Atlantis is a nice little area near the southern end of Lost Horse. It's a short wall that sits in a narrow canyon that's pretty well sealed off from the West, so you have to loop around and come in from the east. This means that it doesn't get much in the way of a breeze, so it can be pretty sweltering on a hot day, but it's nice when the weather's a bit cooler.
Atlantis is often overrun with classes and large groups of TRs, due to the easy walk off (down the gully on the far side of the formation from the climbs). TRs are easy to set along the entire length of the formation, and the 20-30 short but steep climbs run from 5.5 to 5.9 and up. None of the routes stand out especially, but it's another nice JT spot that's good for taking it easy or for pushing your grade on TR.
Getting There
Head south on the Lost Horse Road -- as you near the gate (where you can't drive any further) there are a few dirt parking areas. The further down the road you can park, the shorter approach.
Head east from the road -- from here, pretty much all of the main Lost Horse formations will be on your left. After a few hundred yards, you should come to a low spot in the rocks on your immediate left. Here, turn left and head back into the rocks. Almost immediately, you'll pass the Atlantis descent gully, and then a low scramble over the toe of the Atlantis buttress. Once you're into the next, wide gully, turn left again. A little more scrambling, and Atlantis will be up on your left. Climb on.
This crag gets good afternoons shade and morning sun.The enjoyment of many of the routes on the left side of Atantis is decreased by the fact that they are broken 1/2 way up by a big huge ledge and are either less protectable and less continuous, or done as two pitches of only 10-15 meters in length.
does minotaur start off the ground or on the big boulder 1/2 way up from the ground?
started off the ground on a fake route. a couple girls were climbing 5.6-5.7 crack a little right. as I was setting a belay anchor around the start of minotaur, the girls seemed miffed that I had taken their route. I assumed that minotaur started on top of the boulder and didn't really think to ask what those girls were climbing.
so I'm just curious where people typically start for that route...
Minotaur starts just to the right of what is left of a dead yucca on the floor. Fantasy of Light 10a, (with a hard boulder move start) is just right of that and Nittany Lion 10a/b is just right of that. Nothing starts off of the boulder. You can cheat and turn Nittany Lion into a 6 or 7 from there though.
We did a handful of fun routes out there today. Ceremony 10.c was the nicest of the lot. But above the crux (At the start) it eased up considerably. Similar to most of the routes there in my opinion. Most beyond the cruxs are real easy... Not my favorite area in JNP......but worth a shot if you've never been to the area and a great place for begining leaders...
for any of those that wish to climb the park this time of year that don't already know, the Atlantis area where this climb and many others exists, from easy to moderate crack, this formation in the latter part of the day gets great shade and is very comfortable. Easily protected with a standard rack and side by side climbing for banging off (Laps) routes.............
Good route for beginners - this was my first trad lead and I'm a big scaredy cat.Fairly steep but only a 5.5 so I could take my time placing pro. The crux was the cold (I could hardly feel my fingers)!
Beware of the crowds on the weekends. Went there last weekend (11/07) and there were at least 20 people on this wall. One group had empty beer cans scatter at the base of the climb and were listening to heavey metal rock on their stereo which could have been heard from Indian Cove. (I have nothing against beer or music, just in moderation and in consideration to others). We left the wall to these wankers and headed to Lost Horse Wall...
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