The World’s 7 Least Sandbagged Climbing Areas, Ranked

Sandbagging hits us where it hurts the most—right in the ego. When your psyche gets hit hard by one of these notoriously sandbagged areas, there’s only one cure: Soft grades. Put the pieces back together again with some easy ticks for the rating.

“Featherbagging”—giving Charmin-soft grades to routes and boulders—is just as much a climbing tradition as sandbagging. Heck, sometimes gyms and destination areas even use it as a secret tool to get repeat “customers.” You climb your hardest there, and so come back for more, gleefully opening your wallet.

Gyms aside, the following seven areas are all known for featherbagging. As with all climbing venues, of course, much of this is subjective. There’s variance between climbs, and you’ll still find sneaky sandbags lurking in the shadows, waiting to draw blood.

So go forth and climb soft at the world’s least sandbagged areas, ranked from somewhat featherbagged to “Wow, I’m a better climber than I thought” featherbagged.

7. Boulder Canyon, Colorado

As far as backyard areas for Colorado’s Front Range go, Boulder Canyon is one of the most historic. Here you’ll find some of the country’s earliest 5.10s and 5.11s, dating back to the 1960s. But make no mistake—the original routes on the area’s granite, like Country Club Crack (5.11c) and Umph Slot (5.10c)—are not the softies you’re looking for. Rather, it’s the newer sport areas from the 1990s and Aughts, like Avalon, the Rivieria/Bihedral, and Cascade Crag, where the routes typically range from 5.9 to 5.11.

Furthermore, Boulder Canyon’s granite is rough and featured, with slabby to vert angles that make it easy to piece together beta as you go. Plus many climbs are gym bolted (see the routes of Sport Park), inspiring leader confidence.

6. Indian Creek, Utah

It’s not 100 percent accurate to say that the Wingate-sandstone cracks of Indian Creek are soft. In fact, they’re long, continuous, pumpy, and (often mercilessly) the same size from deck to anchors. But given how homogenous these cracks are, the splitters that fit your fingers perfectly for locks, or accommodate your hands for jams will feel “easy” at the given grade.

So, people with big hands will find Supercrack to be slammer hands and chill at 5.10, while the small-handed might find it to be a loose-fists 5.11. Or take the infamous 5.11+ rattly-fingers face splitter Johnny Cat, which protects with 0.5 Camalots. In all honestly, it felt like 5.9 to me with my Jimmy Dean sausage fingers, even as the neighboring 5.11+ tips crack Puma slapped me around and stole my lunch money.

5. Red River Gorge, Kentucky

This might be a controversial pick. Some people find the Red to be stout—and those people are called boulderers! However, if you are blessed with ample endurance, aerobic capacity, slow-twitch muscle, and good on-the-rock strategy, the Red’s Corbin sandstone is nirvana. The cruxes rarely exceed V4–V7, even on 5.13s and lower-end 5.14s. Most holds are super-friendly deep pockets, huecos, and incut, grippy crimps.

So if you can read the rock and hang on like a sloth, you will take routes down at the Red. On the flip side, the pitches are wildly overhanging and you need to be fit. Perfect examples of this treadmill style include the Chocolate Factory’s Oompa (5.10b), Naked (5.12a/b), and Silky Smooth (5.13c). These routes are all doable for their grades, with no real stopper moves. But they also all deliver a massive pump.

Watch Ada Cronin take down No Redemption (5.13b) in the Red with ease

4. Rocklands, South Africa

The brightly colored Cederberg sandstone of Rocklands is legendary for a reason: It’s fun, featured, solid, and steep. Untold boulder fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Another lure? The area’s user-friendly grades. Many make the pilgrimage to tick their first 8B (V13), given how many options there are to fit one’s unique strengths.

Coloradan Brian Stevens recently spent a season in Rocklands. He said that as a rule, the problems felt two V-grades easier than Hueco Tanks and one grade softer than Joe’s Valley. For example, the classic V4 jug roof of Girl on Our Mind felt on par with the similar roof climb Nobody Here Gets Out Alive (V2) at Hueco. Another factor is the sheer density and volume of problems. “Rocklands has so much, and you can pick and choose whatever you want,” Stevens says. “It’s like nature’s Kilter/Tension/MoonBoard, where you just swipe to the next problem if you don’t like the current one.”

3. Kalymnos/Telendos, Greece

Kalymnos and the neighboring island of Telendos offer perfect blue, white, grey, and tan limestone laced with tufas and stalactites. But there’s more—these routes come riddled with pockets, flakes, sidepulls, and crimps. And with hundreds of climbs from 5.7 to 5.14+, life is good here. Climb sublime rock in the morning, then take a dip in the blue-green Aegean Sea when it gets hot.

But the isles are also known for “holiday grades,” usually a letter or two soft, perhaps engineered to lure repeat visitors. Colorado climber Chris Weidner cites Punto Caramelo, an 8a+ (5.13c) in Kalymnos’s Grande Grotta. He sent it second try and said it felt more like 7c+ (5.13a). “The ‘soft’ feeling in Kalymnos came mainly from the size of the holds: they’re just bigger than you might expect at a crag in, say, France,” says Weidner. “Of course, the Grande Grotta is very steep—probably from 10 to 40 degrees overhanging—so the holds are necessarily larger.” (See also the “Red River Gorge.”) Weidner adds that the tufas make it easy to find kneebar rests mid-route.

2. Moe’s Valley, Utah

This St. George winter destination is a boulderers’ playground, with tight clusters of blocks and a high density of problems. You’ll also find mostly flat landings that are friendly for families and kids. It also has squishy grades, but because everyone’s having so much fun, no one seems to take issue. Says onetime Utah climber Ryan Pecknold, Moe’s has “pockets and edges galore, and most routes are straightforward and require minimal creativity and imagination, with juggy topouts that rarely require a sketchy high heel hook.” In other words, just pull down. (Utah’s Joe’s Valley, though stiffer than Moe’s, has been called soft for similar reasons: lowballs, heavily chalked/ticked holds, easy access, lots of problems to choose from, etc.)

Epitomizing the accommodating Moe’s style is Crippler (V6) in the Sentinel Area, a well-chalked lowball with good holds that might be many a climber’s first V6. At the Pink Lady Area, the photogenic IsRail, also V6, is another classic local example. Impressively, Timothy Kang did 10 double-digit problems from V10–V13 during his first day at Moe’s. This perhaps confirms that the area is soft—but also what a beast he is.

1. Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming

Ten Sleep is one of those areas where climbers get lots of firsts: “first 12a onsight,” “first 5.13b in a day,” “first 5.14a redpoint,” etc. This would certainly lead one to believe that it’s featherbagged. And overall, it probably is, especially when compared to the cranky grades at other Wyoming dolomite areas like Wild Iris. On the flip side, some of the older climbs, like Go Back to Colorado (5.12b), are stiff. Beware of wild cards!

In truth, what mostly makes Ten Sleep “soft” is the featured limestone. Tiny crimps and pockets abound, allowing for multiple beta solutions. This also makes it easy to wander off the bolt line, perhaps looping around a crux that the first ascensionist beelined straight up. Famous case in point: the Grasshopper Wall testpiece Blue Light Special (5.13b).

Honorable Mention: Kilter Board

As with the MoonBoard listed as an honorable mention for one of the most “sandbagged areas,” this one’s a bit tongue-in-cheek. Still, of the “Big Three” boards common in the States—the MoonBoard, Tension Board, and Kilter Board—the Kilter Board perhaps has the softest grades. Or maybe there’s just more variance within each grade range. (Don’t worry, there are plenty of stiff rigs. See any problem set by Jimmy Webb or the crimpy offerings on the Fullride 7×10 home wall).

Friendly and ergonomic holds, rounded jugs, flat crimps, and pinches also make the Kilter Board less tweaky. This makes it more conducive to putting in multiple project burns. It also favors taller or more dynamic climbers, with big jumps to positive holds. UK climber Toby Roberts famously did 50 8As (V11s) in an hour on the Kilter Board. Five reps of 10 separate V11 problems is something I can’t imagine anyone pulling off on the fingery MoonBoard. But hey, prove me wrong!

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