I know some will have a hard time deciding, but which climb stands head & shoulder above the rest.

for me it was Widislove (wide is love) location: verdon Gorge, southern France, September of 1987. My partner was Sybille Hechtel. She was nursing an injury so I led the whole thing. Unbelievable. Tremendous exposure. Surreal positions and views. small pockets and edges, bolted of course. The crystalline air of the Provence scented with lavender. I've seen it featured on climbing calendars. It's that good.

PS I forgot to mention it's "only" 5.9!

Cathedral Peak, Tuolumne. Holy Moly.

There are just too many climbs to pick one, but if I had to I think it would be Sour Mash in Red Rocks. A wonderful natural line up the Black Velvet Wall for 6 beautiful pitches. Great variety, great gear, great setting, great position. Corner, crack, face, traverse, overhang, a little bit of everything. I had a smile on my face the entire climb. When my partner said that he wasn't feeling up to leading, I wasn't a bit upset that I had to lead the entire climb, poor me! If there weren't about 2000 other routes that I have not done there I would climb this every year when I am there. This favorite climb could change as I am going back to Red Rocks in a few months and have an ambitious itinerary.

Many contenders, but it is Crimson Chrysalis, Red Rocks. 9 great pitches of high quality sandstone and consistent grade up an obvious, great line. Blue bird day, temps in the 60s.
It is difficult to separate the climb itself from the overall experience of weather, partner, how well you are climbing at the time.
We were on the rock before 6AM and moved well enough that we never saw anyone until after our 30 minutes on top and had gotten a couple raps down.

for a hasty decision, I think Bloody Mary at Poke-O is pretty damned up there in the ranks.

The most fun I ever had was probably Quadraphenia at the Daks.

Most fun ever? Was there sex involved?

THe Rostrum in Yosemite. Clean, continuous at its grade, a bit of everything, tight fingers, fingers, hands, offwidth, and a beautiful position.

for a single pitch climb for me it would be Equinox in J-Tree. A perfect route with no distractrions

YELLOW WALL, THE GUNKS.................

Levitation 29

jacob's ladder - table mountain in south africa. Just like the Gunks, only 3000 feet off of the Cape Town coastline.

Little Finger, Rogers Rocks, The Daks.
Moderate. Beautiful location. Clean line. Stellar approach. Great for beginners or groups of 2-4. Easy descent. Cliff jumping at the end. Also qualifies as my favorite night climb (though there are so few of those it's not fair to chooose).

Hunchback arete, Mt Lemmon

Between the Durrance route on Devil's Tower and a route to the left of the Chimney on Hallett's Peak (which we climbed sans guide book).

jacobs ladder is a fine climb indeed...

but an impossibly hard choice...why pick just one? if there was only one route that was that good why climb any others? fuck that...

fine jade, jah man, kor ingalls, ancient art, supercrack, ihc, anything that good on that beautiful desert sandstone
most anything i've done on chamonix granite
the exum ridge (well i've only done the lower but still)
one hundred different gunks routes
the black dike
any ravine in hunts on a nice or nasty day
a dozen routes on tennessee sandstone
sail away, walk on the wild side, and illusion dweller
blah blah blah etc etc etc

hey steve isn't there one climb that sticks out just a little bit from the others. but I admit, it's probably a sucky question for a young, high level hyper-active generalist like you ;-) (with a lot more time to climb than an aging cubicle dweller like me- although I also say it's a close call between lots of routes.) cheers

Certainly there are many types of climbing and a personal favorite may be difficult. I think of the mountaineering I did in Switzerland and on Mt. Rainier as almost a different activity from rock climbing. Is ice climbing the same sport? So far, the Grand Teton combined all types the most for me and for that reason was way cool.
I didn't like the loose sand of some areas in the southwest but loved Red Rocks(who doesn't). Yosemite is awesome unless you don't like jams (I do), so the individual's prior experience will influence the perception. It's hard to pick, but the overall experience is often about more than just the climb, or at least it should be. Did you like your partner? Was the challenge reasonable? If the weather crapped out did you still enjoy the challenge? Sometimes those are the best days. Were you worried about your job or family or main squeeze? All of this is part of the equation for me.

Cathedral Peak, Tuolomne. Beautiful line, spectacular summit in breathtaking surroundings.

Little Finger, Rogers Rock, Daks. Very moderate climbing up clean, well-protected slab with great views of blue water lake below.

Lakeview, Cannon. Alas, no more, but a great multi-pitch route, and long for the Northeast.

Three Pines, Gunks. My first lead. Still one of my favorite routes.

I have to agree about cathedral peak, little finger, and others as being top climbs. but chip's comments are what put that climb in verdon as no. 1 for me. I was at one of the absolute high points in my life, in love with a beautiful girl, on a super road trip through europe with some really wild people, the scenery, exposure and positions were unparalleled, my partner on that climb was really great, and all our equipment was pink and purple colored to match. even the quickdraws. most importantly those lavender scented breezes made us forget that we had not washed in about a week... :-)

Complete Exum Ridge - Grand Teton Wy
Tahoma Glacier Direct - Rainier Wa
Nuthatch - Chauncey Peak Ct
Cobra Crack - Squamish Ca.... ok... well... the first 2'.

Interesting that so many of us are Gunkies and love the place, yet our favorite climb ever in almost all cases was NOT at the Gunks. Is it that an experience in a far away crag is more exciting and exotic than our favorite line done many times at our home crag?

Jannette

The Gunks is great and there are very few places I would rather have as a home crag. Many of the climbs are great, however there is something to be said for climbs that involve some more commitment, long approaches, long days, many pitches of perfect rock, a bit of adventure. No matter how perfect a one or two pitch route may be I still can't envision that being my favorite climb due to the length of the climb and relatively short time on the rock.

Yeah, I think that's part of it, like how Guinness taste's better in Ireland. The other aspect is that people are listing mountain routes which are the routes we use the Gunks to train for. For myself there are numerous rock routes in the Gunks that are outstanding but if I was to say my favorite climb ever? I would choose from Chamonix, Grindewald, Tetons, Cirque of the Towers, Zion, Yosemite...someplace where I was on the climb for a day or more.

A number of my favorite pitches are in the Gunks, and many of them are better than any pitch on my favorite climbs. But I agree with Coppertone and cfrac that a favorite climb is going to have to have a lot more ingredients than a Gunks route can possibly provide.

The routes I love at the Gunks have been done so many times by now that the individual experience diminishes. I still love them but it's like trying to identify a particular Big Mac as having been better than the others.

But Guinness DOES taste better in Ireland.

Okay if we're going to throw mountain routes in here, then Shaken, Not Stirred is ALMOST the perfect climb. The only thing it lacks is the True East summit of the Mooses Tooth.

RR

The Nose

Central Pillar of Frenzy in the valley.

The first five pitches are awesome but the finger crack on the second pitch is unbelievable.

Splitter cracks or awesome exposure certainly make for favorite moments, but my favorite climbs are the ones where I transcend preconceived limits, psychological barriers, or just something I thought was really hard. The kind of climb that leaves you buzzing and smiling at the same time.

The Northeast Buttress of Higher Cathedral gave me one of those break-through days.