Beth the Crackhead...

[willstrickland]

From R&I:Rodden Solves Sphinx Crack (5.13c) December 6, 2001 Beth Rodden, a former queen of indoor competitions, has to be considered one of the country’s top crack climbers after her recent send of Sphinx Crack, a burly splitter in Colorado’s South Platte. Rodden has climbed 5.13 in Yosemite, but says that this is the hardest “pure crack” she’s been on. “It’s pretty rugged inside that thing,” Rodden shudders. “I got only two tries a day.” After four days of pain-tolerance testing, Rodden snagged the pinkpoint. Gear was placed beforehand, from rappel, which most leaders have found necessary. Rodden said she’d consider coming back to place gear on the lead: “Someday — but it’s not a big goal.” The other thing she found “a bit weird” is that the route is entirely man-made: The Colorado School of Mines created the crack in the '70s with massive charges of dynamite. -END R&I excerpt-

Now riddle me this: Hidetaka Suzuki, quite possibly the best crack climber to set foot on US soil (with the possible exception of Nitro or Hong) used to have a ritual of climbing this route once per year or something like that, and to the best of my knowledge he always placed his gear on lead. If anyone's seen the Master's of Stone 2 or 3 I think it is, there's footage of him just cruising the Phoenix... a 5.13 valley crack, so is this just more "sponsored climber needs to be in the media" stuff, or is it really "newsworthy"? I didn't see anything in there about "first female ascent" or "onsight, placing all gear on lead" or anything else to indicate that it was newsworthy. Don't get me wrong, I doubt I'll ever be climbing 5.13 cracks and it is impressive, but I gotta wonder...

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

[Dru]

I hear she took Tommy's severed finger up thee with her and left it in a finger lock so he can boast that he's always got a bomber jam.

[willstrickland]

You know he gave up on the re-attachment right? Tommy's gotta be at an all-time low, but I guess we'll see what happens in the end. Maybe he's still able to climb super hard, or maybe be becomes the pimp ice climber or aidclimber or something.

[Dru]

Eh, Hugh Herr can climb 5.13 with no legs below the knees. Tommy can still climb 5.14 minus half of one finger. I bethe gets a Stealth, carbon Fiber and Titanium prosthetic complete with hook to help clipping, and micro-lighter for sparking a J at the crux.

[Bob_Clarke]

Look what happened to Reinhold Messner after frostbite zapped his toes. He no longer could rock climb (his first true climbing love) and started teaching, then climbing all those peaks.

[Dru]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ropegun2001:

Look what happened to Reinhold Messner after frostbite zapped his toes. He no longer could rock climb (his first true climbing love) and started teaching, then climbing all those peaks.

---

And then he turned into a politician... and saw the yeti.

He still rock climbs too, remember he fell off the wall of his castle buildering and broke a leg a few years ago. Reinhold Simpson??

[RURP]

This is RURP: You write as if we are all supposed to know about who this "Tommy" is and his unfortunate accident. Why don't you worry about your own Big Wall performance? And as far as this "Beth" is concerned, it looks like another example where the standards for women are perceived to be so low that it is a big deal when a woman is able to climb something hard. Maybe if you want to be a professional climber with sponsors you can pretend you are a woman and then keep climbing at your same miserable degree of averageness.

RURP has spoken.

[JRCO]

I believe Sphinx Crack was created by some drunk locals who did not like the look of the big rock from the town of Pine, so they tried to dynamite it in the early 1900's. Over the years frost wedging has created the crack you see today. As far as Suzuki's ascent, I believe it was on-sight and he placed his own gear and I don't think any one else has freed the crack while placing gear. I live ten minutes from the crack and most people I see on it use it for aid climbing.

[David_Parker]

I didn't hear the story about Tommy's missing finger. What happened?

[Cpt.Caveman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Parker:

I didn't hear the story about Tommy's missing finger. What happened?

---

Table saw accident.

http://www.rockandice.com/index.phtml?section=news_show&news_id=129

[ 12-20-2001: Message edited by: Cpt.Caveman ]

[Dru]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JRCO:

I believe Sphinx Crack was created by some drunk locals who did not like the look of the big rock from the town of Pine, so they tried to dynamite it in the early 1900's. Over the years frost wedging has created the crack you see today. As far as Suzuki's ascent, I believe it was on-sight and he placed his own gear and I don't think any one else has freed the crack while placing gear. I live ten minutes from the crack and most people I see on it use it for aid climbing.

---

There is a lot of erroneous info in this post but I dont even live in CO so I will let a local correct it. sorry to challenge your beta JRCO but you should check out some guidebooks and stuff before you type.

[JRCO]

I am not really a local yet. Just move hear from Olympia about a year ago. I was only stating what my Rock Climbing Colorado guide says. Of course I have heard other variations and stories but does it really matter.

[Dru]

Ok to help you out:

1) crack created by Colorado School of Mines during dynamite practice;

2) FFA by Steve Hong, 1980's; many free ascents placing gear on lead; onsighted placing gear by Yuji Hirayama not Hidetaka Suzuki.

3) consensus grade is 13b with pre placed gear and 13c for placing gear on lead, according to Steve Hong and Alan Lester (and they should know...)

4) previous female ascents of Sphinx have included Mia Axon and Lisa Gnade... Gnade placed all the gear on lead on her successful redpoint, saying climbing it with ppg essentially turned it into a top rope problem...

5) so why is R&I spraying so much about Beth's ascent? cause the staff there have the hots for her, and cause she is a majorly sponsored climber who needs the photo andcolumn inches to keep her money flow coming.

6) not to dis her ascent, though. in perspective it is still pretty impressive.

7) Sphinx Crack is so far from being one of the hardest cracks in America. In colorado, yes*. In America no way. just about every major climbing area these days has a 13b/c crack route, most are more poorly protected than Sphinx.

* hence to R&I and Climbing it is worthy of spray cause it is in colorado. whereas if you did a 13d crack in utah or arizona or something you might get a one sentence report with no photo in the mag, unless you are chris sharma.

[JRCO]

Thanks for the info Dru. I would immagine R&I has the accurate info since it is a Colorado crack.

[kevin]

Dru you quote some guys saying its 13b with ppg or 13c if placed on lead. How can that be?! Every knows that placing gear on lead is far harder, but it doesn't change the rock so how can the rating change. You couldn't go and say that classic crack is only 5.8 if you top rope it but 5.9 to lead. Maybe there's some variation to ratings once you're climbing in the teens? fill me in...

[Cpt.Caveman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kevin:

Dru you quote some guys saying its 13b with ppg or 13c if placed on lead. How can that be?! Every knows that placing gear on lead is far harder, but it doesn't change the rock so how can the rating change. You couldn't go and say that classic crack is only 5.8 if you top rope it but 5.9 to lead. Maybe there's some variation to ratings once you're climbing in the teens? fill me in...

---

Classic Crack is 5.8b if you toprope. 5.8c if you lead it hehehe

[Dru]

As I understand it the problem is at those higher grades you have to hang on to shitty holds for longer to place the gear on lead and that does make it harder by increasing the pump factor. Also it slows you down, more moves to make - instead of clip and go you stop, grab gear, fiddle it in, then clip it.

Yeah it does crop up more in the teens climbing - for instance, "Lost horizons" 14a crack at Button rock reservoir CO , first and only free ascent by rob candelaria, was felt to be 13+ on TR but 14a when placing gear on lead.

It is the same principle as the Salathe Headwall, done the Skinner Piana way as two 13a pitches, and linked together by Huber to be one 13b pitch. Or the big corner on Freeway at Squamish can be done as 2 25m 11b pitches or one 50m 11c pitch.

On easier climbs you tend to get more no-hands rests where you can rest while placing a piece. but as routes get harder, you have to either do big runouts or put gear in while not at rests.

But whatever anyways, if you think its really 14c after your successful ascent, go ahead and call it that.

[JRCO]

http://www.climbingboulder.com/rock/db/south_platte___pine_area/sphinx_rock/sphinx_crack.html

[willstrickland]

Same deal on Moonlight, guide says crux is .13 onsight, .12d if worked.

I never said Suzuki onsighted it (I guess someone else did though) only that he has climbed it several times, yearly at one point, placing the gear on lead.

[Dru]

quote:

---

Originally posted by willstrickland:

Same deal on Moonlight, guide says crux is .13 onsight, .12d if worked.

I never said Suzuki onsighted it (I guess someone else did though) only that he has climbed it several times, yearly at one point, placing the gear on lead.

---

no i think mr jrco was confusing suzuki and hirayama, both japanese right, must be the same guy

and on the website he posted, one dude goes even further and confuses the both of them with pete takeda.

[Matt_Anderson]

Hey Will, who the hell is nitro?

[Dru]

i think he means petro?????????

[willstrickland]

Steve "Nitro" Petro, guy is just HUGE...looks like Sgt Slaughter! He is a genuine hard-ass, hard FAs and early repeats of many high end desert cracks. I think he was on the FFA of Tricks are for Kids 5.13+ Indian Creek. Good buddies with the Piana/Skinner/et al Lander crew.

[Dru]

I see Tricks rated 13b in the mags?

hardest Crack - Indian Creek - No way jose 13d+?

hardest crack - USA - magic line, yosemite,14b boogieman, City of Rocks,14a lost horizon, colorado 14a, all unrepeated.

i liked how petro gave fiddler on the roof 13a, then did a bunch of other hard cracks and upgraded it to 13d. he did it 3 or 4 times on lead.. i think someone else finally repeated it a year or two ago, there was like a 1 sentence report buried in "small wires" or something...

[willstrickland]

I've seen Tricks rated from 13b to 13c/d, but probably so few people have actually climbed it that it's unimportant...it's way hard and WAY long, much longer than Ruby's Cafe or Disco Macine Gun. Ruby's is tips for maybe 80', Tricks is a funky finger stack/very thin hands size for like 130'.

Here's Nitro on something (not tricks obviously)