Ascent list (original) (raw)
Here's a selection of the best routes we've climbed, those I've featured on my site, super classics, routes that scared me enough that I want to warn others, good memories, hard summits, bailed climbs I have yet to finish, firsts ascents... Click on the first row to sort the table by various methods. The grades are expressed in whatever system is used locally:
Those grading systems should be familiar to most climbers. As for the Alaska scale or the NZ scale, who knows...? A few of the grades I gave from memory, so they might not be too accurate, others are purposefully different from the guidebooks (particularly for ice).
Personally I think there aren't any 'boring' routes. Either something is dangerous and no one should go on it, or it's as good as a good day of climbing can be. So I gave a personal opinion on those routes, in the form:
Pass the mouse above the route descriptions to see a picture (if available). Just reload the page if you want to hide all the pictures. Click on the images to view the content of the corresponding CD of images.
West Ridge
Mountain
PD
1995/06
*
Crowded and rather flat. Rather boring.
West Ridge
Mountain
D
1995/07
**
Varied and steep.
The Cherry
Trad
5.9 III
1995/08
*
FA on licheny rock.
Any
Ice
AI4
1993/09
*
Nice pictures but the very worst ice in the world.
Welcome to the machine
Sport
5.10 III
2003/12
**
A good route, all bolted (only take one 2 cam) and easier than its grade."
Granite Mountain
Dislocation direct
Trad
5.6 II
2002/12
**
Very nice route for a beginning trad leader. Solo.
Waterstreak Delight
Trad
5.10 III
2003/11
**
Tiny flakes on 1st two pitches, followed by amazingly airy hand traverse under roof. Dangerous for the second.
Mnt Lemon
Chimney Rock
Trad
Mostly 5.10
2003/11
**
Several interesting long pitches on large grain granite.
East face - regular route
Trad
5.9 III
2001/12
**
Nice tower and impressive step to reach the summit.
Local cliffs
Various
Trad/Sport
Various
2004
*
Lots of stuff, good for local climbing, almost all season.
Meije
Epinards Hallucinogènes
Trad/Sport
6b ED-
1996
***
High altitude, sustained climbing and long route.
Voie Kelle
Trad/Sport
7a
1991
**
A friend's route, a bit uneven.
Écrins - Pic sans nom
Aurore Nucléaire
Trad
ED
2004
*
Great settings, not very sustained, dangerous start and lot of loose rock for the rappel.
Écrins - Sagnette
Soleil glacial
Sport
TD
2004
***
Excellent sustained multipitch climbing with short approach.
Écrins - Sialouze
Attaque à main armée
Trad/Sport
ED
2004
**
Great rock, great view, great route but long approach and still crowded.
Ailefroide - Palavar
La voie des maitres
Trad/Sport
ED
2004
**
Nice route with short approach, some very cruxy moves.
Ailefroide - Palavar
La vie devant soi
Trad/Sport
TD+
2004
**
Just a few hard moves.
Ailefroide - Eboulement
Derborence
Sport
ED-
2004
**
A great crack pitch.
Ailefroide - Riou
La mèche fatale
Sport
ED-
2004
**
Short approach and a couple good moves.
Cerces - Tour Termier
Marmotta impazzita
Sport
ED
2004
**
Don't remember.
Cerces - Tête colombe
Encore du Dévers
Sport
ED
2004
**
Very sustained from the start to the end.
Cerces - Rocher Robert
Spit mugissant
Sport
TD
2004
**
Interesting but not very long.
Cerces - 3eme tour de Queyrellin
Les dents de Cirielle
Sport
ED
2004
**
Some excellent and very sustained pitches.
Tenailles de Montbrison
Various
Sport
TD/ED
2004
**
Several excellent and similar routes, most of them well bolted.
New routes
Trad
6a/b II
1999/07
*
Some FA on virgin limestone.
Joshua Tree
Various
Trad
Plenty
2003/11
**
Plenty of nice routes but far from each others, so it's hard to do more than 4~5 pitches per day.
Eagle Lake Cliff
Trad
5.10 mostly
2003/07
*
Some very nice trad lines in a sport climbing setting.
Lover's Leap
Hospital Corner
Trad
5.10a
2003/07
*
Nice dihedral.
The Groove
Trad
5.8
2003/07
*
Nice wake up with the shortest approach possible.
Traveler's buttress
Trad
5.9
2003/07
*
Nice exposed route.
Airy Interlude
Trad
5.10a II
2003/10
**
Exposed hand traverse.
Thin Ice
Trad
5.10b II
2003/10
**
Beautiful area away from the crowds, Yosemite-like cracks.
Sugarloaf
Various
Trad
Various
2003/07
**
Some excellent lines but we couldn't do the upper pitches due to excess wind.
Suicide
Various
Trad
5.10
2003/11
**
Great rock, a bit runout.
Open Book
Trad
5.9
2003/11
*
A Royal Robins route, so expect it to be hard for the grade...
Fairview Dome - Lucky Streaks
Trad
5.10d III
2003/08
**
Sustained on smooth knobs, interesting.
Fairview Dome - Regular Route
Trad
5.9 III
2003/07
*
One or two interesting pitches only, too crowded and polished at the base.
Argentière
Petit Viking
Mixed
AI3 III
1991/01
*
Long approach and still crowded.
Normal route
Mountain
4+ D
1998/08
**
Incredibly crowded by totally deficient 'climbers'.
Pilier Central du Freney
Mountain
6b ED
1998/08
***
Mythical highest rock route on Mt Blanc, very steep and varied. Quite a testpiece.
Scenic Cruise
Trad
5.10+ V
2002/09
***
Long and incredibly sustained, routes don't come any better than this.
Boulder - Third Flatiron
Standard East Face
Trad
5.4 II
2002/11
*
Too boring if you can lead above 5.4, too runnout if you cannot.
Breckenridge
Lincoln Falls
Ice
WI3
2002/02
**
Lots of possibilities, crowded.
Shelf Road
Sport
Various
2002/01
*
Main limestone area in Colorado, plenty of stuff.
Eldorado Canyon
Green Spur
Trad
5.9 II
2001/08
**
Not as crowded as the Yellow one.
Naked Edge
Trad
5.11a III
2003/12
*
Crowded, way harder than the grade, some dicey pro, all polished and overall I didn't enjoy it.
Eldorado Canyon
Yellow Spur
Trad
5.9 III
2001/08
**
Good but crowded.
Bouldering
Boulder
Various
2002/01
*
Used to be better but most of it is now destroyed or off-limits until they reopen the dams.
Misc
Sport
Various
2001/05
*
Scary soft sandy rock but magical settings.
Mt Elbert
Normal
Ski
MSA
2002/04
*
Late spring slush on the highest summit of Colorado.
Horsetail falls
Ice
WI4 II
2002/01
**
Longer than the Ice Park.
Culp-Bossier
Trad
5.8 III
2002/01
**
Good long route.
Mixed Feelings
Mixed
M5
2000/12
**
Single hard pitch with easier stuff nearby.
Casual Route
Trad
5.10 IV
2002/02
***
Visible from the entire Front Range and well worth the drooling: steep, intimidating, long, high up, a long way from the parking lot...
RMNP - Longs Peak
Fields Chimney
Trad
5.8
2002/02
0
Heinous mistake.
RMNP - Longs Peak
Kiener's
Trad
5.4 III
2001/08
*
From Broadway to the top of Longs Peak.
Lambs Slide
Mountain
II AI2
2002/06
*
Snow/ice gully that gets you to Broadway, worth doing in good conditions.
RMNP - Longs Peak
Stetner's Ledges
Trad
5.7+ II
2001/08
**
Nice way to get to Broadway, watch for rockfalls on the right.
Mainliner
Trad
5.9
2001/09
**
Classic of Sundance.
RMNP - Lumpy Ridge
Sidetrack
Trad
5.9
2001/09
**
Just left and better than Mainliner, more sustained and runout.
The Nose
Trad
5.10a
2002/04
**
Interesting.
Turn Korner
Trad
5.10a
2002/10
**
Offwidth not as bad as its reputation.
Central Ramp
Trad
5.8 III
2002/07
**
Remote good route.
RMNP - Petit Grépon
West
Trad
5.9 III
2002/01
**
Crowded.
Syke-Sicle
Trad
5.9+ III
2002/01
**
Flaky.
RMNP
All Mixed up
Ice
AI3 M3
2002/01
**
Easy if good conditions.
Grace Falls
Ice
AI4
2002/01
**
Nice playground.
RMNP
West Gully
Ice
AI3
2002/01
**
Long approach for a short easy climb.
Silverton
Stairways to Heaven
Ice
WI4
2003/01/03
**
Excellent ice climb. Solo in 1h. Avalanche prone.
The Fang
Ice
WI5+
2002/02
***
Mythical (if it doesn't collapse on you).
Various
Sport
5.8
2002/09
**
Nice relaxed place. Smooth.
Eye of the Needle
Trad
5.10
2002/09
**
Magical and runout. The inside for the picture, the outside for the runout factor.
Goedeke/Rien
Trad
6a
1999/08
*
Runout old pitons.
Civetta - Torre Venezia
West face
Trad
6a
1999/08
**
Good route.
Cassin
Trad
6b
1999/08
*
Scarry runouts on old pitons and pinch holds.
Dibona
Trad
5 D
1999/08
*
Easy on lots of very loose ground. Quick.
Spigolo Giallo
Trad
6b
1999/08
**
Good and crowded.
Chimborazo
Normal Route
Mountain
PD
1994/08
*
Snow slog.
New Route
Mountain
PD+
1994/08
*
Just another snow slog.
Normal Route
Mountain
PD
1994/08
*
Snow slog.
Iliniza
Normal route
Mountain
PD+
1994/08
*
Somewhat more interesting than the other volcanoes.
Ceuse
Various
Sport
Various
2004
***
Major sport climbing, not much easy stuff. No climbing in winter.
Various
Bouldering
Various
1990-92
**
Every boulder you could wish for.
Corno Grande
Canale Bissolati
Ski
OSA
1994/12
**
Classic hard ski descent. Called the 'killer chute' for good reasons.
Diretta Consiglio
Trad
TD VI-
1994
*
Fairly good with some loose stuff at the end.
Iskra
Trad
D- V-
1994
*
Super classic crowded easy route.
Corno Piccolo
NE ridge
Trad
AD- IV-
1994
*
Quickest descent.
Corno Piccolo
Spigolo a destra della crepa
Trad
TD VI-
1994
**
Long and good.
Fiamme di Pietra
Via del Tetto
Trad
D+ V
1996
**
Excellent rock, long approach.
Fiamme di Pietra
Via Gervasutti
Trad
TD- VI-
1996
**
Excellent rock.
Intermésoli
Conca del Sambuco
Ski
BSA
1994/12
*
Remote ski descent.
Monolito
Ura mawashi tobi geri jodan
Trad
TD+ VI
1994
**
Nice way to reach the Monolito. Offwidth..
Monolito
Via Di Federico-De Luca
Trad
TD V+
1994
**
Nicest (and easiest) route on the Monolito.
Cresta Nord
Trad
D IV+
1994/09
**
Complete remoteness on this gigantic route. The rock has an underserved bad reputation.
Paretone
Diretta Alessandri-Leone
Trad
TD V+
1994
*
Isolation and austerity.
Haas-Acitelli
Mountain
AI2 III
1997/04
*
2nd longest route in the Appenines. Avalanche gully...
Janetta
Mountain
AI2 M2 IV
1996/04
*
Longest route in the Appenines, facing east gets the sun early.
Paretone
Tre Vette
Mountain
D IV
1994/06
*
Traverse of all the summits, very long and lots of loose rock.
Prima Spalla
Meridionalizziamoci
Trad
TD+ VI+
1996
**
Good recent route, mostly slab and finger holes. FSA.
Stefano Tribioli
Trad
TD+ VI+
1997
**
Classic slab.
Seconda Spalla
Icosaedro
Trad
TD+ VII-
1994
**
Classic slab.
Normal route
Mountain
VI
2000/10
**
8201m for a big expedition without sherpa or oxygen.
Various
Trad+Sport
Various
2003/07
**
Short approaches, good mix of trad and sport routes.
Astro Elephant
Trad
5.10b III
2003/07
**
A sustained route with too many traverses and routefinding difficulties to make it a true classic.
Sawtooth Mountain
SuperSlab
Trad
5.10 II
2003/07
*
Incredibly smooth routes on old manky bolts.
Decision
Future Route
Fiction
Imaginary
2100
?
Fiction.
Crimson Chrysalis
Trad
5.8+ III
2001/10
**
Classic with too many bolts and too many people waiting in line at the base.
Red Rocks
Dark Shadows
Trad
5.8- II
2001/10
**
Good short easy classic.
Eagle Dance
Sport
5.10- IV
2001/12
**
Good and remote.
Epinephrine
Trad
5.9 V
2001/10
***
Fantastic(ally strenuous) route.
Inti Watana
Trad
5.10 III
2003/10
**
12 pitches of mostly bolted climbing after a long approach and thus away from crowds.
Levitation 29
Trad/Sport
5.11 IV
2001/12
***
Very sustained excellent face climbing.
Power Failure
Trad
5.10 II
2003/10
**
3 pitches of excellent trad intermixed with bolts; take a light rack and combine it with Unimpeacheable Groping for a *** day.
Prince of Darkness
Sport
5.10c III
2001/10
**
Very sustained face climbing.
Resolution Arête
Trad
5.11+ V
2003/10
**
Probably the longest route at Red Rocks. Disconnected crack systems; very time consuming if you want to pull all 24 pitches in a day. No bolt, no belay.
Rock Warrior
Trad
5.10R III
2003/10
**
Just like the Prince of Darkness and a few meters to its left, but without the bolts! Constant runout and good climbing.
Solar Slab
Trad
5.6 III
2001/12
**
Long easy slab, great winter route.
Unimpeachable Groping
Sport
5.10 III
2003/10
**
7 pitches of excellent fully bolted face climbing; combine it with Power Failure for a *** day.
Yellow Brick Road
Trad
5.10 III
2001/10
***
Very sustained face climbing.
Aspiring
South West Ridge
Mountain
NZ3-
1994/02
**
Some boulder moves on the ridge.
Mt Green
Mountain
NZ2
2000/02
*
Nice traverse, dangerous descent.
Full West Ridge
Mountain
NZ3
2000/02
*
Fairly good rock.
Mt Cook
Copland Pass
Mountain
NZ
1994/02
*
A hike with crampons.
East Ridge
Mixed
NZ4
1994/02
**
Very long mixed route, you'd better be ready to solo a good part of it to save time.
Linda Glacier
Mountain
NZ3
1994/02
*
Dangerous but quickest way down.
Mt Cook
Porter Col
Mountain
NZ2
2000/02
0
Insanely dangerous.
West Ridge
Mountain
NZ3+
2000/02
***
Very nice long rock route, but how do you get down ?
Silberhorn
Mountain
NZ3
1994/02
**
Very scenic.
North Ridge
Mountain
NZ3+
2005/12
**
Good technical climbing, long descent.
Taranaki-Egmont
Trails
Hiking
NZ
1994/02
*
Hike.
North Soulder
Mountain
NZ2
2000/02
**
Easy, scenic and safe.
Dihedral/Morning Glory Wall
Sport
Various
2003/07
*
Good sport climbing but nothing earth shattering.
Smith Rocks
Lower Gorge
Trad
5.10 and above
2003/07
**
Excellent single pitch cracks.
Smith Rocks
Mesa Verde
Sport
Various
2003/07
*
Climbing on pebbles sticking out of a mud wall or so it seems.
Ferrari direct
Mountain
AI2 D
1995/07
**
Well worth the pictures...
West side
Mountain
4+ AI2 D
1995/07
**
Very hard and hair-raising final ridge.
American Direct
Mountain
AI5 ED ?
1995/08
*
Insane snow overhangs on top.
Normal Route
Mountain
AD
1995/08
**
Nice view on Huascaran from there.
French Direct
Mountain
5+ AI2 A2 TD+
1995/08
***
Great long varied route. FSA.
Escudo
Mountain
AI2 D
1995/07
**
Can't get any more direct. Solo.
Slovenian Route
Mountain
4 AI2 D+
1995/08
**
Interesting.
West Ridge
Mountain
AI2 D
1995/08
**
Nice pyramid. Solo.
Goloritze
Aguglia
Trad
6b II
1998/05
*
A large rock on the beach presenting the hardest normal route in Italy.
Various
Trad
Various
2003/11
*
Some single pitches of sandstone crack, great potential but not very developped yet.
Stolen Chimney
Trad
5.8 A0 II
2001/05
***
Incredibly shaped summit well worth the soft rock.
Owl rock
Trad
5.8 I
2001/05
**
How to impress the tourists.
East face of Sunflower Tower
Trad
5.10+ II
2003/11
**
A boulder move on the 1st pitch, a great hand crack that turns into an off-finger crux and a sandy final pitch.
Kor-Ingalls
Trad
5.9 III
2001/05
**
Nice varied route on the most famous tower.
Supercrack
Trad
5.10 I
2001/05
***
The most famous crack in the world. Stand in line and trade your cams.
Lonely Vigil
Trad
5.10 III
2003/11
**
A funky first pitch followed by a wild stem pitch and more.
Primrose dihedral
Trad
5.10+ A1 III
2002/10
***
Sustained and varied testpiece.
Fine Jade
Trad
5.11 III
2003/11
***
Excellent climb on great rock with 3 hard and very different pitches.
Jah Man
Trad
5.10 II
2002/10
**
Good but too short.
South face
Trad
5.6 II
2001/05
*
Introduction to desert towers.
In search of suds
Trad
5.10 III
2003/11
**
Very soft rock on most of the route but great views on the Colorado basin.
Iron Messaiah
Trad
5.10 III
2003/11
**
Good all free trad route in Zion.
North East buttress of Angel Landing
Trad
5.11R III
2003/11
**
Very sustained, very good, quite runout and really no more than 5.10, but be solid if you go.
Escalès
La Demande
Sport
6a IV
1990/04
***
Long and old classic.
Escalès
La Ula
Trad/Sport
6b IV
1991/04
***
Long and old classic with a hard offwidth crux.
Roumagaou
Trad
6b III
1991/04
*
Varied.
El Matador
Trad
5.11a
2001/09
***
Incredible stemming.
Various
Trad
Various
2002/09
**
Lots of very good rock, very good cracks and very dumb tourists.
Dome Rock
Various
Trad
Various
2003/04
*
Nice lonely place on a good granite similar to Vedauwoo. Drive to it from the closest (forbidden) dirt road.
Fremont Canyon
Various
Trad+Sport
Various
2003/04
0
Rock either brittle or slippery. Either too hot or too cold. Didn't like the place at all.Wyoming
MRC
Trad
5.9 II
2002/06
*
From bloody offwidth to better things.
Pingora
Trad
5.2 II
2003/07
**
Beautiful setting, good rock. Quite crowded for such a remote place.
East Buttress
Trad
5.10b III
1995/08
**
Easiest free way up El Cap.
Salathé Wall
Big Wall
5.10 A2 VI
2003/10
**
Harder than the Nose with a lot more chimneys (you'll need a #6 friend on at least 5 pitches).
Triple Direct
Big Wall
5.9 A2 VI
1995/08
***
Nose variation with more free climbing.
Regular NW face
Big Wall
5.10 A1 V
2003/09
**
26 great pitches doable in a day if you are fast.
Snake Dyke
Trad
5.7 R
1995/08
***
Pure slab. Solo.
Regular route
Trad
5.9
1995/08
**
Nice.
Higher Cathedral
Braille Book
Trad
5.8 III
1995/08
**
Not so easy, slippery start.
East buttress
Trad
5.10c III
1995/08
**
Good but crowded.
Lost Arrow Tip
Aid
5.8 A2
1995/08
**
Exposed tyrolean traverse.
Central Pillar of Frenzy
Trad
5.9 III
2003/09
**
Nice but crowded; take the time to (try to) top-rope the Bircheff-Williams dihedral as you rap down.
DNB
Trad
5.10b IV
1995/08
*
Hard, long and quite runout.
East Buttress
Trad
5.10a III
2003/10
*
Incredibly crowded, even using the variations to pass.
Stoner's Highway
Trad
5.10b III
2003/10
**
Pure face climb on tiny pockets, bolted but runout, many traverses for the second\; interesting and exciting.
Crest Jewel Direct
Sport
5.10d III
2003/09
**
The longest slab I have ever seen, never a hold, never a ledge, never a crack; you either love it or hate it. A bit runout but safe. Absolutely worth doing once...
Reeds Pinnacle
Trad
5.10 II
2003/08
**
A good complete route (you must do the last offwidth pitch though); also do the excellent Lunatic Fringe and Stone Groove nearby.
Serenity Crack+Sons of Yesterday
Trad
5.10d
1995/08
**
Hard, sustained, crowded, interesting.
Steck-Salathé
Trad
5.10b IV
2003/09
**
12 pitches of offwidth or squeeze out of 15, burly but not as hard as the story goes. Worth doing if only for the infamous 'Narrows'.
Moratorium
Trad
5.11b III
2003/10
**
A sustained dihedral that takes you to the base of the East Ridge of El Cap, why not keep climbing?