Mark Regier on the opening of pitch one. Best to ...
Description
Tunnel Vision is one of the most fun, unique, moderate routes that Red Rocks has to offer. It climbs up the Angel Food Wall in 6 pitches. A lot of chimneys are encountered, and even a vertical spelunking pitch! Make sure to bring a headlamp (no joke!). Identify the start of Tunnel Vision by a crack which intersects a roof only 15' off the ground.
P1) 5.6 Climb the right facing corner for 15', then hand traverse at the roof right for a few feet until the main crack system is reached. Follow this crack system up, then through a chimney to the first belay. Make sure to watch out for rope drag around the opening corner.
P2) 5.4 Chimney up the wide easy chimney, belaying at a fixed anchor.
P3) 5.7 Another chimney pitch. This pitch is hard to protect, and is steeper and more narrow than the previous chimney. Stops at a huge ledge.
P4) 5.5 Continue up most of a rope length to another huge ledge.
P5) 5.3 Tunnel time! Turn on your headlamp and climb left into the massive vertical tunnel. This is a very interesting and unique pitch. However, the rock is quite slick, and pro is scarce until climbing out the other side of the tunnel. Finish with a short crack to another big ledge.
P6) 5.5 Climb the excellent handcrack in the left facing dihedral to the top of the climb.
Descent) The descent is an easy gully system that has an optional one rope rappel en route. This is to the left of the climb.
It's possible to get off-route at the start of pitch 2 if you select the righthand chimney. The comment in the Urioste guide on pitch 2 "bearing left where choices present themselves" should not be ignored. We bore right and ended up on "Stilgar's Wild Ride", but after a pitch you can wander back left and come back into Tunnel Vision before entering the tunnel.
There is gear in the tunnel. You can't sew it up but I got two or three pieces in the back wall. Just look around...
By John Hegyes From: Las Vegas, NV Aug 28, 2004 rating: 5.7
Enjoyed this climb a lot today. Started at 11am and was in the shade all day. Just for the sake of accuracy, the pair of bolts at the top of pitch 2 have had their hangers removed. It's not a big deal, there is a suitable vertical crack in that same location for use as a belay anchor. Some people link pitches 2 and 3.
We climbed this route on October 3, 2004. Did it in four long pitches with a 60 meter rope. If you have never been on this route, I would recommend doing it in 6 pitches, belaying at the start of the narrow chimney pitch and the start of the tunnel pitch. This means P2 will be very abreviated. This way you can watch the leader on the two runout pitches. The climbing isn't that hard but these are serious leads. The two bolts at the start of the narrow chimney pitch have missing hangers. Too bad. They're not necessary but they help the belayer keep a sharp eye on the leader who wants to push their limits. There is also a bolt up and left on the face. I'm not sure what this is for. A headlamp may be useful in the tunnel but I have lead this route twice without it. After the tunnel, we climbed straight up to a flat area separated from the main wall by a notch. Climb down some steep rock to a narrow chute. Bring your walk off shoes. Unique, exciting, and mentally challenging.
The two bolts at the start of the narrow chimney are unnecessary and whomever removed the hangers did a good thing. The bolts that still remain poking out of the rock still mar this wonderful lead. Any way of getting those bolts out?
I recently lost my camera on pitch 3. It fell into plain view, but i couldnt get down to rescue it.
If anyone finds it, please return the memory card to me, i'm not bothered about the camera, but the card contains around 190 photos of our honeymoon and are irreplaceable.
Please return to :-
Bruce Bryan24 Ashvale RdWalesbyNr NewarkNottinghamshireNG22 9LYEngland
brucecbryan@hotmail.com
ThanksBruce.
By Larry DeAngelo Administrator Sep 24, 2005 rating: 5.7
For those interested, Bruce's camera has been recovered.
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Jan 1, 2007
I linked the second and third pitches for a rope-stretching 200 foot pitch. If you're like me and you're not so much into chimneys and wide cracks then you can go out on the face to the left on pitch 3, climb a crack that takes some small gear (finger-size cams, tricams, etc), and then come back to the wide crack near the belay. It's a little runout but felt about 5.7ish to me.
By 46and2 From: Las Vegas, NV Mar 23, 2007 rating: 5.7 PG13
Great route with unique experiences!! Pitch one is pretty fun but even if you do not place any gear in the first 15 feet (recommend NOT placing any gear hear to prevent rope drag); your rope can get stuck in a crack when you climb past the first big ledge so use gear to keep the rope from some heinous drag, it sucks. Pitch 2 is easy and fun. Pitch 3 I took the variation on the left face following a thin crack the opens and closes up; not too terribly difficult but heady for sure. Pitch 4 is pure fun and totally casual!! The tunnel pitch 5 is a cool experience and unique but fairly serious IMHO; not too hard but you sure as hell wouldn't want to slip on the slippery rock. The last pitch was the best pitch by far with super fun mini-roof moves that are a dream!! Have at it and have fun; just be a little careful.
For those interested, the bolts are back on the top of the 2nd pitch. I think this is their third appearance in as many years!
By jblackattack From: las vegas, nv Sep 9, 2007 rating: 5.7
I heard a lot about this climb before hand but unfortunately it did not live up to its praise for me. I would barley give this climb 1.5 stars. There are much better climbs on this wall.
In March 2008, the pitch 2 anchor bolts were still present. This is a semi-hanging belay and good rope management (e.g. lap coiling) here is important, as the crack below this station eats ropes. I spent a good amount of time freeing up the stuck rope of the party above me. There were cut-off pieces of other ropes stuck in the same spot.
In the tunnel, there are a few good tricam placements in pockets in the back wall.
Angel Food Wall
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