply different, so the cracks will be somewhat different as well. However, if you climbed at the Cookies, etc., and did well there, you should do fine at IC. Oftentimes, assuming your crack climbing is adequate, how difficult a climb there (IC) will seem is more dependent on your hand size than anything else.

One nice thing about the Valley is that if you feel like doing longer climbs, like Astroman or West Face of El Cap, etc., that option is there. I guess you could try Moses if you're at IC. The North Face of Castleton or Fine Jade would also be awesome multipitch routes.

Thanks for the link CClaude loads of great tips there, of to the climbing shop tomorrow as they have the new guide for IC

There are so many fantastic climbing areas in the States, would love to give up my day job and fly out tomorrow, (I wish)

Funny, if I didn't have a job, I'd definately hit up your area. There is a bunch of areas I'd love to checkout, and a lot of the old hard#$$ climbers I know are from your region (except some of the routes may make me cry for my mommy)

Also, I forgot to mention!

Check out Scarface, Pente and Spaghetti Western. I wasn't strong enough to lead them (5.11's) but they were a blast to follow.

lol CClaude, amazing trad climbing in Wales especially in the North ! So much different rock types, the weather is the only downfall.
I know almost every climber in the area as there is a very close knit climbing community here, what pleases me more thease days is that more Welsh people climb and up to a very high standard !
The area which I live in is steeped in climbing history, Brown, Willance, Fawcett, Dawes, ect
It`s cool to visit different countries for climbing and the culture, It`s only 2 hours flying time from the UK to most of the best sport climbing venues in Europe.
I just love the States though so hopefully, just spoken to my friend we might be visiting The Creek and Yosemite on the next trip, will have to extend it to 3 weeks though !

I spent a few weeks in England my first trip abroad and visited a climber from Manchester that I had met in Camp 4 a year or two before. Between bouts of sogginess we spent a few days at Stoney Middleton, Stanage Edge, Wilton Quarry and a day in North Wales, climbing a couple of things at Tremadog and soloing some long easy slabs in the Ogwen Valley in our running shoes. Good fun. I'd love to go back and climb some classics like Cenotaph Corner, Dream of White Horses, etc., etc., weather permitting of course.

It`s all about the weather in this country I`m affraid ! Climbed at Stanage and a few other Gritstone crags but for me North Wales (on a nice day) cannot be beaten.
Tremadog is my favourite cliff, followed by the sea cliffs of Gogarth then the awsome Llanberis Pass. Cenotaph Corner is a classic Brown testpiece at E1 5c, other worthwhile routes on Dinas Cromlech are Cemetary Gates E1 5b, Left Wall E2 5c, Memory Lane E3 5c, Foil E3 6a, Ressurection E4 6a not to mention the South side of the pass !

Cemetary Gates (1) love the name & (2) isn't it a Whillans' route?

Been dreaming of a UK climbing roadtrip. The photos of the sea stacks on the Scottish coast sure get the blood going.