The Spraydown...

I enjoy making lists, whether they be of my favorite climbs, to-do climbs, or do-not-repeat climbs. Somewhere in the process of listing the 10 best 5.10 routes in the Cascades, I started compiling a list of my own personal "bests". And for whatever reason, the following routes or days stand out as milestones in my time as a climber. Of course none of these routes were done alone, which makes them more team accomplishments than anything else.

Climber on Uptown Toodeloo (.12-) with Cynical Pinnacle at left - photo by Garrett Grove

Linkups / Speedy Ascents:

• 5 Spires in 15 hours: The Foil, The Sabre, The Petit Gripon, Sharkstooth, and Zowie ~22 guidebook pitches, 10 miles, and 5 summits in Rocky Mountain National Park
• Eldo Tour (24 pitches, mostly 5.10 and 5.11): Le Toit, Rosy Crucifixion, The Naked Edge, The Doub-Griffith, Vertigo, and Yellow Spur, Car to car in under 8 hours. All free, except Vertigo, which I lead at the end of the day and did not onsight.
•  The Naked Edge (all 5 pitches, plus the 5.8 cave pitch were belayed) car-to-car in 73 minutes
• The Scenic Cruise (14 pitches 5.10+, second time on route) 4hours55 minutes
• 3 Chief Day - Angel's Crest, High Plains Drifter, Ultimate Everything, and Squamish Buttress. Nearly 50 guidebook pitches in 14 hours. Squamish, B.C.

Long Free Traditional Routes:

• Astro Dog - Black Canyon's South Rim - V 5.11+ Onsight
• Levitation 29 - Red Rock Canyon - IV 5.11c (soft in both respects) - Onsight
• Jupiter II - Red Rock Canyon III 5.11+ - Redpoint

Alpine Routes

• Gorillas in the Mist - Mt. Stuart, Cascades- IV/V 5.11- Onsight and FA
• The Iron Curtain - Mendenall Towers, Alaska - IV 5.12- Onsight and FA
• Megalodon Ridge - Mt. Goode, Cascades - IV+ 5.10 Onsight and FA
• Complete NW Ridge - Aguja Guillamet - Patagonia - IV 5.11 Onsight
• Flight of the Kiwi - Chiefshead Peak, Colorado Rockies - IV 5.10+ Onsight and FA

'The Cleaner' - Grove Photo

Trad Pitches

• Bone Crusher - Table Mountain, Colorado 5.12b/c Redpoint
• The Cleaner - Indian Creek 5.12- Onsight
• Fingers in a Light Socket - Indian Creek 5.11+ Onsight
• Uptown Toodeloo - South Platte, Colorado 5.12- Onsight
• Japanese Gardens - Index, Washington 5.11+ Redpoint
• The Spoils - Boulder Canyon, Colorado 5.12b Redpoint

Sport Pitches

• Slammer - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12b Onsight
• Sucking My Will to Live - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12+ Redpoint
• Freeform - Shelf Road, Colorado 5.12a Onsight
•  Ten Digit Dialing - Clear Creek, Colorado 5.12c Redpoint
•  Pearl Jam - Tonsai, Thailand 5.12b Onsight