Old Spanish Trail Crags (Story Crags) Rock Climbing

This cliff is at 6500 feet and faces NNW. Most of the climbing is on walls that only see the sun for a few hours on the longest days of the year. For the rest of the year, the crag is shaded until close to sunset. When high temperatures in the city are in the mid 70s, this crag is cold enough to need to bring a warm jacket and pants. When high temperatures in town are 110, the approach can be hot, but once at the cliff temperatures are still decent for climbing.

The area has routes that are up to 200 feet in length requiring close to 30 quick-draws for the longest ones. Significant effort was made to clean these routes of loose rock and dirt, however, due to their sheer size it is possible that there is still some loose and fragile rock in places. Helmets are advised for both climber and belayer and care should be taken when below someone who is climbing.

The longer routes sometimes have wider spacing between bolts than the shorter routes. This was an attempt to prevent rope drag from being an issue when climbing a full rope length. Savvy use of runners on the longer routes should also be considered when choosing to climb the longer offerings.

A 70m is the preferred length for your rope, as some routes require one for lowering off, but a 60m will work for many routes. Rope length suggestions have been given in the route lists as opposed to route length due to issues that might arise with inaccurate estimates.