Picture taken by Tim Gillis, Jason coming up on th...
Description
This is a great route that screams to all climbers entering Rock Canyon for the first time, "Come climb me!" It is situated high up above the road and is a perfect crack that splits the Ed and Terry Wall.
The route eats up as much hand size gear as you have. But be warned, you might need to get creative if you only have a standard trad rack and don't like to take long falls. But really, how can you fall out? The crack is that good! (Okay, if your crack technique is weak, you could possibly fall out...)
"Main" crack sums it up. Climb up the obvious crack through a roof and follow it as it curves left until it tops out at chains.
Descent: A 60 meter rope will reach the ground. A 50 meter rope won't. I was able to set up a toprope for my second using a 60 meter, but it just barely reaches.
Protection
A standard trad rack works, however, you will love having as many #2 and #3 camalots (or their equivalents) as you own. Actually, you don't really need a standard rack, just the size I mentioned above.
Approach: The Main Crack is barely visiable from the Rock Canyon trailhead. It is the biggest crack that splits the large wall sitting above the Red Slab (on the South side of the canyon). Start your appraoch just as you would for Red Slab. Go all the way to the South of Red Slab and scramble up the 5.2 rocks (with the assistance of a fixed cable that goes over the "dicey" parts at the top of Red Slab. Then scamble up the next smaller rock face and traverse up the small ravine to the Main Crack.
First time I did this route I placed all my larger cams at the bottom and ended up running out the last 30 feet because there was no where to stick smaller pieces up above. However, the crack is really secure and limited protection shouldn't be too much of a probably if you don't have a lot of medium/large cams.
The bulge in the middle of the route forms the crux.
There is a two bolt anchor with chains at the top.
This is the climb that I learned to trad/crack climb on. I love it and it is still fun to climb every time. The climb tops out around 300 feet above the canyon trail, giving a great feeling of exposure. Bring lots of med-large size cams or hexes. Make sure to save 3-4 big pieces for the second half. Just like the guy above I ran out of big pieces after the crux and had to run it out (we're talking ground fall) wearing approach shoes.
I think this is one of the finest 5.7's Rock Canyon has to offer. For those sport climbers that can't imagen how a 5.7 would be hard, remember this is a trad climb, with no bolts till the top, and needing a creative approach to make a standard rack place even protection to the top. Its a different game, and a lot of fun.
Climbing this route was a blast! Being that I don't have any trad equipment I had to toprope with the Flakes anchors (just to the left). There is an overhang about 2/3 the way up that can be a little on the daunting side, but if you wedge yourself up so your back is supporting you, you can reach up with a free hand to a very nice grip just over the overhang.
Ok route. The approach is a nightmare while carrying all your trad gear, and the belay spot is more or less a rock slide. I must of sent five or so 20 lb rocks hurling down over Red Slab (as I crossed my fingers hoping no one would be hit). The crux is in the middle just at the small roof. The face is so littered with holds that you really have to force yourself to stay in the crack. Save your big stuff for last. The chains are in a lousy spot, so if you're looking to toprope it, plan to extend the chains out six feet or face the possibility of major rope wear. Believe me I am a fan of trad climbing, but I would recommend just going up to Green Monster Crack rather than doing this one. Nice view though...
Ed and Terry Wall
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