What's the hardest thing you have ever sent?

i don't really like rating because they very from place to place. But at HP40 I climbed two V6's. Havn't been able to do another V6 in any other area though. So who knows.

As far as routes, its been so long since i've actually tried hard on a route that I think the hardest route I've done is like a 10 or something. Maybe different now, but I doubt it because I have no endurance.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you. They steal from the store and they smell and they wear rags and even piss right outside their tents. I tell you, it's like a leper colony, that place."Yosemite Lodge bellman trying to dissuade a girl from visiting camp4

wow, v6 at HP40 is insane... was it slopey or one of the rare crimpy problems? Thats swee though, for real.

ive sent v7 at hp and a v7 out ere in red rocks (where im at right now) and .12+ on a rope... and 5.8 on trad =(

the hardest probelm i 've ever sent is V7 boulder...but i sent only one v7 and many v6 so i want to sent many other of that ... ;-)

12d sport, 11+ Trad, Bouldering I don't do very much so I'm not sure there.

12a sport at the red, and v3 bouldering:)

i feel so lame now, i climb harder bouldering yet im definately a sport climber and ive only ever really gone on a climbing trip specifically for bouldering twice. so i need some advice for better bolted sending

Wow Ben - you must be so strong then! You've only gone on two specific bouldering trips twice, yet you have sent 2 v7s... thats pretty damn awesome! You should do the 12a that max did... i heard its an awesome 12a to send.

which one is it? and its almost depressing that i have to work so hard on routes but first bouldering trip to hp i flashed 2 v4s and the second time i flashed a v5. but whatever, its grades so its not important and routes are still my passion, ive done my best to avoid getting sucked in to bouldering too much

uummmmmmmmm, i forgot. haha, he'll tell you. But I was defiantely a route person when i first started, and i remember i HATED bouldering. Then i would go to the gym to train, and there would be NOBODY to belay me... so i started bouldering, and i guess i was one of those people who got sucked in. Now you will hardly ever see me in a harness. But just wait, I'll get back into it!

i dont go to a gym, we dont have one in lexington but the red is 45 min away which is the same as the gym i used to go to so im there all the time and ive never not found a climbing partner there, even if i only get on a couple pitches in a day

..man, no wonder you are so good! All you have is real rock - now thats the life to be livin!

yea i hate plastic and i climb so much stronger on real rock. i was at the gym 4 days a week all of last winter and that really got me strong for outside but i had no endurance when i started at the red so it might have been all the gym climbing that got me strong for bouldering but now im not going to get anywhere with it b/ i dont climb in a gym and i dont boulder

haha Ben, whats wrong with bouldering? Get sucked in, its worth it. And Ash, thats the same way I got into bouldering. My two bestfriends who i used to climb with dropped out of the competetion circuit, one quit climbing all together and the other became a just at the red climber. Unfortunately my schduel wouldn't let me go to the red as often so I still got to climb at the gym. So since i no longer had a belay, I took up bouldering.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you. They steal from the store and they smell and they wear rags and even piss right outside their tents. I tell you, it's like a leper colony, that place."Yosemite Lodge bellman trying to dissuade a girl from visiting camp4

Friday the 13th at Vedauwoo is my hardest trad lead, although I had to rest on it a couple of times. Country Club Crack is my hardest flash at 5.11 Trad. Onsight Trad was Middle Parallel Space at Vedauwoo, 5.9+. Sport, I lead the 10's onsight, and hang all over the 11's. I did alot of bouldering the past two years, it helps to have alot of Gill problems nearby. I embrace all aspects of climbing, because they all have their own mental challenge to them. Plus climbing gets me out there, and that's what counts.

Ben the 12 i sent was at the red. its called crack the whip at the playground

The two friends that Ana (universal rhythm) is talking about is my twin sister and I. I'm not built like a boulderer. I'm tall and skinny. Built for long, overhanging routes at the red ;) Bouldering just isnt for me.

As for grades, I think the hardest I've done is a 11d. Whenever I get into good shape, something happens. Like for example, 2 summers ago I was really close on a few 12s, when I was pushed into a pond, hit a rock and had to get stiches on my toe and shin. Then last summer, we had some family stuff going on so I didnt even get a chance to get into shape. But for the most part, I dont really pay attention to grades. I get on things that look fun and doable.

Char, thats the best way to be - to not pay attention to grades. SOmetimes its a good feeling when you climb something thats above your normal grade level, but other than that I don't care about grades either. It's all fun. In fact, I do BETTER when I DONT know what the grade is... Because then I don't have a mental block to if I can do it or not, you know? If I know something is rated a 12, my mind automatically tells me that its either really hard, or impossible to do... But yeah, I feel yea totally...

haha Char I wasn't gonna name names. But i guess you don't mind.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you. They steal from the store and they smell and they wear rags and even piss right outside their tents. I tell you, it's like a leper colony, that place."Yosemite Lodge bellman trying to dissuade a girl from visiting camp4

badash, I think we all pay attention to grades and there's nothing wrong with that. To me it's a way of measuring my fitness level. What I think people mean when they say, "they don't pay attention to grades" is that they aren't comparing their level of fitness to anothers, which is what I try to do. The reality is that to climb hard means being able to maintain a level of fitness and having the time and means to do so. If you don't climb as hard as someone else, who cares, but there is definitely nothing wrong with wanting to climb harder and being interested in how hard others are climbing.

no grades arent as important as pushing yourself so as long as youre doing that grades arent important. and ive done crack the whip, i think its the easiest .12 at the red but i can reach past a couple things

THe hardest i have sent is v9 handfull of v8's and lots of v7's and 6's the hardest sport was 13a in two tries.. but thats the hardest i have tried so i think i can do better!

its a pretty easy twelve but i was i bit shorter than and had to dyno alot.

well im 6'1 with a +1 ape index so...

I like grades because then I know if I even have a slight chance at making a problem. They also let me know what I could be working on so that I'm not working on something I'm not going to get for a long time.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you. They steal from the store and they smell and they wear rags and even piss right outside their tents. I tell you, it's like a leper colony, that place."Yosemite Lodge bellman trying to dissuade a girl from visiting camp4

i think with bouldering especially if you do get in over your head just jump off for the most part. as long as youre pushing yourself and having fun who cares whether or not its going to be sent, but i also think that the process is mopre satisfying than the send itself

Thats all true,I like the process of sometimes just being able to get one hold further each day though. Sometimes that feels just like sending a problem. But it's also nice to send your project every once in awhile. For me I could just be working a hard V3 and it would feel the same if I worked a V6 and sent it.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you. They steal from the store and they smell and they wear rags and even piss right outside their tents. I tell you, it's like a leper colony, that place."Yosemite Lodge bellman trying to dissuade a girl from visiting camp4

i agree, Universal Rhythm.

Been a while, but probably Satisfaction Guaranteed (.11b) at Summersville Lake, WV.

ive been outside two times and ive sent 4 v5's. they were all at LRC during the triple crown. Right now im workin on a v7 called midway, any advice?????

yeah, send that f-ing thing! I'm working on it with you. Stay strong and keep breathin when you're on that problem. You'll get it next time you go.

Hmm... thats a tough question. The hardest graded thing I've sent certainly didn't feel like the hardest I've sent....

Hardest boulder problem is probably a V7 or three. I've never tried a boulder problem more than about 5 times though...

Hardest graded route would be one of two 12d roof cracks (one wide hands, one fingers). Though anyone of the several 12b or c offwidth roofs I've done felt WAAAYYYY harder.

I guess I've never worked a route for more than a day or two a year either...

I'm gonna have to learn to project. Definitely.

I agree with you guys, I look at grades to help judge where I'm at or if I even have a chance at a route, but I dont look at them in the since of chasing. I hate it when people only get on a route to say that they did it, you know?
And Badash, your right, I deffinitly do better on a hard route if I dont know what the grade is.

Woah, you guys are climbing a lot harder than I am. I only recently did my first 5.11 red-point, Rebel w/o a Pause. I've TRed and hang-dogged over some harder stuff, but that's probably my hardest route I've done clean. I've done some V4s at Governor Stable, but I think they were all either one-move wonders or soft for the grade. They are no where close to the V4s I played on at HP40 or Hounds Ear.

what's up guys. well as far as grades go I've been bouldering consitant V5/6 and the last time I was on the rope outside was at Red Rocks; flashed 3 5.11c. some people say sport grades are a little soft there so who knows. I'm gonna put a lot of work into getting better on the rope this year though. big plans, big plans. I've done trad here and there but never past 5.9. I plan to try some harder leads this year though. I'm going to hueco end of march so I'm hoping to send some cool stuff there but it's hueco so I'll probably get my butt kicked a bit. it will be great fun though.

ive sent a v7 and a v6 and aton of 5's but ive never done routes outside.

you should come with me to fosters next time, john michael!

It was pretty tough climbing into bed last night, maybe the hardest problem I've ever done. Of course, it wasn't too much easier climbing out this morning.

Where do you sleep that the downclimb is almost as hard as the ascent? Try getting to my age and you'll find you need "Vitamin I" just to get out of bed..
Cheers!

No where special, Birthday party last night *ouch*

Red pointed: Le Chirurgien du Crepuscule, Ceuse, France 2004 8b+ (5.14a/b)
On sight: Turkish Airways, Geyik Bayiri, Turkey 2004 8a+ (5.13c)
Bouldering: Almscliff, Yorkshire crags, England 2006 V10

sick! 5.14 is something to be proud of. I would love to take a trip across the pond sometime and do some climbing.

i havent updated my status here in a while... ive sent v7 and im working on a 12c... although i still havent even been on a 12a?!

Sent V8 and .12d, but I am always working on impossible problems. Still working on .13s, especially Father Figure in J-Tree. Crash loves it when a crux turns out to be the final move.

(Edit: The final moves: far reach up with the right for a small side-pull, move feet and bump left off indescribably small nub to jump for a crimp, then large spring for a sloper, leading to impossible mantle just below the anchors. Bon apetite.)

Slainte!
Licentia Haud Vestigium

I drank a V8 once. 12D is my shoe size.

thats something my dad would say! He always says, "I coulda had a V8, but i dont like tomato juice" wowwww

Crash ----> that seems like a ridiculous series of final moves! I'd like to try whatever you just described!

Oh, and another update for this thread: As people probably know, I sent another v7 recently and I accomplished my 5.12 mission by sending two 5.12a's in a day.

BA, two 12's in a day...Red point or Pink point? (that otta get something rolling!)

hmmmm..... im pretty sure it was pink point. Does that de-grade it or something?

Nah. Veterans just like to fuss over the details of an ascent and make up words for things.

Besides, it's sending the route that really counts. Draws are just a side-effect.

hey nice going BA! I actually achieved my 5.12 goal for this year as well, about a week ago. I was super psyched, but since that was the goal for the year I'm thinking ok what should the goal be now? 5.13? something to shoot for. anyways keep it up and I'll do the same.

So, to stir it up a little more then...If I started a V8 or sumthing boulder problem standing up, totally skipping the crux, and flashed my way to the top of the problem...could I still call that a send of V8?;)

*outraged grumbling*

Course not. For example: there's a problem in JTree called So High, a famous highball crack that's supposed to be a V5. But if you do the sit-start, it's V11. The first few moves are harder than the 25-foot highball. Skipping the sit-start crux and calling it V11 would be totally preposterous.

thats the best story ive ever heard hc

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.

So then, by your rational, skipping a move...oh say like stopping to grap a quick draw off your harness and then clipping it to a bolt, would make a harder sequence easier.

clipping a bolt wouldn't be skipping a 'move'. I would say clipping the bolt on a climb is almost like a move by itself. you can't just clip the bolt; you have to be in a good position and be able to reach it and whatnot. I don't think the examples are in the same league. climbing grades are relative at times but if someone puts up a problem and calls it v whatever, then in order to say you sent the same problem you have to start on the same holds. if you find a hold halfway up that hasn't been used but you use it because your shorter and it helps you then that's cool. but if you do the stand start to a V11 and say you did it then you shouldn't be climbing anyways. your doing it to get attention and that's not the point. that's just my opinion though.

I'm not sure what you mean by making it easier. It's much harder because you sometimes have to reach out far out in space above you to clip a draw, like doing a move twice. It's actually practical to do a route pink-point because your are really doing the route, not wasting your energy. Soloing gets easier because you don't have to stop on a tiring sloper to clip something.

I'd also like to add that there are no quick-draws on a boulder problem.

good point HC. even though I like and respect all forms of climbing, I really enjoy bouldering because it's one of the purest forms of climbing. you take the coolest and hardest part of a climb and climb it without having to worry about QD's, rope, harness, etc. The thing I enjoy about sport is pushing myself because I do get sketched out when I'm pumped and 6' above the bolt, but there's no better feeling that pushing through that mental block. I will say though that at the local hard crag many of the hard projects have pre-hung draws. if I send one of these climbs with the draws prehung then of course I'm going to say I redpointed it because I have no right to take the draws off that someone else put up. to me something like hanging the draws or not is getting to picky. it's called climbing, so if you climbed a route (regardless of the draws being pre-hung or not) then you climbed the route.

the hardest thing i have sent is probably a V3+ at the gym and i have been ablt to do it numerouse times. it had alot of crimps and tough moves and even a small dino but it was definately the most fun route i have sent.

SAme here. In 5.decimal talk and not V' or B language, a gym route that went 26 ft of crimp was my worst. None over a centimeter in depth. Sharp edges that cut, slopers, no texture for smears on the wall. About a 5.13a at best is the consensus on that one.

I am going to throw in something a little different here. My hardest alpine ascent, a variation on the Northwest Arete of Mt. Shuksan (5.7, AI2+, III) in the North Cascades. Though the summit is not that high (9,131') the elevation gain from the base camp at Lake Anne is about 4,500'. This is also a route that has it all, snow, ice, and rock. Our attempt on this route was made the day after one of my best friends wedding with much of the wedding party accompanying us up to base camp. Sometime after midnight our party of three began our climb by simul-soloing the Fisher Chimneys up to the White Salmon Glacier, after crossing the glacier we did one vertical snow and ice pitch followed by a mixed rock and ice pitch to put us on the Upper Curtis Glacier. We traversed the Upper Curtis and then Hanging Glacier to reach the base of the Northwest Arete. There, after changing into our rock shoes, we stepped across a bergschrund and proceeded with the 1,500 foot, 5.7 rock climb of the summit pyramid. The crux for me though was on the descent where we had to jump across a 300' deep crevasse. When we finally got back to base camp we found that the wedding party had brought up a couple of leftover bottles of champagne which they popped immediately upon our return. I have never been so totally spent in all my life as from this climb. That made the apres climb that I spent with my wife at a bed & breakfast in Anacortes, WA all the more sweet.
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5.8 in gym.

Bex, we need to get you to come down to the Red for some real climbing!
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Hell ya Cap'n. BTW Lemme know next time you're down there. I may just pop by.
Licentia Haud Vestigium

If the draws are pre-hung, then it is a pink point, NEVER a red point. And thestidham, feel free to remove the draws to try and red point a route. Just re-hang them afterwards. The point is, a climb in which you place your own pro makes it harder than one in which pro has already been placed. If you climb in an area in which it is common to leave draws on a route, then that routes' grade takes, (or should take), this into account. If you remove the draws and climb it, you would in fact have climbed a route that is harder than what it's graded at. Make sense??
Cheers!

I can't wait to live near real rock. The access to the nearest rock )opened last weekend, I just need more experienced people to climb with. I'm too new to head out alone.