SUMMARY HAIKU
Guys and Ghouls - scary!
5.10 you say?! Maybe so...
A "What the Fuck!"-er
Guys and Ghouls - scary!
5.10 you say?! Maybe so...
A "What the Fuck!"-er
Breakdown of the climb "Guys and Ghouls." This is an old school Donette and Todd Swain climb originally rated a 5.6 and has recently been upgraded to a 5.7 in Mountain Project. Ha! That is what we call an "average" grading approach - the first 30'+ feet is hard - 5.9+ even 5.10a-ish. The second half is like a 5.3 or 5.4 - so they "averaged" it out and called it a 5.6.
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Stefani Dawn leading "Guys and Ghouls." This spot is the first place you can put pro. It's a leaning, heady, and awkward high step into the large hueco with no great place for hands relative to what your body is doing. I wish I could say it gets easier from here, but it doesn't. The next 5-6 moves are committing, burly, and heady on questionable pro.
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Guys and Ghouls
Climb: Guys and Ghouls (Trad, pro to 4") (1 pitch ~90')
Wall: Dickies
Beginner Lead? No
Conclusion WTF? What the FUCK!
Wall: Dickies
Beginner Lead? No
Conclusion WTF? What the FUCK!
"Guys and Ghouls" is an old school climb put up by Donette and Todd Swain and was originally rated 5.6. But recently the grade was bumped up to a 5.7 in Mountain Project. Mountain Project uses median calculations from people's input to determine the grade of a climb. A number of people give it a 5.7+, 5.8, and even a 5.10a, which resulted in the grade-bumping. For sure that + needs to be there if it is listed as anything in the vicinity of 5.7-5.9.
When Rick and I first saw the 5.10a rating we laughed and said, "We'll see..." But having done this tour for a while now - and climbed a ton of old school 5.7s that are not 5.7s (in today's rating system), we knew not to be too dismissive. Well, turns out we both feel that 5.10a is not that far off. I had a harder time with the climb, because of my height (5'5"), the extra weight from the gear, and the need to put a cam in the spot where you want to jam your fingers - I chose to place the cam because the rest of the gear below was not ideal, so it was pretty easy for me to put this in the 5.9+/5.10 range.
In my mind a + covers 1-2 hard moves that are significantly above the grade (~1-2 full grade levels), for me the first ~35 feet was challenging, and 3-4 moves in the last 10-15 feet were especially challenging. In the photo above - where I am transitioning into the huge hueco - everything below that point was pretty spicy and harder if you are shorter. There is no protection. It is lean-ey and feels like you are going to punt off. And, those smaller huecos look juggy, but they aren't - they are shallow, slopey, and sandy.
From the huge hueco for the next 3-4 moves on, it gets hard. The lean-ey-ness is even more pronounced, the bulge feels more like a roof with some overhang, the hands and feet are difficult, as is placing gear. It is strenuous.
Above the 35' it gets super easy (and fun), as you go up a featured chimney that uses a little chimneying, stemming, and face holds. This is probably in the 5.4 - 5.5 range, which is probably why it was rated 5.6 to begin with? We call that an "average" climbing - meaning the grade was based upon an average... 35 feet of it was hard, and the remaining 65 feet of it was easy... so it averages out to... you get the idea.
Near the top you can go right for super easy to top out, or stay left in the crack and go up the juggy petina. I chose the latter to extend the fun. There are bolted anchors at the top on a nice ledge. Bring up your second and then rappel.
When Rick and I first saw the 5.10a rating we laughed and said, "We'll see..." But having done this tour for a while now - and climbed a ton of old school 5.7s that are not 5.7s (in today's rating system), we knew not to be too dismissive. Well, turns out we both feel that 5.10a is not that far off. I had a harder time with the climb, because of my height (5'5"), the extra weight from the gear, and the need to put a cam in the spot where you want to jam your fingers - I chose to place the cam because the rest of the gear below was not ideal, so it was pretty easy for me to put this in the 5.9+/5.10 range.
In my mind a + covers 1-2 hard moves that are significantly above the grade (~1-2 full grade levels), for me the first ~35 feet was challenging, and 3-4 moves in the last 10-15 feet were especially challenging. In the photo above - where I am transitioning into the huge hueco - everything below that point was pretty spicy and harder if you are shorter. There is no protection. It is lean-ey and feels like you are going to punt off. And, those smaller huecos look juggy, but they aren't - they are shallow, slopey, and sandy.
From the huge hueco for the next 3-4 moves on, it gets hard. The lean-ey-ness is even more pronounced, the bulge feels more like a roof with some overhang, the hands and feet are difficult, as is placing gear. It is strenuous.
Above the 35' it gets super easy (and fun), as you go up a featured chimney that uses a little chimneying, stemming, and face holds. This is probably in the 5.4 - 5.5 range, which is probably why it was rated 5.6 to begin with? We call that an "average" climbing - meaning the grade was based upon an average... 35 feet of it was hard, and the remaining 65 feet of it was easy... so it averages out to... you get the idea.
Near the top you can go right for super easy to top out, or stay left in the crack and go up the juggy petina. I chose the latter to extend the fun. There are bolted anchors at the top on a nice ledge. Bring up your second and then rappel.
Climb Stats to Date
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DATE OF CLIMB: June 10, 2023
WALLS HIT: 1 NUMBER OF 5.7 CLIMBS TODAY: 1 NUMBER OF 5.7 PITCHES TODAY: 1 NUMBER OF FALLS: 0 NUMBER OF TAKES: Several VERTICAL 5.7 FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 90' DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0 TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 188 TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 256 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 23,375' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 54 (out of 242 - some new climbs have been added...) VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: 28,832' DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 8 |
FALLS SO FAR:
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