Wrinkles in Time 

That's whats so cool about upper dream, its part trad, part bolted.....its not exclusively sport climbing by any means....the guide book says take some gear and QDs....Ive led Wrinkles with a light rack and really all you need is one nut or small cam for the finger crack and the rest is fine with the bolts.....GREAT climb.

Shad O'Neel - I'd agree w/5.8 on the 1st pitch, 5.6 or 5.7 or the second. Definitely glory, though.

The first bolt is by no means "thoughtfully placed," although the rest of the route is very well bolted. I put a small-medium nut in the crack below the first bolt while standing on the large flake at the bottom to protect those moves. They might be a bit sketchy for someone expecting a straight-up 5.9 face climb.

The guidebooks all rate it 5.9.....when I led it I thought it was pretty easy for 5.9 but then most of the Dream canyon climbs seem a little inflated to me also (remember Long Dong Dihedral). Id say 8+ is fair since the 1st pitch is pretty sustained but the second pitch is definately easy 5.7. Theres an awesome one pitch line called Brief History in time on the right side of Dream dome thats also rated 5.9, is more sustained and has a much harder finger crack than Wrinkles crux finger crack.

I don't know if 5.8+ is sandbagged... I remember working a bit with 2 quarts of water and 2 sets of shoes in my backpack... but the moves seemed straightforward. Especially the second pitch, it was a race between the belayer and the climber to see who could move the rope quicker. YMMV...

Enough sandbag grades! The bottom is definitely 5.9 and the upper pitch is thin enough to easily warrant 5.8.

Ok, I've done this wonderful climb twice in the last 2 weeks and the finger crack is no harder than 5.7 but the crux is at the 3rd or 4th bolt (can't remember exactly), right where you get onto the arete.....This climb definately warrants the "classic" description....very fun, steep, sustained and exposed. The 2nd pitch IS 5.8 if you stay on-route, which is on the very narrow blank face/arete where the bolts are.....However, it is FAR too easy to step right and cruise up the gully to the right and make it 5.6 or easier.....very contrived 2nd pitch but thin, balancy and fun if you stay on route....the first pitch deserves 5 stars and the 2nd deserves 1.

I am not sure where you would need to place a #1 Camalot on this route, or for that matter, any cams at all? This route requires one small nut from the stance atop the flake, that is it. The bolts are in decent clipping positions and the crux between the 3rd and 4th bolt is protected fine. Don't bring all that stuff along for this route, you will end up asking yourself, what was that shit for ? Besides this, not a bad route a little dirty around the 1/2 bolt area, nonetheless fun..

Jeff.

The finger crack at the start is at most 5.7+. If you didn't bring gear down to the Canyon and are a pretty solid 5.9/10 trad climber, then you'll be OK with just QDs. Kudos to the F.A.ist for not putting a bolt in this section.

My apologies, but part of the reason that I climb is because I'm a gear junky. Don't tell people not to bring more gear. There are at least 4 other opportunities besides the lower crack for bomber gear on this route. If this is near your leading level and you are starting to get into placing gear, then hop on this with a light rack. There are enough bolts to keep you from decking if your gear sucks (if you make it to the first one, that is). Oh yeah, fun little climb.

This route is damn fun! We just rapped in early morning and preclipped first bolt as we pulled ropes...no worries!!! Ha ha ha. I don't think there's any reason to sit around placing gear on such a straightforward and moderate route. The moves on the 1st pitch are cool by themselves! the second pitch is definitely no harder than 5.7, but it'll get ya a wee if you haven't done multipitches before moving between 1st and 2nd bolt...it's just a tad long, but still no worries, the 1st'll hold ya and there's nothing evil to fall on. I mean, this is so well protected and moderate I'd let a 10 year old kid lead it...just kidding, but it is easy cheesy. For a fun time, head up the gully left of wrinkle in time to the farthest left route. It's the most insane slab weirdness, kinda scary, goes at 5.8 in the book, I think. Anyway, have a fun time climbing! Oh yeah, how can you be worried on pitches less than 100 ft?

Sink 1 small nut in the finger crack to protect the first bolt, otherwise leave the gear behind and stick with QD's. 5.9 first pitch 5.7 second pitch. Completely enjoyable moderate climb especially if you (or your second) aren't solid on 5.10 and up. The climbing plus location gets 5 stars for me.

Classic ...... The finger crack protects easily with a small stopper. I found a #1 cam helpful between the 1st and 2nd bolts on the 2nd Pitch.

This really is a good climb. Interesting moves on the first pitch. I felt the crux to be a roof/bulge about 2/3 the way up the first pitch. Slabby, smeary stuff on the second. When you're on the second pitch, you have a great view of the other climbs on Dream Dome. They look pretty sweet...

I agree with Jeff and Jay... leave the cams. I took a light rack of cams and didn't place a single one. You can put 2 stoppers in to protect the bottom finger crack if you want. Those were the only pieces that I placed, and the only that I felt like I needed.

I definitely didn't think 5.8+ felt sandbagged. I felt the bottom crack to be easier, just like everyone else has said. Definitely a cool climb, and very much worth doing.

A lot of people have said "don't bring any gear except for a small stopper/cam for the crack at the beginning". If you follow this advice, (i.e. not bringing the #1 Camalot for pitch 2) you will take a pretty big fall (below your belayer) if you blow it just before getting to the second bolt on pitch 2. I'd strongly recommend bringing the #1 Camalot for pitch 2 (it doesn't weigh that much) and deciding for yourself once you're up there.

Why is almost every thread on this site directly related to someone stroking their own ego? Who is anyone to say to put gear in or not? Anecdotes are cool and very useful- good example: "if you didn't bring gear down to the Canyon and are a pretty solid 5.9/10 trad climber, then you'll be OK with just QDs."- Joe Collins, kudos to Joe Collins. Bad example: "Don't bring any gear except for the finger crack at the start."

A 5.7 leader would probably soil their pants if they did that 2nd pitch with only the nut their partner placed on the first pitch. That's great you can run out 5.7. I don't care if you can run out 5.12, the comment is not very useful or relevant.

By the way, a great route- we did it today, postholing up to the start, I manteled up to the block to start and booted up there to avoid wet rock shoes, but otherwise dry (and I 2nd Joe's comment).

Lots of mountain lion tracks in the snow- also cool.

Anyone know about the route immediately left of Wrinkles, it doesn't seem to match Rossiter's guide, though the next route left seems to. Really slabby, with a steep start out of the gully. Maybe 11a, 10d. lots of nice bolts. Need a 60m rope to get back to the ground (just right).

Look at the post for "Stained Glass." It was over rated a bit by the poster.

Kind of Scary if you don't place gear before the 1st bolt. But not too bad and adds a little spice to a magnificent Route! The wrinkled pinches are unreal and I wish there were like 5 more pitches of it.

Compareth is to the climbs put up in Boulder Canyon since 2000, and you have to call this route 5.9.

Great route.

I took a buddy and his daughter up this a few years back. She had been climbing for some time but had only quickdraws, no trad rack.
After we did the route, she returned a few days later to take a friend up it. I guess she felt, like many here, that putting pro in before the first bolt was unnecessary.

She fell from the moves getting to the bolt, hit the flake, then fell the rest of the way to the ground and got banged up pretty good. I think her dad told me the SAR had her winched up the dome in under an hour, which is really amazing. That's why that emergency phone is there I guess.

Anyway, just wanted to remind folks what can happen if you let your guard down or get in over your head while blowing off opportunities for protection.

Excellent route up wrinkled rock! I'd definitely take a few nuts and cams for before the first bolt and start of p2. You may not use them, but it's nice to have the option. I can't imagine not wanting a stopper before the first bolt.

The crux felt near the 4th bolt, just after 2 bolts close together. One problem is you can't see the next bolt and it's not so obvious where to go. I'm voting 5.9, although maybe it was just the wooden fingers and 40 mph gusts that were messing with me! We climbed Dreamscape too and Wrinkles felt a grade harder, but only in this one place.

I also encourage bringing a small cam or nut to protect the climb to the first bolt. This weekend a Dream Canyon regular told me of a fall where the climber missed the bolt and had perhaps a worse experience than bouncing off the flake and decking -- he got his leg caught in the flake on the way down and dangled for an hour and a half from a broken leg before rescuers could extract him. The leader I climbed behind is a 5.12 climber, and he protected the move.

I would also recommend this route to those leading a group of climbers with mixed experience. It has an interesting crux even for the better climbers, but is more than doable for those just starting out.

Such a fine route. Fun movement near the top.

I would have liked this climb a lot more if it wasn't so wet!! haha

Date of the FA was June 1996. This was our first route on the Dream Dome and the first new route since Kyle Copeland visited the rock in 1984.

I used two small to medium stoppers in the crack on the first pitch (less than 1/2 inch), and my partner used a 1 inch cam on the second pitch.

To me, the reason why this climb feels very soft for its grade is that for the majority of the climb (at least on the first pitch), the difficult climbing is not sustained. There are a few good moves in the beginning, but then there is much easier ground until the arete. Once on the arete, there is a move or two that makes one think, and then it eases up considerably with large holds. The second pitch is a pleasant cruise.

For me, this climb was considerably LESS demanding (mentally and physically) than the Northface Center Route (2 pitch, 5.7) on Cobb Rock which falls nearly two grades below the consensus here!

Still, it is a wonderful climb; I highly recommend it.