Best non - "4 star classic" Red Rock routes

The Walker Spur 10b is great, and you can rap cat in the hat with just one 70m.

I climbed Cat in the Hat last year on a Friday morning during spring break and was the only party on the route all day as far as I can tell. Weather was sunny and minimal wind with a high temp of about 80, warm but I can't imagine that scaring the locals off.

Not complaining, but it was pretty strange.

Greg G wrote:The Walker Spur 10b is great, and you can rap cat in the hat with just one 70m.

You can get down CitH with a 60m with a little bit of downclimbing if you use the Rabbit's Arete intermediate rap station.

I also thought Next Century (10c/d) was super fun (more so than Walker Spur) although it's only 2 pitches.

Dow Williams wrote: ..I have gotten a lot of inquiries about it..

And we all know what that means.

Ancient Futures - .12a in Black Velvet

Hands down one of my favorite climbs I've done in Red Rocks. 12a, about 20 feet to the right of Epinephrine. Great, clean climbing on good pro and good rock.

Although, you might "encounter" crowds on Epinephrine, you'll be safely away from them once Ancient Futures splits off Epi (after P3 or so?).

Thanks for the awesome thread - I had the same question for this RR trip - maybe we'll bump in to each other this month!

Andrew Yasso wrote: And we all know what that means.

LOL!

Lifestyle Braj!

clint helander wrote:The Warrior (Oak Creek Canyon) is all time! It will be one of your favorite routes ever done, I promise!

Hi Clint, do you remember what your rack was for The Warrior?

Birdhunter Buttress. Awesome position above Brownstone and right next to Rainbow Wall. Sees little to no traffic.

Joanne and I climbed a route yesterday that gets little to no attention, Swing Shift (5.10c). Put in by Herbst and Moore in '77 it had some historical significance with the crowd around at that time, but has seen few if any ascents over the past few decades. The upper raps were rotted and laying on the ground. We have re-established the raps with passive gear. In reality, it is as good as La Cierta Edad which has current classic status in Icebox Canyon. Typical example of zero reason to wait in line to climb a classic when a comparable route at the grade is right next to it. I will have it written up in a few days. Unfinished Symphony and Weenie Juice are my favorite routes on this wall, but Swing Shift is as good as La Cierta Edad, longer and not any more challenging. Graded the same.

Tommy and I climbed a route up on the Buffalo Wallz yesturday called "Crystal Dawn." It's got some old hardware from the historically significant aid ascent (bolts not worth clipping) but we fixed it up gud. Crazy World and Buffalo Soldiers are my favorite routes in RR but Crystal Dawn is just as good as Rainbow Wall. Look for the write up in a couple of dayz on my blog/client recruitment site/pro tips page: summitpost.arr

#namedrop
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10/10 Janes!!!!

On pitch 3, there was a very rotten, overhanging section. The leader clipped a rusty bolt, backed it up with a good nut, then lowered down 3 to 4 feet. At this point, the leader did an exposed hand traverse 7 feet leftward. It is more difficult for the second. The second must climb to the rusty bolt and choose between 2 options: Either unclip it and down-climb extremely rotten, overhanging rock to get to the hand traverse, OR do a tension traverse leftward, as the rock is too overhanging to be in balance. Make sure the second has the skills to handle this kind of terrain. I found pitch 5 to be a full grade or two harder than Cierta Edad. Pitch 6, if done optimally, will have a long 5.9 traverse with a potentially bone-breaking fall for the second (the leader is well-protected on this traverse). If it is not done optimally, it will contain dirty 5.10 climbing. Outside of these traverse issues, there's a lot a really good climbing on this route.

Joanne Urioste wrote:On pitch 3, there was a very rotten, overhanging section. The leader clipped a rusty bolt, backed it up with a good nut, then lowered down 3 to 4 feet. At this point, the leader did an exposed hand traverse 7 feet leftward. It is more difficult for the second. The second must climb to the rusty bolt and choose between 2 options: Either unclip it and down-climb extremely rotten, overhanging rock to get to the hand traverse, OR do a tension traverse leftward, as the rock is too overhanging to be in balance. Make sure the second has the skills to handle this kind of terrain. I found pitch 5 to be a full grade or two harder than Cierta Edad. Pitch 6, if done optimally, will have a long 5.9 traverse with a potentially bone-breaking fall for the second (the leader is well-protected on this traverse). If it is not done optimally, it will contain dirty 5.10 climbing. Outside of these traverse issues, there's a lot a really good climbing on this route.

Well damn, that description sounds like a whole different route from what Dow described. He basically rat fucked his second on a traverse pitch not only once, but two times! Sounds like a real mega classic Dow. I also liked how you lowered on tension making the route A1 and just conveniently omitted that little tidbit.

Glen, I did not "rat fuck" Joanne and I am sure she will tell you that I did not. She climbed the route as my 2nd.... safely no worries. I have not written the route up yet, but here is my rough draft of those two pitches below (they are both 5.9 pitches in Handren's guide) if you want to get on it....I don't put bolts in RR, but someone did on that first traverse, a modern bolt in the wrong place it appears, we did not clip it. Nothing else was modern above it. Two modern stations have also be added to the first pitch (to allow it to stand alone as a single pitch and be rapped with a single rope). There is no need for aid. I actually placed a solid cam where Herbst's old station was set up high to protect the traverse, where there is currently an old nut. The bolt is shit, so is the webbing. With double ropes, Joanne was again able to manage it safety no worries. But all of this needs to be cleaned up and replaced with one traverse bolt mid way vs all the way to the left and down as it is now. Then you would no longer need the old high tension station.

The upper traverse can be done safety the way Herbst put it up. I followed Handren's photo topo and climbed too high because of it (shows going right up to the orange roof where no ledge was found). Joanne was safe, she clipped one of the doubles through my gear, and made a tension traverse and I picked up the gear on the direct rap. Joe talks of a ramp that we no doubt missed lower down. It is all going to be in my write up. This is the supposed chimney pitch which is not much of a chimney at all. The climbing was suppose to be 5.9 and there was definitely nothing any harder than that. One could easily forgo these last two pitches, but the cool rap makes it worth going to the top in my opinion.

All of this will be in my beta. I take it you have not done the route, thus you have no idea what we are talking about here but I will get it up soon. A competent team can climb this route safe as it stands, but a removal of two bolts swiped out for a new one in a better location on the 3rd pitch will improve it for the masses no question.

3rd Pitch- 50’- 5.9/Despite this pitch being followed up by 5.10b and 5.10c pitches, this is the crux of the route in terms of exposure. Move up and left into the dirty corner. Climb it up to the FA bolt and nut (2016). Clip these pieces and/or put in your own small to medium pro. Down climb one move and start a right to left hand traverse on chossy rock. The modern pro bolt is in the wrong place and will cause rope drag issues if you attempt to clip it. Instead, side pull your way into the next crack to the left and get a solid .4-.5 piece in. Extend it and climb the crack to a comfortable ledge up and left. The FA bolt mentioned in Handren’s guide (2016) is of no use. Rather build a micro cam/nut anchor in the small crack in the corner (the rock is decent).

6th Pitch- 180’- 5.9/This “chimney” that Handren’s guide references is not much of a chimney. Neither is there much of a ledge to traverse left on. The topo in his guide shows going up to the significant orange roof and then traversing left. That is what I did, but there is no ledge below the roof. I believe a safer lead, particularly for the second, is to start traversing left about 40’ below the roof via chicken heads and easy but run out climbing to the gully out left. Continue up this chossy/bush choked gully to a large pine with a rap on it (2016). I would not call any of this much of a chimney pitch. Not that the climbing is overly difficult at the grade either.

Maybe you are not use to adventure climbing Glen, routes lacking accurate beta, but once accurate beta is established, many times these routes can be as safe and enjoyed as much as classics for sure.

Glenn Schuler wrote: Well damn, that description sounds like a whole different route from what Dow described. He basically rat fucked his second on a traverse pitch not only once, but two times! Sounds like a real mega classic Dow. I also liked how you lowered on tension making the route A1 and just conveniently omitted that little tidbit.

get over yourself...

Stagg54 wrote: get over yourself...

I think you quoted the wrong guy.

That being said, so in the summitpost write-up will that pitch be listed as 5.7 A0?

No, there is no need for aid on any of this route. Re-read it again.

A lower out is aid, is it not?

The Beagle wrote:A lower out is aid, is it not?

I am sure an anonymous poser on MP is truly curious about climbing this route, but I will play. You do not need to be lowered on pitch 3 or pitch 6. On pitch 3, protect yourself up high on lead, down climb (easy to do) and start the traverse, no tension, you will have to climb it out left. There is a modern bolt there, put in the wrong place (at your feet). Whoever rigged the first/second pitches with two modern rap stations no doubt was messing around with this pro bolt. All the upper rap stations were rotted or needed replacing, so I am assuming whoever put in that traverse bolt did not go any higher. In any regard, it needs to come out. To make it a much smoother climb for the 2nd, I advise the FA tension station (no doubt it was used for that on the FA to figure it all out) be completely removed. A cam or nut protects well that high for the leader who can down climb one move and climb traverse left, cannot tension over using gear directly in like I did (the current mess is not worth trusting whatsoever). Best scenario would be all of this currently be removed and one strategically placed bolt on the traverse itself would better protect the leader from crashing back against the corner and the 2nd from swinging out left. Clean up three fixed pieces and replace them with one would be ideal. But this is not my route. I am sure Joanne can/will get that figured out if she wants to.

Drifting is an amazing climb:
mountainproject.com/v/drift…