Ely Nevada

sounds good, and I meant to say Dayna in that last post, not you...

Major edit:

I've been in touch with some of the guys who were involved out there so many years ago. Consensus seems to be to keep things quiet, for a variety of reasons. Access is a continual problem. Sometimes things are better left kept word of mouth. Use your judgment as far as posting things. Climbing communities and strong youth can flourish without published guides. I think it is best to keep things DL in some cases. Maybe this is one of them.

Cheers

@LL2, I discovered "Valley of the Kings" this past weekend. I grew up in Ely and now live in Long Beach, CA. I left in in 2005 for college and just started to get into climbing within the past couple of years. I was visiting Ely for few days this past weekend (11/12/2016) and went crag hunting with my Mom. Let me tell you what an awesome treat it was to discover all the bolted routes up there. It was insane. Mark M. told me about it via this same thread. There is still a bunch of rope and quick draws on the wall. Is anyone from your group still actively developing it? I didn't see any signs that anyone had been there in a while. So, I assumed the gear was just abandoned. I also took a picture of a glove with a name and phone number on it. 401 area code. I top-roped the short 10a/b on Hotel Nevada. Attempted to lead Merlin but quickly bailed because I'm not skilled enough to lead at that level yet. All the anchors look they they are in good shape. You guys did a great job on the protection. I have a million questions for you. So, I'm going to fire away. Is anyone actively climbing up there? Do you guys ever come back to climb those routes? Has anyone publicly documented all the routes in a guidebook? Are there other places in the surrounding area that you guys developed? Also, here is an online gallery of the photos/videos I took over the weekend. Forgive the narration. My ratings were obviously extremely off. The day after I recorded the videos, I learned that all the climbs were in fact much much harder than at first glance! 

Gallery: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-EzrYVtdPl6QWlTaTN0clNsMzA?resourcekey=0-eSZNOh3Y5Rw--vzo_fkwoQ&usp=sharing

Major edit:

See above in the thread.

@LL2 thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'd like to go back with a camera and a tripod and photograph/document whats there. I wonder what your thoughts are on documenting some of the routes, first accents, and ratings? I understand why it was kept on the down low, but now 15 years later, how do you feel about making some of this information public on Mountain Project?

I can tell that you guys put a LOT of work into that valley. I've been wanting to grow a climbing culture in Ely. I think the youth in Ely could really benefit from it. I think by having some of these routes documented, it will open doors for this. I have a friend that is actively trying to develop some easier routes near town to act as a starter climbs as well.

Also, do you have any plans on returning? I added a few more photos to the gallery BTW. The photos titled DSC#### are new.

Major edit:

See above in thread. I'll share info via private message but consensus seems to be to not post. Use your own judgment. Cheers

As far as access, I think Gary (the landowner I think your talking about) might be hard to work with too. His parcels are not the bolted climbing areas though, just the road used to access the beginning of the area. Where the big sign says 6. So, maybe a conversation with him or a look at a fine scale map would help you guys decide. He's very very old, like mid 80s. You guys do whatever you want, but I thought I would add my 2 cents about the access issues.

@LL2,

I wanted to document the history of how Valley of the Kings was developed after discovering it. First ascents, completion dates, route names, ratings, protection, and take some solid photography / video of whats there. However, if the original developers don't want to pass along that history publicly, I won't invest time in doing so.

I absolutely understand that it's a special place that holds a lot of memories. I could feel that just being there. If these routes are 20+ years old, there is a quarter lifetime of history there. I just want to make sure that it's being protected because it's still actively being enjoyed. If this is an abandoned crag that is hardly visited, I think it is admirable to pass the torch so to speak.

Maybe that has already happened. I understand someone is still actively developing there. For me personally, I discovered these climbs, have no clue what they are rated, when they were bolted, and it's a shot in the dark.

I spent my entire youth in the mountains surrounding Ely. To paint a picture...Imagine leaving your hometown at 18, getting into climbing at 28, then returning to visit home and discovering that an awesome crag has existed for many years...right in your backyard. You just never saw it because you were never looking for it. I hope you understand my desire to learn about that valley and the routes that were put up. It's my Home.

Bob and Mark:

Maybe removing my posts was a little hasty. I guess I just realized that I had named names without checking with the individuals I'd named. After talking to two of them, they were okay with my post but against "officially" posting it on MP for the world to see. So I mostly pulled my comments out of respect for their feelings.

In SLC we've had many crags that have remained word of mouth for many, many years. American Fork hasn't seen a proper guidebook update for some 20 years and there must be literally 200 new routes or more. Some of the new crags are on MP, some are not. Some are on but only with the most cryptic of information. I think around here, it's not so much about "ownership" or being top secret, it's more about preserving some mystery and the ability to escape the crowds. And at times keeping thing on the DL just for fun.

Obviously out there crowds are not the case. But it seems some people are poking around and still bolting. We've obviously abandoned the place, so I feel no misguided sense of ownership of it. The torch is absolutely passed as far as I am concerned, and I never owned the torch anyhow, I just carried it for a little while. But again, I decided to respect the wishes of two friends I talked to about it and pull their names and info. And it does sound as if that guy Gary could be a problem...

It is an obscure area. Posting info may or may not bring herds of climbers. I can certainly understand your connection to the place and respect any decisions you make, I just suggest careful consideration. Myself, I once visited an area that was hush-hush, and on invitation by one of the developers, but encountered other developers who were unhelpful to me (hostile to tell the truth) until they figured out that I was actually "okay" and really was invited by "one of them". No one should ever be like that.

I've got a crag I developed locally that I declined to have posted on MP when asked. Had nothing to do with being top secret. It's in an area with seasonal closures that people are either ignoring or at least having a hard time wrapping their heads around. I learned my access lesson one day when developing it. I was convinced the place was obscure beyond belief, and was up there in the snow during the first day of the closure (they're not going to be checking, right?) with a 6' step ladder "developing" a route, and was quite surprised to find myself suddenly talking to two Division of Wildlife Resources guys who saw my car and hiked the 20 minutes in the snow to see who was up there. Nice enough folks, and they never commented on the ladder or the strange smell in the air, but they let me know I really needed to respect the closure, and I absolutely learned my lesson that day. I was just glad that I heard them coming and I wasn't drilling a hole, hammering off loose rock, or worse when they walked up, lol.

My decision to not post the crag on on MP and mostly had to do with the closure, and potentially fragile holds on a very short, very bouldery cliff. These are hard routes where a broken hold, a missed clip, a poor belay, or the trifecta at once could very well land someone on the deck. Did I bolt a chossy cliff? Absolutely. Did I do a poor job of it? No, there are a lot of bolts and there is a sufficient level of "fortification". It just is what it is, and it's just not a cliff that some inexperienced, fresh out of the gym climber with a questionable partner who's never climbed such rock but saw it on MP ought to be turned loose on. It's more for the "seasoned" choss climber, your "bros", who understand that it's another Wasatch choss crag and that they need to have their game on. You climb or flail, you have your act together or potentially deck. But when you climb tough you're psyched. We've got our share of cliffs like that here. Seemed best to remain word of mouth. Now I just know this thread will light up with everyone saying "Dude, where is it? I HAVE to go!"

Like I said, I'll answer questions and provide the info I remember by private message, but I don't feel right giving other people's names. Post only after careful investigation of any potential negative effects. Absolutely enjoy it. But consider the word of mouth route too.

Cheers!

Does anyone know who bolted the routes out near Hercules Gap? I'd like to get some route BETA on those if possible.

@Mark Mazza,

Are you still in the Ely area? My wife (an OG Ely-ite) and I (some guy she decided to marry in the Air Force) are recently retired from the AF and frequently find ourselves in Ely. Like, right now… Anywho, I’ve found a handful of bolted routes in the area but always looking for more. Sounds like you and @LL2 have the most knowledge. Any chance you’d be willing to share and/or link up for some climbing?

@Mark Mazza,

Are you still in the Ely area? My wife (an OG Ely-ite) and I (some guy she decided to marry in the Air Force) are recently retired from the AF and frequently find ourselves in Ely. Like, right now… Anywho, I’ve found a handful of bolted routes in the area but always looking for more. Sounds like you and @LL2 have the most knowledge. Any chance you’d be willing to share and/or link up for some climbing?

Jason, Mark and ' ',  if any of you are still around Ely and want to climb please let me know. I'd love to learn more about this place and how to respect the local spots and history. Seems like I've been doing the same research you had to do when you came to town. I'm happy to keep things quiet or try to find the OG's and develop a solid guide for this place.

Greg Gresh wrote:

Jason, Mark and ' ',  if any of you are still around Ely and want to climb please let me know. I'd love to learn more about this place and how to respect the local spots and history. Seems like I've been doing the same research you had to do when you came to town. I'm happy to keep things quiet or try to find the OG's and develop a solid guide for this place.

Greg: You messaged direct and I responded tonight by email. I’m happy to talk on phone. To try to message information via email involves too much description, not knowing how well you know the canyon or are able to understand features I describe. Describing a line could be five paragraphs by email or just one line when talking on phone because “yeah, I know exactly that feature”.  Check email for my phone. Can text to make a good time to talk. As I said in email, my information is from almost 30 years ago and I can see from pictures on MP forums that more routes have sprouted. At best, I can give you descriptions and locations of the maybe 18 routes we did 30 years ago, which is of course going to just lead to the question of what’s the stuff you see in between. I’m not going to be able to answer any of that.