Owens River Gorge Rock Climbing
Elevation: | 5,308 ft | 1,618 m |
GPS: |
37.51373, -118.57109 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
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Page Views: | 1,811,076 total · 8,086/month | |
Shared By: | Tom Helvie on Jul 20, 2006 · Updates | |
Admins: | Aron Quiter, Euan Cameron, Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes |
1) Never park or camp overnight at the access points.
2) Always park off the pavement, taking great care to avoid blocking the gates.
3) Clean up after your dogs. (Local climbers are finding abandoned doggie poop bags.)
4) Pack out all trash and TP, including picking up after others.
5) Use the outhouses if at all possible.
Description
This area is generally considered a modern sport area! Many of the routes are being re-equipped at 40m, which means "80m ropes are REQUIRED FOR LOWERING OFF MANY OF THE ROUTES".
The Owens River Gorge is California's most concentrated sport-climbing area. It is really a year-round crag, although summers can be a bit hot. There are many moderate sport climbs in the sub 5.10 range, but the best gorge climbs seem to be in the 5.10-5.11 range. The climbing is on volcanic tuff and features edges, pockets and cracks. Most of the climbing is close to vertical but there are some steep lines as well, namely at the Eldorado Roof and the Dilithium Crystal. Most climbs, whether face, crack, corner, even off-width and chimney, are fully sport bolted. There are some good trad lines, but sport climbing is why you're here. The gorge is often crowded but if you hike a little further you can usually find some solitude. The Warm Up Wall, the Pub, the Social Platform, the China Wall and the Dilithium Crystal are the most popular areas. Please buy Marty Lewis' "Owens River Gorge Climbs" if you are going to climb here. It's a great guide to the hundreds of climbs and you'll feel good supporting the guy who put up a huge percentage of the climbs and did a large amount of work (trails, research, bridges, talking with the LADWP that owns the gorge). It's a small price to pay for a great climbing area.
Getting There
Classic Climbing Routes at Owens River Gorge
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