Devils Lake Leads and TR

Hi all! Am making my first trip to Devils Lake end of August and was wondering what you’d recommend to do. Have a full double/ triple rack and feel comfortable leading sport to 12-. Haven’t done a ton of trad leading, but am wanting to do some while I’m there. What routes would you recommend to hop on for both lead and tr. thanks!

Not gonna recommend anything in particular, but be prepared for the slickness. The rock is bullet proof hard, but so, so slippery. It’s very common, even on theoretically easy routes, to TR it a couple times first to practice placements/check holds. Also it’s quite sandbagged.

Tons of great routes though. Be prepared if it’s crowded to share, but most people are chill about it. If you go to a popular place like the east bluffs, you can always just kinda keep walking until you find an empty area.

Go after classics and maybe a couple grades under your range.  Very good climbing, common to top rope routes, especially harder ones to understand gear placements before you go for the lead.  It is a nice area and not too crowded unless it’s a holiday weekend..  if you are coming then show up before 9 and you are good.

As Daniel said people are usually pretty nice and  likely will let you climb on their set up.

“The routes are short, and the cruxes are close to the ground” I am sure that’s written in a guidebook somewhere. 

Jake Collins wrote:

Hi all! Am making my first trip to Devils Lake end of August and was wondering what you’d recommend to do. Have a full double/ triple rack and feel comfortable leading sport to 12-. Haven’t done a ton of trad leading, but am wanting to do some while I’m there. What routes would you recommend to hop on for both lead and tr. thanks!

Devils Lake is amazing. The climbing is high quality at every grade. Find a few classic moderates and get comfortable with the rock and style. Rack your nuts and offsets at the front of your harness, you’ll need them. If you want to hang it out there and lead something hard, most routes above 5.11 are done in a headpoint style. Have fun, go swimming, eat some cheese curds, and enjoy one of the friendliest climbing communities ever. 

Garrett Hopkins wrote:

Devils Lake is amazing. The climbing is high quality at every grade. Find a few classic moderates and get comfortable with the rock and style. Rack your nuts and offsets at the front of your harness, you’ll need them. If you want to hang it out there and lead something hard, most routes above 5.11 are done in a headpoint style. Have fun, go swimming, eat some cheese curds, and enjoy one of the friendliest climbing communities ever. 

I am really stoked to get out there. My brother is going to school @ UW Whitewater, so I am sure that I will be visiting as much as I can. Everything seems so quality out there. Been buried in the guidebook the past few days. Thanks for the info all!

If you don't have any, I'd pick up ~60-70ft of static rope for building top rope anchors, especially if you think you'll be back often. No one has actually recommended a route yet so I will say Brinton's Direct 5.8+. Well protected by bomber nut placements but it always gets my adrenaline pumping.

Jake Collins wrote:

Hi all! Am making my first trip to Devils Lake end of August and was wondering what you’d recommend to do. Have a full double/ triple rack and feel comfortable leading sport to 12-. Haven’t done a ton of trad leading, but am wanting to do some while I’m there. What routes would you recommend to hop on for both lead and tr. thanks!

Yer gonna die.

Jacob Miller wrote:

If you don't have any, I'd pick up ~60-70ft of static rope for building top rope anchors, especially if you think you'll be back often. No one has actually recommended a route yet so I will say Brinton's Direct 5.8+. Well protected by bomber nut placements but it always gets my adrenaline pumping.

gotcha, I have 30 ft of 8mm cordlette and a handful of slings. Think that’s enough of are the anchors usually further back from the cliffline?

Tradiban wrote:

Yer gonna die.

tradiban reply… I’m fangirling

Jake Collins wrote:

gotcha, I have 30 ft of 8mm cordlette and a handful of slings. Think that’s enough of are the anchors usually further back from the cliffline?

No. It can be done but I think that’s a limiting amount of cord. If you don’t want to spring for rope buy webbing. Lots of top ropes are set by tying trees off that are farther back from the cliff line. You might be able to still get the top rope set up with less cord but you might be stringing together micronut placements instead of just tying the huge tree off.

Double J wrote:

“The routes are short, and the cruxes are close to the ground” I am sure that’s written in a guidebook somewhere. 

“At Devil’s Lake the gear is often tricky and the ground is always close.”

Rob Zombie wrote:

“At Devil’s Lake the gear is often tricky and the ground is always close.”

Damn! That’s poetic and spot on!