This area was developed with the intent of having a child/new climber friendly area. There are currently 14 routes, most of which are TR only, but there are a couple of harder lines that can be led. The rock is generally good, but as it's a new area, be careful. There are 3 separate formations. The slab on the right is called Teddy Bear Slabs, the central formation is Rapunzel's Tower, and the left formation is The Dirty Diaper. To set up TRs, hike around the left side of the hill and easily access the tops of each crag.
Getting There
The approach takes about 2 minutes, seriously. Park at either the Green Slabs pullout or the next pullout up the mountain. There's a prominent road cutout between these two pullouts, with a guardrail on the west side of the road. At the north end of the guardrail, start hiking up the steep hillside and The Nursery is the very first crag collection you see.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Nursery:
This is the obvious crack running up the narrow south face of the tower. It finishes under the big roof at a set of rap anchors. This would be a good first trad lead for new climbers. ...[more]Browse More Classics in AZ
Thanks for getting this done guys! I can't wait to check this out in the next couple of weeks. If there is a little more work that needs to be done, let me know and I will try and contribute.
thanks joe! i think the work is mostly done at this point but we'll let you know if anything comes up. some of the routes are chossy right now so i guess in the meantime you could help by climbing them and getting some of that crumbly stuff to come off. =)
Climbed here today with a party of 9. The Teddy Bear Slabs area does not have much room at the base, so big parties should spread out. We had 4 kids with us and a couple new climbers. The area was great for the ability level of the kids and newer climbers. The rock was pretty solid for a new area and nothing bigger than a dime came off. Thanks for the new routes and look forward to more family climbing here.
glad you liked it. multiple people have mentioned the base could use a little work to be more kid-friendly. i'll see if i can get up there this weekend and clean it up a bit. specifically i think it's all the sharp branches and sticks poking out that are the problem.
I always say nothing's as expensive as "free". Looking forward to checking these out, I just hope you guys spent more time picking the lines than the names ;) Thanks for putting in the work.
I went to Teddy Bear Slabs and Rapunzel Tower earlier today and had the place to myself. Some observations:
1) Location: To make things more exact, the pullout is just after where the road crosses between two rock formations, just before mile marker 10.
2) I was very happy with the climbs on TB and RT. The base of TB is on its way toward kid-friendliness, but isn't there yet. I cleared away a lot of dead bushes and choss, but there's still work to be done. (Also, it seems like "Climber Jumped Over The Roof" starts in a bush.)
3) I was toprope soloing, but had I been toproping I would have been a bit freaked out during the lower about the many sharp ledges on TB and the north side of Rapunzel. Be mindful of this when you climb.
4) I loved the master rap station on TB. Thumb up on the clever idea. Toprope access to Rapunzel involves a pretty (very) sketchy move, however.
5) I'm not sure whether the anchor situation on Traditional Fairytale (RT) has been resolved, but the anchors that I saw on TB and RT looked bomber.
Thanks for opening up this area. The two minute approach time is awesome!
Climbed the Nursery May 12, 2012. The area is pretty wooded and the hike is short but real steep. Easy to top rope by climbing the "hey diddle diddle crack in the middle". Happy never after is a great climb and very challenging. Good luck to everyone!
Happily never after Submitted By: Cody States on May 13, 2012
sorry about the delayed response yair. the anchor hanger on traditional fairytale has not been replaced yet (at least by me). but at least i have a good excuse (laziness). i might get an opportunity in the next couple weeks to fix that, what with the monsoon and cooler weather arriving on the mountain.
If you pass mile marker 10 then park at the next pull out to the right (it's right after mile 10) and back track. my friends and I did 'The Golden Stair' this weekend but we had an adventure trying to find The Nursery. For some reason we read somewhere that it was at mile 10.2. anyway happy exploring and climbing guys !
RSS Feed
5 more...
