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Elevation: 6,647 ft 2,026 m
GPS: 35.6896, -106.65935
Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views: 11,258 total · 53/month
Shared By: LeeAB Brinckerhoff on Oct 15, 2008 · Updates
Admins: Jason Halladay, Mike Hoskins, Anna Brown

Description Suggest change

The Upper Deck area of The Pond has been in the shadow of the main area below for many years now. Funnily enough cause some of the boulders up there could very well rival some of the well known classics of The Pond. Plus there's still so much untouched rock up there. I seem to always find a new one to clean up every time I hike up there.

This area hosts many boulders ranging from V0-V14. No matter what grade you climb, there will be a boulder up there that can challenge you in the right way. Most of these boulders will be within a stone's throw away from each other. The exception being the Ancient Fortress boulders, and the Sacred Earth area. These areas can be a bit heinous to get to due to lack of trail, loose rocks, and sandy approach. 100% worth the effort though, the lines in these areas are some of the best of the entire Ponderosa bouldering area.

Getting There Suggest change

From Nascar head up the ridge you are on until you reach a kind of saddle just below a band of chossy! light colored rock. This saddle can also be reached more directly from the Cube, by heading up the hillside staying to the left of the drainage and eventually reaching the saddle. Scramble through the choss rock directly in line with the ridge, then up and right to a little wash. A natural bridge leads across this not too far from the drop off (kind of cool). Continue to your right and you'll come to the boulders shortly. Approach takes about 15 minutes.

There's a third way to reach the Upper Deck area. If you were to hike towards the Cube in the drainage, about a 100 ft before the drainage veers left towards the Cube, you'll find a cairn trail leading straight up the hill. This trail is a straight shot up to the area and allows you to get to the Upper Deck without dealing with hiking through all the chossy light colored rock. It's a bit of a steep trail that'll leave you pretty tired but it's quicker than the other approaches and isn't as sketchy with the light colored rock.

36 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at Upper Deck

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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