Gentle Ben's Afternoon Delight  5.8

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Type:  Trad, 4 pitches, 500 feet, Grade II FA:  FRA: John Wilder, Brandon Arens- 8.05 Submitted By:  John Wilder on Aug 14, 2005 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (2) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: Crown Royal Area

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Description 

After a few weeks of clipping bolts up at Charleston, I was eager to get back to trad climbing at Red Rock and was waiting for it to cool off enough to do so. A 'cold snap' was predicted for the weekend, and so I made tentative plans with a couple of friends to do Sick for Toys up in Black Velvet. After a slight mishap at work, I managed to mangle my left index finger a bit, leaving me in no condtion to lead .10c slab, so I elected to send my friends on their way to Sick for Toys while I called up another friend to go cruise something easy- after all, it was a weekend to climb sandstone.

Upon our arrival in Black Velvet, we intended to climb Schaeffer's Delight to Lazy Buttress. Yet, while racking up, we spied a gorgeous looking handcrack a ways to the right that was begging to be climbed. My partner seemed up for it, and after thinking it over I agreed- worst case, I have to yard on a piece or two on top rope.

So, off we went and had a great time. We knew it wasn't a first ascent, as there was fixed gear on the route, but after looking around and talking to some folks, no one is talking, so we named it for future parties to enjoy.

The name of the route comes from a microbrewery in Tucson, Arizona that I spent far too much time in while in college.

This route starts about 150' to the right of Lazy Buttress and about 50' left of Crown Royal at the base of a gully system that leads up to an obvious crack in a right-facing dihedral about a ropelength above.

Pitch 1: Start in a nice right-facing corner and work your way up easy ground toward the base of the crack. A single 5.7 move marks the end of the pitch. Belay at the base of the crack (two fixed stoppers). 5.7, 180'

Pitch 2: Climb the crack, exiting to the right, then traversing left to a nice stance at the base of another dihedral. 5.8+, 100'

Pitch 3: Head left and up, aiming for an obvious ledge that comes into view after about 15'. This pitch only gains about 40' of height, but traverses about a half of a rope length. Belay on the ledge with a huge boulder on it, which is the large ledge at the top of the second pitch of the Lazy Buttress 5.5, 100'

Pitch 4: Head up and left, through a slot, then head straight up to Lover's Ledge. 5.7, 70'

Descent: Head toward the summit, then cross the gully and work your way up to a saddle. Drop into the second gully, and head left- joining up with the Frogland descent.

Protection 

Take a single rack of cams to about 3", a 4" piece is nice to have on pitch 3, but not necessary.