7 Routes Done: 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.9+ 5.10a

And an 8th… call it 5.11b. This one is more than a “tad” wacky!

The 9 and 9+ are pretty solid, kudos Todd (and Tom). Sequency sections with some interesting foot matches and not quite as much wall work as on the 10a (which is now a five star classic per the latest edition of the FP guidebook). Good opportunities for people to earn those free redpoint climbs.

I would also like to put a personal bounty on using the boss as a seat on one of these routes. Whoever can sit on it without touching any other holds or the wall for 5-10 seconds will get a prize (maybe I’ll buy you a quickdraw or a sling or pay for an FP visit or something). It has to be part of sending one of the routes… so you have to be able to get to it, rest, and finish the route.

Are we allowed to bring a pillow up there with us pete? maybe take a quick nap while we’re up there.

It’s probably as good of a bivy as you’ll find on the FP wall. Unfortunately though, there are no bolts on that section, so you’d have to build a trad anchor. I have heard of people linking the bottom and top of rope 1 into one pitch, but only with at least (!) a 15 meter rope… or you could maybe tie two 10 meter ropes together if you needed to.

For added protection you may want to use a double rope system to lead this wall: two 9mm ropes can’t hurt your chances with that nice 20’ runnout off the deck!

Sitting on The Boss on Route is the Proj of the Week. The hands-free Stand on The Boss on Route has been sent!

BTW, this new 5.11b on rope #1 breaks new routesetting ground at FP on three fronts—and that says something! Unfortunately I can’t tell you exactly what it is that is so groundbreaking about this route (because that would be a beta feast), just that it IS. Figuring it out should be fun!

Not sure if I identified all three fronts of groundbreaking, but I bet I can guess at at least two. Sent this third go after figuring out a decent sequence, then only sort of using it.

It seems to be fairly height dependent… as in, if you’re my/Tom’s/Robert’s height, there’s a workable sequence through the crux, but if you’re significantly taller or significantly shorter, you might have problems. Good route though, props to Ron Paul for setting it.

Any attempts on the bounty?

I’m having a lot of fun trying to send this route. Finally made it over the crux, but got stuck once i made it back over to the black wall. I’m curious as to what the 3 fronts are. I should probably send the 5.10 before the 5.11 that way i don’t miss out on my free pass. Pete, thanks for showing us the sequence on this wall, I never would have gotten past The Boss without watching you, although i did love Todd’s first attempt.

Redpointers take note: The 5.11b now goes at 5.10c.

Reason 1: The difficulty of this route was based on an assumption of height dependency that may not be as restrictive as once thought. 5.11b assumed that the route was next-to-impossible for people shorter than 5’10”. We’ll it isn’t. I also want to say that taller people should not find themselves hampered by being too tall.

Reason 2; We had an onsight last night by a recently-no-better-than-5.10b climber. So either the rating was wrong or this climber’s on steroids—or both.

Agreed on the rating. I don’t think there’s a move there that’s harder than 10c-ish. Overall, the 5.10c on rope 5 is definitely more challenging.

Also, after watching Max on the route on Tuesday, there are definitely at least two fairly different betas for the middle section of the route.

Tom, you had it right on both, me and Roger Clemens were juicing up AND the rating is steep. The first thing I literally thought this morning (after “what is this crust in my eye”) was “I wonder when that route will get downgraded?”

At least now I didn’t jump 3 free passes. Ahhh..the silver lining.