tahquitz

[minx]

as luck would have it, this fall i may have a couple days in which to climb in this area of CA. my original intention was to spend the time at J. Tree. Someone suggested tahquitz as an alternative. i don't know much about it. comments. opinions. thoughts?

[Szyjakowski]

the first 5.9 in the country was climbed there...called the open book...i haven't been there but i hear the moves are quality and the climbing is full value...

way better choice imho then the little boulders of jtree but that place rocks too.

have fun. i am going to the needles this fall.

[minx]

ha! you can't make me jealous. i've got a 3+ week roadtrip in the works for september. the destinations will be stellar

[Szyjakowski]

2+ weeks in the needles of california. hardly worth arguing with me.

[matt_warfield]

You may want to select your destination on the basis of weather conditions rather than other factors as J. Tree will likely be warmer than Tahquitz/Suicide. Either way, have fun and expect old school ratings.

[ken4ord]

Hey Minx I was down there this spring, very cool area tons to do. Given the time of year, definitely go there over J-tree. If you need to borrow some guides I have the Tahquitz and J-tree guides.

[Alex]

I've climbed at Tahquitz once. Idylwild is cool town.

 

Even the 5.3s were eye-opening. Sandbag old school ratings for sure. I would suggest you be conservative in your choice for your first route there, but otherwise its a great place!!

[layton]

Open-book and especially WhoDunnit are amazing, safe, and fun as hell. Fingertip too is good. Only had one day though, but I'd like to do traitor horn and super-poopers

[Sargent_Rock]

Go forth to Tahquitz!

Tahquitz is to American Rock Climbing what the Parthenon is to Greek architecture.

You will not be disappointed.

[minx]

thanks everyone! sounds like tahquitz is on the list. i'll probably have 1-2 days to climb there. any more route recommendations. sounds like i'll definitely be conservative w/my choices.

[Off_White]

If you've got more than one day, also consider Suicide, right across the valley. It's more about face climbing as opposed to Tahquitz's plethora of cracks. Serpentine, Sundance, New Generation, and Valhalla (in ascending order of difficulty) are all stellar multi-pitch outings.

[ken4ord]

I climbed a very nice 5.6 called Angel's Fright I think it was like 5 pitches. Like someone said sort of stiff ratings down there.

[minx]

how stiff? index/yos comparison? don't want to scare myself

[Off_White]

The Yosemite Decimal System was actually developed at Tahquitz, so one could assert that the grades there are really the standard. I don't recall them being notably stiff or sandbagged, that was always the Joshua Tree 5.9, but it's been a long time since I was down there. I think the point is that even routes with seemingly moderate grades will be fun and exciting. You could do White Maidens Walkway at 5.1 or Ski Tracks (5.3 I think) and still have a hell of a good time.

[ken4ord]

I would say sort of like Yosemite ratings little easier than Index. It is sort of hard to tell since it was only two routes in a new area solo. So that may have been partly to blame on the difficulty. The second route I did was a down solo of a 5.0 which felt more like a 5.6 (80degree corner with a hand crack). The rock quality is really good though and same with gear availbility. The town is nice too.

[10b4me]

dude, I live two hrs from both Josh, and Tahquitz. Personally I prefer Josh. As far as weather, depends when you will be there. If its early fall go to Tahquitz, if late fall, Josh. One thing to remember about Tahquitz is the route finding. If you are strong on following lines you won't have a problem. However, most people(including me) have gotten off route at Tahquitz. Having said all that, I prefer the longer(7 pitch) more moderate(5.7/8) routes on the north face. As someone said, Suicide is across the valley. Climbing is more straight forward there.

Keep in mind, the face routes at Suicide are not sport climbs.

[Rocksanyone]

Damn, reading this makes me want to go!!! I still have a couple weeks of vacation to burn!!!

[AaronB]

2+ weeks in the needles of california. hardly worth arguing with me.

I grew up here there. Needles are Gods gift to climbers. I'd go there for 3 days over 3 weeks anywhere else.

[Hanger]

SoCal trnzplnt here...

Josh can be climbed year round, you climb in the mornings and later afternoons...hang out in town or the shade when it gets too hot and drink tons of water.

Tahquitz/Williamson/Malibu/Big Bear are great summer/fall areas. (The last 3 being primarily sport)

Without knowing your skill level, here are a few of my favorites.

 

From the South Face:

Left Ski Track 5.6** (3-pitches)

 

West Face:

Jensen's Jaunt 5.6* (4-pitches)

Coffin Nail 5.8** (1-pitch, connect to Jensen's Jaunt or tie it into Traitor Horn 5.8+**)

Fingertrip 5.7 ***** Classic (5 Pitches)

Fingertip Traverse 5.3 ***(5 Pitches)

Angel's Fright 5.5 ** (5 Pitches)

 

These should keep you busy for a few days. If you want/ need more beta feel free to PM me.

The friction decent is about class 3/4 and can be tricky to find. Don't be too "macho" to ask if you're not sure. Same with overall routefinding. Many people have gotten in way over their heads here. If in doubt, ask around. If you're there on a weekend, the rock will be humming with climbers by 10 a.m.

The schlog to the base of the rock is no joke. It's a steep-ass hill...but it's well worth it IMO.

 

If you'd like route suggestions for any other SoCal climbing area, just ask

 

-Hanger

Edited June 26, 2004 by Hanger

[layton]

Once again, Whodunnit is amazing as is Open Book

[ClimbingH]

Minx,

 

If you are into sport climbing, then consider trying a couple of routes on the Weeping Wall on Suicide Rock.

 

Serpentine 5.9 (Suicide Rock is on the other side of the road from Tahquitz Rock).

 

And, since you mentioned that you have 3+ weeks, you can easily just go back and forth between J-tree and Iddylwild (Tahquitz and Suicide--will be however much cooler than J Tree since it is at about 6000ft)

 

And like Alex mentioned, even the 5.4's and 5.6's on Tahquitz are great multi pitch routes.

 

Have fun!!!!!