Lotta Balls 

The variety of climbing on this route is great! An overhang, the pebble pinching, a wide corner, and a nice dihedral. The pro in the top half of p2 (above the "balls") seemed suspect in places, so take care.

The crux protection bolt and one bolt at the first pitch belay anchor were replaced in March 2002 by the American Safe Climbing Association. To date, the ASCA has replaced over 350 bolts in Red Rocks. Consider supporting the cause by making a donation at the ASCA website

What a great route! There are bolts on top of the 2nd pitch if you want to rap from there, but why would you? From the top of the third pitch you do need to scramble up another 50 feet or so (4th class) before dropping left into an easy gully. Three short raps and you should be down in 20 minutes or so.

Climbing the 'balls' certainly made the route worthwhile. I was giggling through that section.

Climbed in the shade today.I'm aware the face climbing section on pitch two can be considered a bit runout ( 2 bolts in like 40? feet), but I felt there were enough features ie; A Lotta Balls, in my face and at my feet,on this section to put my mind at ease on lead.In my opinion, if you're a trad leader who has experience leading 5.8 P.G. -like sport climbs, especially in Red Rock, it's a comfortable lead. The crack after climbing on "the balls" was pure fun and well protected. Pitch one and three were a blast too! A very worthwhile climb if you haven't done it already! Note:There's a bolted anchor at the top of pitch two (semi-hanging, as you will be standing on the rightmost corner of the comfy ledge)

A great 3 pitch climb. It's a good lazy half day adventure. It's about an hour hike each way. P1 is an easy overhang to a large flake ending at a belay with bolts. P2 is the Lotta Balls Face. Nice slabby moves takes you past two bolts to the crux. Make a few moves on some really tiny balls and you are to a crack for some more pro. It stays hard to protect for a while as you wonder back and forth then climbing up to the top of a pillar with a bolted anchor. (you can rap from here with 2 ropes) P3 From here follow the inside corner and turn it to the left entering a wide crack to a tree. It's a squeeze past the tree to the top, then head East to 3 single rope rappels. One rope is really all you need. The nature of the rappel is not straightforward, so it's actually not worth trying to use two ropes here.

Fun stuff. P3, in the Barnes guide said 200ft-I think it is more like 230 ft to the tree from which you can belay.

I have never climbed RR before, but I am going to make a visit soon. Can someone make a more specific rack recommendation for this route or at least say what is the biggest piece needed? The last pitch seems very long. Is a 70 meter rope necessary?

Stays cold even when other routes are not- windy up there too. Best for a warmer day. Also, it gets wet a the crux and in such a state it felt hard at its grade to me (in January).
For what it is worth, you don't NEED a 70M , but I was happy to have on on the route and on the raps I ended up on (which were apparently the wrong ones)

Here are my notes from an ascent in October 2002:

Pro: Standard rack to #4 Camalot; no brass, no ball nuts. One 60m rope. Bring webbing and rings to back up rap anchors.

The first pitch goes up stacked blocks, up a corner, then right up a flake to a belay stance at a bolt anchor.

The second pitch goes up the "lotta balls" face, past two bolts. This is exciting face climbing on marble-sized knobs. The pitch continues up a long corner to a ledge with a two-bolt anchor.

The third pitch goes up a corner, then left at a roof, and up a long easy crack almost to the top. This pitch is about 190'.

A final short scramble (30'-40') takes you to the top.

With a 70m rope, you could run the third pitch all the way to the top.

The descent goes down a gully to the left, with three short rappels (not two rappels as stated in the guidebook) from trees. I beefed up two of the rap anchors with new webbing and put a new rap ring on one of the anchors. A short scramble down and around leads back to the base of the climb.

This is the coolest route I have ever led! Great variety, the balls are a trip!

Warning: careful if rapping the route from the first or second belay ... the crack on the first pitch eats ropes. I saw at least 4 rope fragments jammed in there (in fact I cut the rope of the previous party that got their rope jammed on rappel at their request so they could retrieve part of it).

This climb is supreme FUN and a must do!! All of the pitches take great gear (understatement). Pitch one is all the way fun especially when hearing the hollow sound of the huge flake. Pitch 2 is awesome on the "balls" if you will, a little spicy (underline the word 'little') but not as bad as most make you think; while pitch 3 is just super cruiser and possibly the best, at least the first half is until the move under the roof. If anybody is chasing shade, this climb does NOT go into complete shade until close to 2:30 in the afternoon (at least in May), so prepare to be warm before this time if arriving early and bring some tanning lotion!!
PS: The anchors at the top of pitch 2 are completely unnessecary IMHO; perfect crack right there on top of the pillar but oh well, have fun!!

Ron's notes will serve you well on this climb... Fun moderate, with the first two pitches being excellent.

It's possible to ignore the flake on p1 and just climb the dihedral until it and the crack in it peters out -- at that point, the anchors should be just 10-20' to the right. The traverse felt more like 5.8 friction than 5.6 crack climbing, though.

Fantastic climbing! Leading P2 definitely goes on the highlight reel for my first trip to Red Rock. Climbing the "balls" face isn't overly difficult but requires precise movement and concentration -- no lunging for holds on this pitch. On P3, we did a short simulclimb to reach the top to avoid the scramble at the end. The descent is an unpleasant pain in the ass, but was worth it for the quality of the route. Don't miss this one!