(R) rating litany, part I

      This climb has got me a bit psyched out; good maybe, keep me on edge. I think I’ve looked at it too long. The best and only way is to go and see.

      With a rating of III 5.9 A1 (R), the Roskelly/Castle route on the north face of Gunsight is not to be taken lightly. Just what constitutes an (R) rating in climbing? (R) means runout; the very word sends stabs of fear down the spines of us mortals.

      For part of the answer I will consult my ever changing and hopefully expanding collection of reference books. My library, such as it is, does contain a dictionary; two actually, maybe more.

      Runout. My 1959 Webster’s New Handy version does not contain the compound term. Instead I offer, separately; run: to move rapidly; to flow. And, out: without, on the outside. My 2001 Random House Webster’s does include the compound; to become used up. From these literal explanations we can realize that to climb a section of a route that is rated (R), we must move, and apparently the more rapid the better, without; we’ve exhausted all our possibilities. This is pertaining to protection or lack of with respect to roped climbing. Runout means at some point the leader had to go for it un- or marginally protected.

      I next turn to my mountaineering and rock climbing literature. An explanation of the rating and grading of climbs is usually included in most guidebooks. Tucked away at the end, almost without exception, is a sometimes casual mentioning, like an afterthought, of the (R) and (X) ratings. (X) I won’t even go into.

      Since it is the R/C route on the north side of Gunsight that’s spawned all this written anxiety, it seems Randall Green’s ancient Idaho Rock is an appropriate place to begin. I quote: “The letter (R) means conditions are such that the leader may take a serious fall, possibly pulling out intermittent points of protection before the fall is stopped.”

       John Harlin III states in a guide of the Needles, long notorious for sick run-outs; “... the definitive difficulty of Needles climbing is largely psychological; the runouts here can be frightening. Typically an (R) pro suffix denotes considerable runouts between available pro, with potential for serious injury in case of a fall.”

      Rock Climbing Utah, by Stewart M. Green offers, “Both (R) and (X) ratings indicate more serious routes with possible serious injury, ground fall, or even death as a result of a fall.”

      Referring back to Idaho Rock, Randall Green writes of R/C, beckoning, ”..and the route does not protect well. John R. led the whole route and sometimes encountered several unprotectable down sloping slabs that were devoid of cracks. This climb has never been repeated. More info and details are unavailable.”

      Over the past few years, I’d developed an obsession with the north face of Gunsight, here in North Idaho, the Roskelley/Castle line in particular. Since the mid 80’s I’d been making serious probes into the upper reaches of the Selkirk Crest, ascending peaks and smaller formations, discovering rock walls and hidden paths; learning the approaches.

       Summer of ‘96 came the first serious attempt at R/C. I was partnered with Joe Lind, a well built local with a taste for hard routes. I couldn’t get us up to where he could do his thing and we were driven down at the first crux.

      The year after, Joe and I teamed up again for Bergman/Miller (III 5.8 A2), the classic of the three documented routes on the face, for possibly the second or third ascent. Whenever possible I looked over, trying to spot the R/C line; what I could see did look hard; in more than one place.

      Now, Roskelley and Castle first climbed this, my nemesis, back in 1969. In the intervening years there have been no known repeats. I personally knew of two known attempts; on our first, I found a rappel anchor at the first obvious crux. In the spring of ‘97 I had a chance to speak with Mr. Roskelley, and I shamelessly asked him his memories of the route and what might be expected further up. He thought for a long moment (one serious resume his), then regarded me with that hardened and amused squint.

      “Go right.” he said. “When it gets difficult, go right.”

      The summer of 1999 finds Joe and I involved with different projects. I team instead with Todd Hesse, a strong, young climber. He has never seen the north face of Gunsight. In two day’s time, we intend to make the third known attempt to repeat the R/C route.

(To be continued)


Written @ late 90's, somewhere in North Idaho.