Mountain Project: Climbing Mount Lemmon (Santa Catalina Mountains)

Colorado Crush is one of the best multi-pitch trad climbs around, with an easy approach to boot. I don't think it gets much traffic, which is a shame. It climbs the tallest part of the Acropolis, the first cliff you come to in Sabino Canyon (the Acropolis really should have its own page).

Kerry (per Steiger) says that "the dihedral pitch is excellent, but the rest of the route...is not as good." I say bollocks. The direct start on P1 is superb, and pitches 3 and 4 are also very good-MUCH better than they look from the belays. Overall, the rock is high quality with just a short loose section at the top of pitch 3. Of course, due to neglect, the route is a little dirty and/or vegetated in places.

Use the topo in Backcountry Rockclimbing. What follows are annotations-as usual, stop reading if beta gets your dander up:

1) We did the direct start. The description says "ingenuity is critical for protection before the bolt is reached." At some point, ingenuity was replaced by a bolt, of late 80s/early 90s vintage. You'll still get a mental challenge as the (now) 2nd bolt, protecting the crux slab move, is a rusty, ancient spinner. The lower bolt looks better and with an alert belayer, should keep you off the ledge if the top bolt fails.

The original start is a long traversing 5.6 pitch that does not look as high quality as the direct, but who knows.

2) One of the best crack pitches in the Catalinas. Doubles of hand size are unnecessary, as the crack pinches down for nuts periodically.

3) A wild rope-stretcher, particularly if you do it as shown on the topo. Next time I would break it into two, belaying just below the awesome stemming crux. Lots of micro-routefinding, traversing, and some moderate runouts on this pitch.

4) Much wilder (and better) than the "5.6 chimney" notation on the topo might imply! I'll leave it at that. Another long pitch.

Location

The route starts in the middle of the Acropolis, which is a long, 300'-500' high cliff whose western end is visible from the parking lot. Take the road from the visitor center to the first shuttle stop, then take the Phoneline trail until below the route. Head uphill 5 minutes from the trail to the base. This approach is 45 min.-1 hr of pleasant hiking.

Descent: you can walk (i.e. thornwhack) down around the west end of the cliff back to the base of the climb, but a much better alternative would be to avoid leaving anything at the base and plan on taking the Blacketts Ridge trail, which is 100 yards uphill from where you top out, back to its junction with the Phoneline trail and then back to the parking lot from there.

Protection

Comments on Colorado Crush

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By jbak
Nov 22, 2011

Can't really say the climbing is better than 2 stars, but I will give it a 3rd star just based on how cool it looks, and the position and views.

By Paul Davidson
Nov 28, 2011

But I love the photo! Like a lot of Sabino rock, looks cool, climbs baaadddd...

By Clay Mansfield
Mar 11, 2013

Pitch 2 has got to be one of the finest 5.9 pitches in the Catalinas: fingers, hands, fists, stemming, liebacks, and it's longer than it looks. I don't think the other pitches are as good, but it is worth the pretty casual hike (on a hiker's trail!) up to the Acropolis. As Charles says, breaking pitch 3 into 2 pitches would probably be a good idea. We did not do this, and my partner was shouldering some big-time rope drag.

By Joe Lee
From: tucson, az
Mar 28, 2013

Has some great climbing but hard to recommend without reservations. But if you like adventure climbing, get on it. It has all the requisites to be called old school. We also did a variation at the top that is very good. Before the final chimney there is a spacious ledge to the right. From here, follow the obvious line. Bring a full rack. You need gear for the belay stations.

By Charles Vernon
From: Tucson, AZ
Mar 28, 2013

DAMMIT, I RECOMMEND THIS THING WITHOUT ANY RESERVATIONS!!!!

By 1Eric Rhicard
Mar 28, 2013

That is because you are so hard core Charles. I know I did the dihedral but don't recall if we went to the top. All in all I can say this climb is... I don't recall anything else.

By Charles Vernon
From: Tucson, AZ
Mar 29, 2013

Excellent point. It should be noted that you can do the "best" pitch and then rap from the top of pitch 2 with two ropes, all the way to the ground. You'll probably have to leave some webbing.

The point about my being so hard-core is also a very good point.

[Edit]: In seriousness, perhaps my memory of this route is faulty. When posting on this site I am usually careful to note loose rock, runouts, poor quality climbing, etc. so as not to sandbag or mislead.

By Joe Lee
From: tucson, az
Mar 29, 2013

I would upgrade both bolts on pitch 1. The anchors for pitch 2 should be moved higher before the route works left. This would reduce the rope drag on pitch 3, hopefully keep the belayer clear of rockfall, allow you to see the leader on the stiff stemming corner, and enable you to reach a good belay ledge. (The only reason I haven't recommended belaying at the base of the stemming corner is b/c of concern of rockfall) The loose stuff on pitch 3 needs to be cleaned. With the variation at the top, this improved route would be excellent.

Colorado Crush

5.10+

Description

Location

Protection

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