Bob Sihler - Jun 28, 2015 11:47 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2015
Scary but not as bad as they say
Scary at times, but not as bad as some describe.
I climbed this a few days ago on a humid morning when sweat became a factor as well. My pro consisted of a #5 Camalot, a #6 Camalot, a #2 Big Bro, a #3 Big Bro (I was wishing I had the #4), and a full set of DMM nuts plus the three largest Wild Country Rocks. Also, I had a 0.1 and 0.2 X4 for the small placements I thought I might find beside the off-width. I never used them, though as I was desperately reaching for the #3 Big Bro, I must have unclipped the 0.2, for I could not find it when reorganizing my gear on the ledge; it must have fallen into the crack, so if you can reach it, put it to good use.
Shortly up the off-width, I placed one of the big WC Rocks; I think it was the 12. It was a bomber placement and my follower had a little trouble cleaning it, which in a way made me feel better about it. Past that, I made three decent placements, though I don't remember the exact order: I slung a tree off to the side (possibly sketchy but a psychological boost), the #2 Big Bro, and the #5 Camalot.
Originally, it was my intention to place all my pieces except the #6 Camalot and then walk that piece up the rest of the way. Maybe I wasn't reaching in deep enough or something, but by the time I was ready to do that, the crack was way too wide, and staying too wide, for that piece. I was just able to get in an iffy placement of the #3 Big Bro, and then finish to the ledge.
Those who said on other sites that one should be a 5.8 or 5.10 leader for this one are overstating it a bit. I was neither at the time. The holds or the friction was always there, but it was more a mental game because of the pro. On toprope, this route would be fun and interesting. On lead, it's different; the climbing is really not that hard, but how many people have enough huge pro to adequately protect this, and how many want to haul it along for whatever the next climb is?
For those who are cleaning-- my follower was my 10-year-old son, who is already a stronger climber than I am but cannot place pro yet. When I asked him how he dealt with the route, he said he avoided the crack and stuck to the face, only getting into the crack as needed to clean the gear.
EverydayExplorer - Dec 11, 2007 9:23 am Date Climbed: Oct 1, 2007
Nasty
I haven't climbed Dirty Crack(5.8) right next to Entrance Crack but next time I will. Offwidth is terrible in my opinion. I compltely agree about the pucker factor but that is most of Stone Mtn in my opinion.
Difficult to protect on the offwidth portion without a big bro. The run-out can get huge, especially considering how close to the ground you are! High pucker factors.
Bob Sihler - Jun 28, 2015 11:47 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2015
Scary but not as bad as they sayScary at times, but not as bad as some describe.
I climbed this a few days ago on a humid morning when sweat became a factor as well. My pro consisted of a #5 Camalot, a #6 Camalot, a #2 Big Bro, a #3 Big Bro (I was wishing I had the #4), and a full set of DMM nuts plus the three largest Wild Country Rocks. Also, I had a 0.1 and 0.2 X4 for the small placements I thought I might find beside the off-width. I never used them, though as I was desperately reaching for the #3 Big Bro, I must have unclipped the 0.2, for I could not find it when reorganizing my gear on the ledge; it must have fallen into the crack, so if you can reach it, put it to good use.
Shortly up the off-width, I placed one of the big WC Rocks; I think it was the 12. It was a bomber placement and my follower had a little trouble cleaning it, which in a way made me feel better about it. Past that, I made three decent placements, though I don't remember the exact order: I slung a tree off to the side (possibly sketchy but a psychological boost), the #2 Big Bro, and the #5 Camalot.
Originally, it was my intention to place all my pieces except the #6 Camalot and then walk that piece up the rest of the way. Maybe I wasn't reaching in deep enough or something, but by the time I was ready to do that, the crack was way too wide, and staying too wide, for that piece. I was just able to get in an iffy placement of the #3 Big Bro, and then finish to the ledge.
Those who said on other sites that one should be a 5.8 or 5.10 leader for this one are overstating it a bit. I was neither at the time. The holds or the friction was always there, but it was more a mental game because of the pro. On toprope, this route would be fun and interesting. On lead, it's different; the climbing is really not that hard, but how many people have enough huge pro to adequately protect this, and how many want to haul it along for whatever the next climb is?
For those who are cleaning-- my follower was my 10-year-old son, who is already a stronger climber than I am but cannot place pro yet. When I asked him how he dealt with the route, he said he avoided the crack and stuck to the face, only getting into the crack as needed to clean the gear.
EverydayExplorer - Dec 11, 2007 9:23 am Date Climbed: Oct 1, 2007
NastyI haven't climbed Dirty Crack(5.8) right next to Entrance Crack but next time I will. Offwidth is terrible in my opinion. I compltely agree about the pucker factor but that is most of Stone Mtn in my opinion.
vanny37 - Mar 12, 2006 6:11 pm
Hell!Difficult to protect on the offwidth portion without a big bro. The run-out can get huge, especially considering how close to the ground you are! High pucker factors.