Solo bigwall: Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Hello all,

I'm wanting to climb another big wall around the end of April/beginning of May. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is catching my eye. Seems to have relatively short approaches if I can just rappel down from the top. *I do realize this is a commiting climbing area*I want to do a wall that's atleast 1000 feet. Climbing 600-800 feet of pitch after pitch real climbing is the most i can really do in a day if I'm not hauling. So, I'm gonna need to haul and sleep on the wall bigwall style. Does the Black Canyon of the Gunnison have 1000ft+ routes that are vertical enough so that hauling isn't a nightmare and either can be aided without hammering or free at 10b or less? 

Hey man,

   I believe the Black could be a good option for you. There are very extensive walls there, some of which host series of cracks that could be aided or kept under.10b climbing. To name a few routes that would fit that bill: Scenic Cruise, Comic Relief, Russian Arete. The issues you would face are a. finding a decent ledge to bivy on and b. it gets very busy and solo aiding a route or even solo freeing would potentially get in the way of traffic. The South Rim is way less traveled but is chossier in quality and has less well-known routes. Scenic has an "ok" ledge to sleep on, but is one of the busiest routes in the North Rim. If you did some research and found some obscure route with a known ledge, you might make it work. Astro Dog on the South Rim, for example, has a big ledge where people often bivy, but the climbing is much harder (people often aid the crux though). Hope this helps and good luck!

AstroDog would be an excellent candidate BUT it’s already busy with free climbers.  Aid shenanigans on free lines are bound to irritate the self-important and entitled population of Colorado climbers.  Maybe you could do it mid week.  But if you get out your hammer, you’ll be lynched.

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105754990/the-hallucinogen-wall

Giddy up, Cowboy! Trip report expected. 

I’ll offer a counterpoint to the above replies:

Logistics in the Black Canyon are more involved than the top-down layout may imply, and retreat, when possible, is physical, tedious and unpleasant at best. Hauling on the freeclimbs mentioned above would be nothing less than the nightmare you wish to avoid, and on climbs like Comic Relief and Russian Arete, would endanger climbers below. “Big wall” terrain is actually quite limited in the Black, and the entry level “wall” routes a significant step up from most trade routes elsewhere. Perhaps a better strategy for a first-time visiting rope soloer with a max of 800 feet per day is to climb shorter freeclimbs within your in-a-day abilities and without hauling. Get a feel for the climbing, then proceed as you feel appropriate. Consider Zion as an alternative, where accessible “big wall” trade routes with easier logistics, hauling and descents can be found.

Most people I know who want a big adventure in the Black go in the early spring before the road opens. You have to deal with the logistics of getting there yourself though…

I’ve soloed a 5 routes in the Black, always in a day and all free. It is a rewarding experience but you do not want to underestimate the serious nature of your outing. It’s never straight forward, and the “quick approach” you describe is not always the case. Getting a solo overnight kit with climbing gear to the base of your climb might be the crux if you don’t know exactly where you are going.

If you have never rope solo’ed a big wall you should consider having your first outing be on a well traveled route where aiding is expected. I can’t think of a climb in the Black besides the Hallucinogen Wall that might fit that bill. I do know strong climbers who have attempted the solo and bailed, and had their crux getting back out of the Canyon attempting to climb that route.

Nothing is straightforward climbing in the Black Canyon. This makes the reward of success all the sweeter, but it also makes failure the more likely  outcome if you don’t bring your A game. 

Steve Levin wrote:

I’ll offer a counterpoint to the above replies:

Logistics in the Black Canyon are more involved than the top-down layout may imply, and retreat, when possible, is physical, tedious and unpleasant at best. Hauling on the freeclimbs mentioned above would be nothing less than the nightmare you wish to avoid, and on climbs like Comic Relief and Russian Arete, would endanger climbers below. “Big wall” terrain is actually quite limited in the Black, and the entry level “wall” routes a significant step up from most trade routes elsewhere. Perhaps a better strategy for a first-time visiting rope soloer with a max of 800 feet per day is to climb shorter freeclimbs within your in-a-day abilities and without hauling. Get a feel for the climbing there, then proceed as you feel seems appropriate. Consider Zion as an alternative, where accessible “big wall” trade routes with easier logistics, hauling and descents can be found.

You won’t get much better advice than this.

I more or less agree with Steve and Kevin, particularly that if the Black is really calling to you, you could consider going and rope-soloing some of the shorter free routes, rather than bivying. There's a decent number of good, relatively clean routes on the north rim in the 600-800 foot range (e.g., Checkerboard Wall routes, upper SE face of North Chasm, Casual Buttress, Comic Relief Buttress). It's such a unique climbing area, and a particularly incredible place to be alone on the wall in the off-season (Kevin mentioned March before the road opens...for me the off-season is mid-week in June, when you can chase shade but it's usually pretty empty of climbers). Start slow with something like Maiden Voyage or Casually Off-Route. Or, you could go in the high season, and at least you'd have friends on the wall in case anything happens, but it might be kind of annoying on those same routes. 

If you really want to do a pseudo-wall bivy, one idea I've been toying with for next June is sleeping on the ledge below the Checkerboard Wall summit block. To do this, you'd reverse the Checkerboard Wall exit gully, drop your gear at the ledge, and then do the three rappels to the base of the Checkerboard Wall. Climb a route on the Checkerboard Wall (3-4 pitches in the easy 9 to 10+ range), enjoy your bivy, then climb out on King Me (3 pitch 10a to the rim) the next day. King Me wouldn't be awful hauling, although you could also leave your bivy gear and go back to get it later via the exit gully. This probably sounds super-convoluted but would make more sense if you read the various route/wall pages, and you can scope it pretty well from the overlook. It wouldn't be a true wall bivy, because you can walk off into the exit gully from the ledge, but would be a pretty spectacular spot to spend a night in the canyon. 

Honestly logistically easier than all of those - go rope solo astropup. It’s only a few hundred feet of meaningfully difficult climbing where you might clog up the route (upper pitch terrain is so easy anyone could easily jog around to pass). Then you shouldn’t need to haul and can scout out your haul path for the full dog. You could easily stash gear in a few different places on route to minimize faff/hauling and then do 1 day to the 2 boulder bivy and one day to the top. And if the haul path isn’t doable without potentially airstriking any party below you, at least you got to do Astropup. 

Thank you all for taking the time to provide me with information! I'll be thoroughly reading them later today(I'm at work) and I'll get back to y'all. I really appreciate it.