Huge Walls near Catalina State Parkin Tucson: Climbable?

Hey Guys,
Every time I drive up to Oro Valley on Oracle Rd. I can't help but state in awe at the massive, towering cliffs looking over the road up on Pusch Ridge in Catalina State Park in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson. I've always wondered if anybody climbed up there... The biggest wall has to be close to 1,000 feet if not more; it looks like there's potential for some relatively clean, decent Grade III to Grade VI lines up there... I've heard rumors of some people establishing routes up there in the 70's and 80's, haven't talked to anyone who's climbed there recently though. I haven't been able to find any beta on the area online, through MountainProject or anything. Anybody climbed here before? Do any off those huge lines go free or would it be aid climbing mostly? The approach looks pretty brutal for most of the walls; 2,000+ vertical ft. of Bushwacking through Sonoran desert vegetation... might be worth it though! Curious to hear what people might know.
best regards,
Phil.

I think Cherry Jam (ultra-classic) is in the area you speak of. Thread here

I have a feeling your questions will be completely answered by getting your hands on Kerry's back country guide.

http://www.climbaz.com/Backcountry/backcountry.html

The "Rock Climbing Arizona" guide has some stuff on the Leviathan too if I remember correctly.

There is a good amount of climbing up there, but still tons of potential. The biggest dome out there is Leviathan with the classic North Face of Leviathan route on it (IV 5.10 scary). There are many other free routes out there including Ray Ringle's old school IV 5.12 on Leviathan. Leviathan also has a III 5.9 on it. As was mentioned, Bob Kerry's backcountry book talks about other routes out there. A good number on Table Mountain which actually rises up to the ridge, and others on the domes.

anyone know if the old bolts on the north face of leviathan have been upgraded?

hey geir, phil, looking forward to the stronghold this weekend. geir i seem to remember you telling me a scary story about leviathan involving sketchy pro, loose holds, and a near-epic rescue scenario. are all the routes on leviathan more or less like this?

Geir, a friend of mine replaced the critical bolt on the 2nd pitch and maybe a few others here and there. But, not all of the old bolts were replaced. I have been told that the important bolts were replaced. EFR also said that he may replace more of the bolts soon.

Those domes look really cool to me. However, being from Colorado, I don't get the chance to get out to Tucson too often. I have climbed quite a bit in Mendoza Canyon and am very curious that few locals seem to venture out there,(as evidenced by the summit registers). Is there a reason for this?

Eric D wrote:Geir, a friend of mine replaced the critical bolt on the 2nd pitch and maybe a few others here and there. But, not all of the old bolts were replaced. I have been told that the important bolts were replaced. EFR also said that he may replace more of the bolts soon.

Eric, thanks for the news. I'll have to get out there soon.

Stu Ritchie wrote: I have climbed quite a bit in Mendoza Canyon and am very curious that few locals seem to venture out there,(as evidenced by the summit registers). Is there a reason for this?

I believe most if not all the routes in Mendoza are put up in "ground up" style, hence the bolts are often run out. Natural gear placements scarce. Mendoza is also notoriuos for loose rock.

Yeah,

Having been there once I can attest to the scant pro, and scary rock. Beautiful place, but you better have your head on, and be carrying orbs of steel.

Those walls look great. I bet that they are HOT in the afternoon.

Leviathan is an absolute classic piece of rock.
But it was always a hard man's route and I suspect from reading Eric's TR, it still is.

Glad to hear the bolts have been upgraded, although I don't remember that many on the "standard" route. (Just watch for the off route bolt on the traverse.)

Kerry's route on Leviathan would be a good starter, it's no give away 5.9. If it boots you off, then the other routes are going to be worse. The standard route involves a full pitch of a traverse out over the void which means that a retreat has certain difficulties.

Solitude is a great climb on Windy Point kinda rock but it's an awful long way to walk for 4 (6?)pitches ? If you look at EFR's pictures of Leviathan, the one with Eric et al and Leviathan in the background, Solitude climbs the right hand sunlit buttress.

These approaches are not for the sport climber. You'd better like humping a full climbing pack over steep ground if you want to do these climbs.

Same can be said for the Table Mountain climbs, except that in general, they're more reasonable in terms of difficulty.

I don't think you want to be climbing there this time of year.
Maybe doing the approach under a full moon but my recollection is always being in there in early spring or late fall.

Eric's write up of the climb is pretty much spot on, at least as I recall from the our '77 ascent.

EFR and Aleix Capavilla replaced every bad bolt on the North Face Route, earlier this year.