Face Up to That Crack - Left Flank :: Red River Gorge Online Guide

Move right to the next bolted line. This route begins at about the middle of the buttress. Take a medium sized piece of gear to protect the runout or just run it out.

Moves: Slab
Descent: Cold shuts
Stays Dry:
Owner: NFS

Steepness:
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Quality Consensus

3.55 stars (152 votes)

Grade Consensus
5.8 (127 votes)

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Submitted by: damoro
Date: Sep 23rd, 2021

Submitted by: Anonymous
Date: Mar 19th, 2016

Submitted by: Roger
Date: Jun 23rd, 2012

Submitted by: climb2core
Date: Jul 27th, 2011

Submitted by: ahab
Date: Aug 15th, 2007

Submitted by: Anonymous
Date: Jan 31st, 2007

Submitted by: Michiza
Date: Oct 17th, 2006

Submitted by: Ascentionist
Date: Dec 18th, 2005

Submitted by: oldman
Date: Dec 18th, 2005

Comments

34 comments {add your own comments}

Don McGlone said on January 16th, 2003

Lead trad a couple of years ago.

vic said on October 22nd, 2003

Stay calm on the run out, or place a piece. A lovely route to use your head (and feet)

jlu said on November 23rd, 2003

nice high route for beginning lead climbing

pianomahnn said on June 15th, 2004

I don't like this route. I had to use, gasp, technique. . .or something.

dyno_heaven said on November 29th, 2004

great warmup

anticlmber said on December 25th, 2004

try climbing from the second bolt to the crack w/o hands. great footwork training

EverythignElse said on March 14th, 2005

pretty ruff when its cold and dark, but fun

K-Dawg said on September 29th, 2005

Good climb. One high step at the beginning (for me) but the rest was fine.

Captain Bad Beta said on October 3rd, 2005

This was a pretty straight forward 5.8. I brought up a small cam as there was a pretty good runout up high. It also has a hand crack you can test out near the top.

dancingkornelius said on October 12th, 2005

a fun climb. the run out is cool.

DuppyC said on November 22nd, 2005

a fun climb, the run out IS cool

Overcammed said on November 28th, 2005

This is a nice route. Great view from the top - be sure to check it out.

ElectricDisciple said on February 9th, 2006

I was able to climb this route on February 7, 2006. I noticed that the rap rings at the top were well worn and probably in need of replacing. Otherwise the climb was a great one and a good intro to lead climbing!

soccerfast007 said on November 17th, 2006

I second the good intro to lead climbs, runout can be spooky (groundfall :( ). nice crack, balancy beginning, but fun with good scenery from the anchors.

dbarless said on May 21st, 2007

Bring a BD #1 and #2, the 1 for the start of the crack, the 2 for the top, or just run the thing out. Nice and balancy after the crack, good route to learn some slab technique on. A fun climb for sure.

Anonymous said on July 15th, 2007

Great classic climb, good route to learn to lead on, bring a cam to throw in the crack or just keep moving if you want, but if you fall out of the crack - no fun. One of my favorites, because of different styles and great view at the top.

tunedvwgti said on October 5th, 2007

Great route and I found it a bit challenging! I can climb 5.9 handily and this crimfest wasn't easy for me! I think I should have stayed left of the bolts...well...then again, I KNOW I should should have stayed left of the bolts and I didn't. Lots of fun and pretty, with a HUGE runout in the middle that I had a really hard time protecting with tri-cams and curved hexs, so I just ran it out... FUN!

tunedvwgti said on October 5th, 2007

Meringue said on March 7th, 2008

Fun, beautiful view. Nice slab work with a fun crack. You'll be hard-pressed to fall at the "run out" between the crack and the ledge. Relaxing climb

B.J. said on April 9th, 2008

The runout isn't as bad as it looks. The majority of it is pulling up and standing on the ledge. The tricky part, the part where you're most likely to fall, is at the beginning of the crack before you've really run it out any.

keegan540 said on April 23rd, 2008

Cool route, just run it out up top

uberwhipper said on June 10th, 2008

This climb was cool because of the runout and the crack. As I was going up the crack the guy climbing to my left must have clipped twice though. I was about to mantel the ledge and he asked my if I knew how far above my last bolt I was. I hadn't really noticed till then, but it gave me a bit of a rush. If you keep your head though, there isn't much chance of a fall

andrew.reed said on September 23rd, 2008

first lead ever

45percent said on January 16th, 2009

Found this route mostly dry in December after a snowstorm.

Ascentionist said on January 21st, 2009

That would really have to depend on the relative humidty and temperature at the crag. Kentucky usually gets wet snow because of the higher temps.

kman154 said on February 9th, 2009

I like the crack.

1 wheel drive said on March 12th, 2009

I agree with B.J. Once I got my hands in the crack I felt much better. It was fun to actually have to focus on the feet and use hands for balance. This was way tougher for me than Mr. Bungle, though.

Buzz said on September 3rd, 2009

Great route. Good for the beginning trad leader to test a cam or two.

eldridpw said on October 27th, 2009

the run out is alittle scary, bring a cam for sure

gheib said on May 10th, 2010

Very balance based route at the bottom, but super fun slabby climb. The top eases out quit a bit and make the rest of the route super chill.

AdamDugan said on July 30th, 2013

I was on this route today and the rings at the anchors looked pretty worn out.

climb2core said on July 30th, 2013

Quick links are $2.50 at the Rockhouse. Help out, unfortunately we don't have an anchor fairy. Well, Blake and Dustin come pretty close.

dustonian said on July 30th, 2013

First batch sold out quick! New bunch coming this week.

turbo2000gt said on July 3rd, 2017

fun little route! Good foot placement practice.

Route details are copyright Ray Ellington, John Bronaugh, and other Red River Gorge climbers. Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport. The information in this guidebook is subject to error and should supplement never replace common sense and caution, competent guidance and instruction, and actually being outside. One should be especially cautious on matters of route length, descent type, and number of bolts (especially since such things do change occasionally).

redriverclimbing.com: red river gorge guide

Face Up to That Crack 5.8- (Mixed) ***

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