UKC

I was trawling the search results for a thread on this and so far haven't found one...

Anyone willing to stick their neck out and give a top 10 best trad routes in the world?

In reply to Ian Wilson:

No idea, but moonlight buttress ( free)looks incredible. I wish I was good enough to go and try it!

Others like lotus flower tower and salathe wall have gotta be in with a shout? I'm basing this purely on hype and pictures!

In reply to Ian Wilson:

Ooh er. Salathe? Fish or Tempi Moderni on the Marmolada?

Obviously I'm going by reputation / speculation / appearance from a distance here; I do not expect ever to do such things.

In reply to Ian Wilson:

I had exactly this discussion with John Allen and Simon Horrox in around 1980 in Yosemite - sat under El Cap, and we decided after a few minutes that they would all be on Grit!

Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

So by extrapolation the top 10 UK climbs are all on Grit? Sure, there are some good ones, but I wouldn't want to miss several Welsh/Scottish climbs off even that list.

I think on a global scale there's only going to be 3 UK routes max, especially when you consider the fact that there's a huge amount of free trad alpine style/big wall routes.

In reply to Ian Wilson:

Two for consideration:

The Brandler Hasse
The Grand Wall

The Lotus Flower Tower wouldn't even make my personal top 10.

In reply to Ian Wilson:

The Nose
Salathé
Astroman
Moonlight Butress
Brandler Hasse
Naked Edge
Bachar Yerian
Half Dome Regular route
Figures on a Landscape
Fiesta de los Bisceps (Yes I know it's a sport route)

3 of the above routes I've done. 1 I've failed miserably on. 4 I want to have a bash at before I die. 1 I'll probably never get out to try and and one I'll never go near it

E

In reply to Enty:

Figures on a landscape? The one in JT? Really?

In reply to estivoautumnal:

One of the highlights of my 95 trip together with Levitation 29 (but that's a clip up)

E

In reply to Enty:

My brother said that Figures OAL was one of the best routes he'd ever done, if not the best.

In reply to Enty:

Where is Eternal Flame on that list?

In reply to Ian Wilson:

Dream/Liberator
Adjudicator Wall
Darius
Right Unconquerable
West Side Story
Hunky Dory
London Wall
Sunset Slab

This is a purely representative list. I've tried and failed to find anything as good anywhere else....

In reply to Chris Craggs:

It's possible that JA led some of the top 10

In reply to Enty:

Bachar Yarian by any chance?
Jim

In reply to Ian Wilson: I made the below tick list to aspire to. They are all longer trad routes at a grade that is not impossible (and there are 12), but I would consider them some of the best in the world, if you like that sort of thing.


Astroman:Washington Column
Regular Route:Third Pillar of Dana
Energy Crisis:Wolfberg Cracks
Fiesta de los Biceps (La Visera):Riglos
Scenic Cruise:Black Canyon of Gunison
Motörhead:Eldorado
La Demande:Gorges du Verdon
North Face (Brandler Hasse):Tre Cime di Laverado
The Rostrum (aka Regular North Face Route) w:The Rostrum
Vestpillaren:Presten
Regular Northwest Face:Half Dome Northwest
The Casual Route:Longs Peak

In reply to Ian Wilson: Dont forget the American Direct Petit Dru

In reply to jonny2vests: and Enty Brandler-Hasse. The Cima Grande or Buhlweg? Incidentally when you consider either of these routes are you judging their climbing quality in terms of the period around when they were put up (1958 in boots with a lot of artificial) or as modern free climbs? Or is it that they are simply the best routes on the great walls concerned?

In reply to jonny2vests:


Funny that, J2V, it'd be right at the top of mine!

In reply to jon:

That would be a way more interesting thread Jon. I'll start one.

In reply to Ian Wilson:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=28506

In reply to jon:

Ah well, we had a drama on it, so it's tainted for me. I did think the first half was forgettable though.

In reply to jonny2vests:

Yes, I knew your reason! And you're right that the first half is forgettable, but the second part... well it doesn't come much better.

In reply to jon:

Well, the bits of the second half I led had some nice finger cracks, filled with wet mud.

In reply to Ian Wilson:

A granite slab in Yosemite/Toulumne
A roof at Arapiles
A pocket-puller in Verdon
A splitter at Red Rocks
A pebble-puller in Riglos or Monteora
A long, scrambly ridge (Matthes Crest or Nordkante?)
A long alpine big-booter
An intricate sea cliff crack in Pembroke or Cornwall
A solo on gritstone
A tufa-fest in Thailand

In reply to jcw:

Everything. History is one of the major factors which attracts me to certain routes. When you read UKC sometimes the lack of historical interest get's you down sometimes.

E

In reply to JJL:

Nice. Except RR is pretty rubbish for splitters. Indian Creek maybe...

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

It is a great route, possibly the best at JT but I wouldn't put it in the world's top 10. A bit like putting Diabeg Pillar in there.

In reply to Enty:

My comment was directed towards the amount of bolts on the route, unless they have been removed it doesn't really qualify as a 'trad' route.

In reply to Enty: Couldn't agree more. Thanks for the reply

In reply to estivoautumnal:

Gordon, what I said was I thought FOAL was one of the best routes *of its length and grade* that I had ever done.

In reply to Ian Wilson:
Scenic Cruise
The Nose
Astroman
West Face Cerro Torre (Ragni)
Dream Liberator
Shibboleth
Prophecy of Drowning
Positron
Gervasutti Pillar (M Blanc du Tacul)
The Star Gate

In reply to Ian Wilson: I presume they have to still be in existence/safely climbable - so no Bonatti Pillar or American Direct on the Dru?

In which case:-

Salathe Wall
NW Face Half Dome
Nabisco Wall - Cookie Cliff, Yosemite
Nerve Wrack Point - Tuolumne
Motorhead - Eldorado
Cassin Route - Piz Badile
Pichenibule - Verdon
Great Wall - Cloggy
Profit of Doom
Gob - Carnmore