Tahquitz via Whodunit 5.9

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Wed Sep 17, 2025 2:10 pm

Well I finally climbed at Tahquitz for the first time in my life and it was awesome! Some dope ass forum member by the name of wesweswes led it while I followed. We completed the thing in 4 200ft pitches and it took us about 5 hours flat. The route is split up in 8 pitches but for this report, I will be describing the route by talking about each of the 4 pitches.

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P1 was super awesome and slabby, a fantastic section that follows some flakes and has a hard mantle before reaching this great crack that follows a wall. I took a few falls at the mantle and experienced some wonderful rope stretch that pummeled me sometimes 15 feet down. Progression here was tricky and I definitely used some aid with a cam once in a while.

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P2 was the hardest section for me and featured a chimney that constrains towards the top and forces you to mantle into an off width crack. This was my first time doing any chimneying and boy was it awesome! Next time I will attach my pack to the belay loop below me because it was very much in the way of my climbing. There was another party on the line too giving me beta on exiting the chimney. I think I fell there 4 times while having to dangle and rest my arms.

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P3 was possibly my favorite. I finally got the hang of offwidth and jamming into cracks. this section was 600 feet off the ground and was just stunning to accomplish.

P4 brought us onto some cool slab and some moderate friction climbing and was a super chill way to finish the climb!

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For the future, I think I will want to lead something on the rock that's a tad bit easier than whodunit. This route was 5.9 and felt more like a 5.10 compared to the stuff I typically climb. I'm sure if I get much better at crack, I will change that grade. Also taking into account that this rock is massively sandbagged and 5.5 or 5.6 might just be the leading wheelhouse for me.

I still think the wall boulder in the arroyo is the best rock quality I've climbed on but Tahquitz might be number 3 after Horse Flats.

mikeywally · Post by **mikeywally** » Wed Sep 17, 2025 2:50 pm

the yosemite grade system was invented at tahquitz (first published by chuck wilts 1956). so the original 5.0-5.9 are at tahquitz. tahquitz was the benchmark for all the other places to be graded from.

yosemite grades are very similar to tahquitz, as are josh (maybe a little softer). there might be a correlation between when the crag/route was developed to how soft/hard the grade is. so newer areas are softer and older areas tend to be harder.

most first time leaders are tahquitz try the trough or white maidens walk way. i recommend the trough because it's shorter and everything about it is easier. both are 5.4. then maybe try the 5.4 version of finger trip. suicide also has good two pitch climbs on the north side.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/10 ... north-face

Graham Cracker 5.6, Break Out 5.6, Little Murders 5.4

wesweswes · Post by **wesweswes** » Wed Sep 17, 2025 4:02 pm

I bet you could crush the trough or white maiden's walkway, even on lead. Fun time up there! Chimney and off width are hard since not much opportunities to practice those techniques outside of just climbing outside, and Tahquitz is the real deal for difficulty. Nice work

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Wed Sep 17, 2025 5:11 pm

wesweswes wrote: Wed Sep 17, 2025 4:02 pm I bet you could crush the trough or white maiden's walkway, even on lead. Fun time up there! Chimney and off width are hard since not much opportunities to practice those techniques outside of just climbing outside, and Tahquitz is the real deal for difficulty. Nice work

Hell yeah dude, gonna def try one of those next