Once again, Scary Larry has had his way when it comes to putting up a new route. Recently, Scary Larry, Bill Thiry, and Thomas Ribiere went on a scouting mission up a potential line that moves up the face just right of Frogland. The initial pitches went mostly as planned, but after a bit of a miscommunication, the upper portion of what Larry had in mind was left unclimbed and instead the team moved up to the summit via some easier ground. Although the team had put up a good line and had had a great day, Larry felt that the line he had in mind should still be attempted in the very near future.
After a bit of wrangling, Larry recruited yours truly into the mission of completing the climb as Larry had originally envisioned. So, we headed out to Black Velvet and, almost without incident put up the climb as Larry wanted, and it turned out great.
This route is a solid step up from Frogland, and is, in many ways, a better route overall. This is a good option for experienced parties that find themselves waiting in line for Frogland and enjoy a good adventure.
Head for the base of Frogland and rope up about 25' left of the start in a corner with a good looking finger crack. (This is just past the little step across on the ledge system)
Pitch 1: Head up the corner over a bulge to a ledge with some bushes. From here, step right and continue up another corner to the first belay of Frogland. 5.7, 120'
Pitch 2: The best pitch on the route. Start as for the second pitch of Frogland. Head up the left leaning ramp, but instead of continuing up the corner, climb the beautiful crack on the right hand wall. (There is another crack about 10' to its right that is probably harder to climb and to protect.) About 70' up, this crack ends. Step right to gain the upper part of the other crack and follow this to belay. 5.8+, 120'
Pitch 3: About 185' above this ledge is a prominent buttress protruding from the main face. The next belay is at the base of this. Head straight up through some bushes, and then strike out onto the face above. Head generally straight up, following the pro. 5.6, 185'
Pitch 4: This pitch looks harder than it is. Step up and right from belay, under a small lip protruding from the base of the buttress. Step up again and then step left onto the top of the lip. Follow this ramp up and left until it ends. Pass a small bulge and climb the right facing corner above to a series of small ledges. 5.7+, 70'
Pitch 5: Just left of belay is a neat, but short, finger crack. Follow this and then step onto a right leaning ramp and follow it until a large horn is reached. From here, head straight up the beautiful face, following the pro, until an arête is reached. Step right and follow the ramp up and left toward a weakness in the summit overhangs. Belay on a cozy ledge below an improbable looking corner on the left. 5.6, 150'
Pitch 6: Step left to the corner, and head up it on the face just left. Protection is obvious. Follow the corner to a large ledge. 5.7, 35'
Pitch 7: This is best done separate from the previous pitch due to rope drag possibilities. Climb the face just to your right as you arrive at the ledge. Follow this up to the summit. 5.5, 35'
Descent: Same as per Frogland.
Protection
This route has a good deal of small pro, so bring doubles of everything to about hands size. Also bring a fist sized cam and maybe a 4" cam for the odd slot.
Four of us climbed the route this weekend. The first pitch was fun. There are two corners left of the start to Frogland and we climbed the corner closest to Frogland. The corner just to the left also looked like fun. There was a bolted anchor at the top of the first pitch that I assume was put up a few years ago by the looks of it. That pitch on its own is very worthwhile, even as an alternative start to Frogland. The second pitch was also fun and from there on out, the climb is all trad and commiting. No easy turning back past the first pitch without losing gear. I do not think the route is nearly as good as Frogland and IMO does not deserve three stars (highest quality). I reserve three stars for routes such as Dark Shadows, Nightcrawler, Crimson C, Levitation 29, CITH, and Triassic Sands. This route, although fun and adventurous (plenty of loose rock and fragile holds) does not compare to those.
Well, I'll start by admitting that the whole "star-rating" thing is a little contrived. Several things went into my high opinion of the route. I had been looking in the area for quite some time and it appeared that the attractive "good line" was rather improbable. The corner looked steep, the face looked blank, and the summit overhangs looked insane. On the other hand, I'm sure that the crack on the second pitch has been beckoning climbers for 30 years. When we headed up we found, to our giddy delight, that the highly improbable was highly possible-- and at a quite reasonable standard, too! Moreover, we thought the rock was mostly good; really just one or two spots to keep you honest. Anyway, I loved it, and expect to do it again...
Point taken. I look forward to climbing other routes inspired by your vision. The wandering face climbing on the chocolate rock of pitch 3 was also fun.
By super dave From: las vegas, nv Sep 9, 2005 rating: 5.8+
Did the route yesterday 9/8/2005. Fun route with the best pitch #2 as described. Pitch 4 turning the overhang was also cool. One problem would be the loose rock as would be expected with any new route. Wear a helmet and use caution! Any falling rock will wind up on pitch 1 or 2 on Frogland.
We had planned to climb Frogland on Sept. 9, but Larry introduced us to this route instead. It was stellar (esp. the first 2 pitches) and it protected well. It's steep for a 5.8 but the holds are all there and the only section that might give a new 5.8 leader trouble is the short finger crack on P2. It offers bomber finger locks but the feet aren't great.
i climbed this today and second the high praise for the first pitch (splitter in red rock!) and the second too.
we had some routefinding 'moments' around the beginning of P5. i never saw anything i would describe as 'a large horn', and the ramp as drawn in the topo made me try to get offroute. if i were to alter the route description, i would write:
P4: etc etc etc.. step up again and then step left onto the top of the lip. follow fragile rotten rock up and left until it ends. pass a small bulge and climb the ramp above and right, stopping to a belay in a short dirty corner with a decent crack. (we belayed a little above this, which works too. pick your stance.)
P5. Head up the corner to the big featured face above (yes, there is pro) trending right at the top until the arête is reached. Step right and follow the ramp up and left toward a weakness in the summit overhangs. Belay on a cozy ledge below a clean varnished corner on the left.
btw- im generally pretty conservative with protection, and wouldn't bring anything larger than #3 if i do it again.
By Ron Olsen Administrator From: Boulder, CO Apr 25, 2006 rating: 5.8 PG13
Excellent, well-protected climbing on the first two pitches, and adventurous climbing on the upper pitches, with some loose rock, friable holds, moderate runouts, and route-finding decisions.
The first pitch is very sustained at the 5.7 level. The initial cracks eat pro in the green Camalot (#0.75) size; bring several of these. The last part of the first pitch is a hand-and-fist crack around a roof; save a #2 and #3 Camalot for this section.
The second pitch has two stellar cracks, with the 5.8 crux being a finger crack halfway up. Yellow, gray, and green Aliens worked well here. There is a rap anchor at the top of the second pitch. It seems as if many people just do the first two pitches and rappel; there's lots of chalk on these pitches and almost none on the upper pitches.
The route changes character starting with the third pitch. No more chalk to guide the way; you're on your own for finding the route. It's interesting climbing these upper pitches: you're having a bit of an adventure on relatively untrodden ground, yet you can easily hear the conversations from the conga line on Frogland just a hundred feet to the left.
After climbing past some bushes and easy rock, there is a short, steep 5.6 headwall with PG pro. A short distance above is a similar headwall. Cams in pockets and horizontal cracks worked for pro. Climb up a chocolate-colored face with PG pro to a belay at a small stance at the base of the prominent buttress.
The fourth pitch starts with a fun step left onto the lip of the little roof (5.7). I didn't find the left-angling ramp above the roof to be particularly fragile or rotten. After turning a bulge, I continued up a right-facing ramp, climbed a finger crack in lichenous corner, and belayed on a ledge at its top.
The fifth pitch starts up a face, then heads up right-angling ramp with a prominent chicken head near its end (sling it for pro). From here, the route goes up the face, angling right to the arête. Climb up just left of the arête all the way to its top; don't go around a corner to the right halfway up. The climbing isn't difficult (5.6), but the rock is a little crispy and the PG pro is small cams in horizontal cracks. At the top of the arête, step right and climb a left-angling ramp to its top. I belayed at a small ledge under an overhanging left-angling crack. A larger, more spacious ledge is just to the left, which may be a better spot to belay.
The sixth pitch starts with a traverse left to a dark, varnished left-facing corner. Pro is a bit runout up this corner. There's a 5.7 bulge at the top of the corner that is tricky to protect. I finally got a gray Alien in a shallow horizontal crack, and almost pulled off a dinner-plate-sized loose rock on the ledge above the bulge. An easy lichen-covered corner leads to a big ledge just right of the final gully on Frogland. This pitch was about 60' long the way we did it.
The final easy pitch takes you to the summit not far from the top of Frogland.
All-in-all, a worthwhile route if you've done Frogland, or if the line on Frogland is too long and you're up for an adventurous outing. The first two pitches are four star, the last five are two star, so I'll give the route three stars overall.
Pro: set of wired nuts, #0.5 to #2.5 Tricams, double set of cams from small Aliens through #3 Camalot.
bah! a rap station on top of two??? chop it, i say! chop it!
just kidding--almost.
the first two pitches are quite good, but this routes character comes more from the adventure above, i think. my favorite moment of the first ascent was being on the beautiful 5.4 slab below the summit overhangs and looking left and just enjoying the moment of perfect clarity amidst a sea of perfect sandstone slab....it was a great moment and i think of it often. you dont get moments like that often, and this route is one that provides it!
By Larry DeAngelo Administrator Oct 10, 2006 rating: 5.8
Don't worry about chopping, John-- Ron assures me that it is just a sling and carabiner. Probably be gone on the next ascent anyway!
I thought this route was nearly as good as Frogland and somewhat different in character with more face climbing. The description here, augmented by Ron Olsen's extensive comment, were perfect for getting up the route. I didn't find the topo as useful. We didn't find any sections to be seriously runout, and only a few sections even mildly runout. A few comments on pitches:
P1: This is the most crack oriented pitch and hand jamming technique is almost required at the top.
P2: Awesome! The crux section swallows red aliens. There is still a long length of perlon and a biner around a huge flake at the top of this pitch.
P3: The lower part of this pitch is 5.2 if you follow the easiest (wandering) line until you are about 40' below the belay. Here you have to make a committing move up a steep headwall with no pro in sight above you. There is gear shortly, however. This is one of the 5.6PG headwalls that Ron mentions, I think I managed to wander around those lower down.
P4: The step left onto the lip/flake is weird, we both opted for a less elegant, grunting technique cranking up the flake itself. Do not belay too high at the top of this pitch or it will get you in trouble for the next one.
P5: This pitch I thought the most spectacular of the route and it appears unlikely to go so easily viewed from the ground. There is currently a small fixed cam (purple sling) in the crack at the start, making it easy to know you are in the right spot. After the horn, I climbed up and slightly left and found a nice hairline crack that shot straight up for 80', offering pro every 10' or so. When this crack ends and a difficult unprotected bulge appears above, trend right to the arete, then up another 60' to the belay ledges. Be careful not to knock off any loose rocks at this belay (we belayed at the larger ledge mentioned by Ron, scenic spot!).
P6: The crack at the start of this pitch offers little in the way of pro. There is a good placement for a orange alien, but that's about it as we didn't have a gray alien. This is mildly runout, but not hard. Alternatively, climb the face left of the crack as shown in Larry's photo (also a bit runout).
P7: This could probably be combined with P6, but it would be tricky to avoid rope drag.
I agree with Ron, nothing larger than a #3 Camalot is needed ... 3.5 stars.
By brucelacroix From: Las Vegas, NV May 12, 2007 rating: 5.8+
I climbed this route today 5-12-07, and loved it. Great climbing, great pro, and good belay ledges. I give it the highest rating. Good one Larry.I'd rather do this route again than Frogland. Beware of rope drag on the fourth pitch.
By Carrie B. From: Las Vegas, NV May 17, 2007 rating: 5.8+
Definitely fun adventure, my boyfriend & I climbed route this last Sunday, would do it again too!
Only thing I would change is to move belay at top of pitch#2 up to second ledge of bushes. Pitch#3 traverses so much that if you don't have to climb through the first ledge of bushes, it would make it a lot easier to not have rope drag above!
Whiskey Peak
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