Climbing out East

Yo Nevada crew,

I recently spent a bunch of time out by Ely for a geological field school and was blown away by all of the rock out there, specifically in the Schell Creek Range. Now, I know some folks have done some climbing out in Great Basin on Wheeler, but there were some pretty big limestone walls just west of there and in the Schell. I’ve read a bit and talked to some locals about sport climbing sort of around Ely, but what about the big stuff?

Thanks. 

I think this is the first time I've ever seen something well west of Denver referred to as "out East"!

I've been really intrigued by this as well.  Google "South Egan Range Nevada" and look at some of the pictures.  Some mighty fine looking walls there.

Also, I've yet to find any decent pictures, but from what I've read and seen on Google maps, the west face of Troy Peak is pretty tall and steep.  Definitely some big potential there.

There also some very impressive looking slabs on Currant Mountain.

Marc801 C wrote: I think this is the first time I've ever seen something well west of Denver referred to as "out East"!

Out here californy-way we still aren’t so sure that Provo isn’t on the East Coast. 

I’ve explored a ton of all those places. Just be aware that a huge proportion of the cliffs in that entire area is well and clearly within wilderness boundaries. Check out wilderness.net to check out the best wilderness boundary overlays. A lot of the schell creek range, south Egan including Troy are in wilderness. Tons of rock. Not nearly as much as you’d want that is outside wilderness boundary.

Andrew Raether wrote: I’ve explored a ton of all those places. Just be aware that a huge proportion of the cliffs in that entire area is well and clearly within wilderness boundaries. Check out wilderness.net to check out the best wilderness boundary overlays. A lot of the schell creek range, south Egan including Troy are in wilderness. Tons of rock. Not nearly as much as you’d want that is outside wilderness boundaries. 

Is climbing or bolting considered illicit in Wilderness zones?

You can climb in wilderness till your hearts content!

But you can't power drill, and I've even heard/read mixed info on even allowing to hand drill in wilderness...  Andrew will be able to answer that one for you.

Personally, i do a lot of TR solo in the wilderness around here. Endless potential for lead lines, but like Andrew says, so much of it is in wilderness boundaries.

You can hand drill in a designated wilderness area, but not a “wilderness study area”. Consider that the big walls in Yosemite are designated wilderness. 

Good point, Marc.

Kevin, I spent a little bit of time out by McCoy Creek and there were some wild limestone cliffs out there. Have you been? They look like they’d be at least 200-300ft, maybe more. Also some pretty steep walls that would make for some 5-hard sport routes. 

Liam, I haven't been to McCoy creek, but most of the cliffs look to be in the High Schells Wilderness (2006). Check out the interactive map at Wilderness.net or their GE KMZ for starters. The 50 ft buffer off the cherry-stemmed road is a good example of how coarse digital wilderness data can be. Not finding the actual survey to confirm the boundary, but you get the idea. Other than the survey, USGS quads have proven to be the second best cross reference and can easily be viewed in CalTopo depending on whether the mapping has been updated post-wilderness designation. Tricky stuff with a bunch of recently designated wilderness in NV and a bunch of WSA's in Utah.

While hand drilling is a good starting point for evaluating climbing fixed anchors in wilderness, each specific wilderness management plan identified different objectives.  Some specifically list things like sport climbing crags as not aligning with protection of wilderness characteristics.  Often managers are looking to encourage routes that are less anchor intensive and use bolts only to link naturally protected features.  

https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/85847_FSPLT3_2369441.pdf

Here is the language related to the Schell wilderness management plan.

"Climbing, including the use and placement of fixed anchors where necessary to assure climbers’ safety, is an appropriate activity in wilderness. Plan and manage climbing and the use of fixed anchors consistent with wilderness stewardship and protection of historic properties (FSM 2364.l). Where conflicts between climbing and wilderness values occur, protection of the wilderness shall take precedence. The following principles shall apply to management of climbing in wilderness:
• Climbing that does not rely on use and placement of fixed anchors and that is consistent with Leave No Trace ethics and skills should be the norm in wilderness. This type of climbing includes the use of temporary equipment or anchors that can be placed and removed, such as slings, cams, nuts, chocks, stoppers, and removable pitons. \
• Fixed anchors are appropriate where necessary to enable a rappel when no other safe means of descent are available, in areas impassable by use of removable anchors, and where resource conflicts do not exist.
• Extensive use and placement of fixed anchors in a particular climbing area, where safety bolts are placed excessively or arbitrarily without regard to rock features that provide natural opportunities for ascent, are inappropriate in wilderness. An example is the placement of safety bolts to cover a quadrant of rock, such as those placed to facilitate sport climbing, as opposed to safety bolts placed across an expanse of rock not climbable specifically to link or connect natural features that enable a climber’s ascent. "

jonathan siegrist I think had a blog post of climbing over that way. I looked at some of those spots, but did no climbing