Stone Point Rock Climbing

In scouring the BTC drainage for additional, climbable, and hassle-free crags, this obvious area was worth investigating. Stone Point is an arbitrary name for this sector that is based on many of the local street, road, and place names. If any prior name exists, just let us know and we will make the change.

While much of the rock in the general area appears to be chossy, several very solid granite plates were identified. The rock on these crags is similar to that found at the Monastery or Jug Dome and is typical of the BTC in general. It can vary from highly featured to exceedingly smooth and marble-like in texture. The general orientation is South by South-East, and the crags get good sun until late afternoon - even in the winter. For example, we were comfortable climbing in shirt sleeves on 12/10/06.

For what it is worth, my own assessment of BTC climbing is that while it is rather atypical of the granite most of us are used to climbing, it is nonetheless as solid as anything you will ever climb. The minute features at first appear friable, but like the rock at the Monastery, are in fact perfectly solid and climbable. BTC climbing just takes a little getting used to. If you climb at the Monastery, then you may realize what I am talking about: some of the great crags are very fine grained and steep but these are mingled in with crags that have a rough, micro-featured surface.

If there is any realistic drawback to climbing on these crags, it is that the routes require more brushing than you might find in Boulder Canyon. Presently, two crags now have sport routes installed (trad potential looks very limited if it even exists). We found the climbing to be sunny, devious, enjoyable, and much harder than might be imagined from the road.