A fun pitch 2 to Old 'n ending on top of the North Quarry Wall. Once you're at the belay spot, step right around the corner, and work up a steep slab to a short corner with a piton. Finish up easy rock to the summit.
Location
Climb Old 'n, walk right to the north side of the upper quarry ledge, and belay from a piton.
Protection
3 fixed pitons to a 2 bolt rappel anchor w/chains.
We climbed this route on July 30th. It definitely has a great view from the top. The first piton is really close to where you start to climb. We never did find the third piton, so the second one we used was on the face just above the short corner. We suspect that the third piton came loose. We're going to climb this route again as soon as it dries up and figure out what kind of extra protection would work best on it. Will keep everyone posted.
The third piton is to the right. It seems MUCH harder than a 5.6 to go in that direction, so I believe the route follows up the dihedral left. The view is amazing from the top. Gear placements are available for those not comfortable with the runouts.
This is a great climb; it might be slightly underrated. It is run out and it traverses, so a fall in the wrong spot would result in one heck of a pendulum. We did it with out extra gear but nuts would ease the psychological factor. Although not a difficult climb, the view from the top is awesome, so it is well worth the effort. It could use a belay anchor, but bring a long strap and anchor off the first bolt. Due to the traversing nature of the climb it’s probably best to belay your second from the top.
By ty. From: Colorado Springs Nov 9, 2006 rating: 5.6 R
I really enjoyed leading this climb, but it's certainly run out and offers just one piton to belay from the bottom with. A fall between pitons would be bad. The route seems to follow the arete, which gets you to the last piton. The dihedral passes the piton and takes some of the thrill out of the climb.
By Joshua Blake From: Colorado Springs Sep 13, 2007
The top section did seem a bit run out and I failed to find third(?) piton protecting the top. Either way I remember thinking a pink or red tricam would fit nicely in the crack in the corner and add some psychological comfort though the climbing in this section is very much 5.easy.
By Erik Tullberg From: Colorado Springs Jul 14, 2008
At the risk of saying "me too" we also used a cam to avoid that run-out feeling :) (we used a #1 Omega Pacific Link Cam). This was a good second pitch to Xenolith and it was great to top out to wonderful views. This seems to be the highest spot in the canyon if you don't count some of the coyote wall. The stone is great on the face as it seems like this route doesn't get much traffic.
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