Type: | Trad, 600 ft, 6 pitches |
FA: | Joanne and Jorge Urioste, July 1980 |
Page Views: | 38,380 total · 197/month |
Shared By: | Orphaned on May 2, 2002 |
Admins: | Larry DeAngelo, Justin Johnsen |
Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN RED ROCKS during or after rain. A good rule of thumb is that if the ground near your climb is at all damp (and not powdery dry sand), then do not climb. There are many alternatives (limestone, granite, basalt, and plastic) nearby.
HUMAN WASTE Human waste is one of the major issues plaguing Red Rocks. The Las Vegas Climbers Liaison Council and the AAC provides free "wag bags" in several locations (Black Velvet, First Pullout, Kraft Mtn/Bouldering, The Gallery, and The Black Corridor). These bags are designed so that you can pack your waste out - consider bringing one to be part of your kit (just like your rope and shoes and lunch) no matter where you go. Once used, please dispose of them properly (do not throw them in the toilets at the parking area).
HUMAN WASTE Human waste is one of the major issues plaguing Red Rocks. The Las Vegas Climbers Liaison Council and the AAC provides free "wag bags" in several locations (Black Velvet, First Pullout, Kraft Mtn/Bouldering, The Gallery, and The Black Corridor). These bags are designed so that you can pack your waste out - consider bringing one to be part of your kit (just like your rope and shoes and lunch) no matter where you go. Once used, please dispose of them properly (do not throw them in the toilets at the parking area).
Description
Sour Mash sits there smashed in between the fascination with Epinepherine and the bolt ridden Prince Of Darkness, yet features some of the best selection of moderate climbing in the canyon. It also features a mix of styles, between traditionally protected and well bolted pitches. The bolts tend to show up when the climbing is at it's toughest on the first and crux fifth pitch. That fifth pitch is some really fun and intricate climbing that is bound to make you smile. Most parties these days do six pitches and then rappel. You need to veer to the east onto the rappel for Fiddler On The Roof, including a heart-stopping drop over the big roof the route is named for. See Swain for topo and more info.
Sacramento, CA
Around Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO
Las Vegas, NV
rack to #2 is sufficient if you're a 5.10 leader...a #3 is just excess weight. If you're pushing it, a #3 is handy in a few spots...but all of the tough stuff is tightly bolted (sometimes too tightly...).
Thanks to the ASCA for the new bolts- they're nice to have. This is a great route and while it doesnt deserve to be overlooked, i'm glad it is because it keeps it open for those looking for a quiet day in an otherwise crowded canyon. May 20, 2006
Good route! Get on it! Oct 2, 2006
Fort Collins CO
It is too bad there are so many bolts right next to bomber gear placements. It takes a little of the adventure out of the route. Oct 29, 2006
Las Vegas, NV
Couple of thoughts for linking pitches.
if you have a 70m, you can do this route in 4 pitches (link 2/3, 4/5, 6/7). If you have a 60m, you can do it in 5 (link 2/3, 6/7).
if you link 6/7, bring lots of draws, and backclean bolts and gear when possible, otherwise you might come up short at the top of 7. Aug 3, 2008
Riverside, CA
Super fun route, a definite must do!! Mar 30, 2009
Nevada
Boise, ID
Bend, OR
The raps go quickly. We combined the last two pitches into a single rap (Supertopo breaks them up for some reason, but with twin 60s was fine). There is a bomber anchor now on the ledge below the long overhanging rap. Oct 5, 2009
leeds, ut
San Rafael, CA
Tobin Oct 10, 2010
Carbondale, CO
Oakridge, OR
I skipped nearly all of them. The exception was the bolt on the arete and a couple I clipped right of the finger crack, mainly to save time.
Am I alone in saying this would be a better route without the bolts (except the one)? Mar 25, 2012
Salt Lake City, UT
Oakridge, OR
Bridgton, Maine
Clyde Hill, WA
Flagstaff, AZ
Berlin, Germany
Las Vegas, Nevada
Squamish, BC
Nowhere Land
I agree with the comments about leaving the #3, and I'm not an overly bold leader. I brought 2 C3s and a couple X4s, which wasn't entirely necessary, but I was able to place some of them right near the obvious #3 placement at the top of the 5th pitch.
Here's a quick pitch by pitch because there is a lot of mixed information on here. This is based on the HANDREN book... The short version of this is that old beta combines P1 & 2 as one pitch, Handren has his first pitch ending in a weird (but comfortable) spot because there is a rap anchor there. It really makes more sense to call it 6 pitches but hard to get rid of the extra pitch once it's in the equation!
Handren "P1" - Starts with about 50' of scrambling up low angle slabby ledges to get to a lieback crack (5.8) follow this to the base of a triangle feature. There is a rap anchor here which was added after the FA of Sour Mash. Although it's a nice ledge, this is a pointless belay as a 60 will make it to the next anchor no problem.
P2 - Climb the right side of the triangle and then move left onto the face when the bolts show up. Gear anchor at a shrubby tree. This is where you should end your first pitch unless you're climbing on a ridiculously short rope. This belay is about 175' from the ground.
P3 - Climb up and right to a roof, and look right for a right slanting crack after the roof. Follow this crack up and right for quite a ways, look for a flat ledge with a right facing corner and a bolt protecting the moves getting to a niice higher ledge (~12' up) with a bolted belay. If you arrived at a spinning ring shaped bolt, you're in My Little Pony territory.
P4 - Short pitch. Climb a steep crack straight up to a heinous (bolted) hanging belay, about 60' up. This pitch can be linked into P3, but I'm not clear if a 70M is required. Very curious on if this will go with 60s, because no matter what this hanging belay can't be avoided, so there is no real benefit to belaying at the ledge below.
P5 - The money gear pitch. Follow the middle of three parallel cracks with good gear and no bolts for 100' and some change. Another bolted hanging belay.
P6 & 7 - Awesome and interesting climbing with lots of bolts. A few spots where gear is nice too. Linking these two pitches comes out to about 180' and with back cleaning I used about 8 or 9 draws on it. Runner gear well at the top of the 6th pitch because there is a roof there.
We used twin 60s and it was 5 raps (4 double, 1 single) to the ground rapping Fiddler. Trend left on the first rap to get on Fiddler. Then two more raps to the top of the roof. One looong rap over the roof and to where Handren P1 ends. One single rope rap on a 60M back to your pack from there. Apr 23, 2015
All in all, following Handren, we climbed 1/2, 3, 4/5, 6, 7. Handren 6 seemed to be the most difficult pitch, and probably the most memorable. Climbing up to the cool fanged flake via the crack/corner was a trip, and FUN!
Anyway, AMAZING route. Would climb it again in a heartbeat. Aug 29, 2015
San Francisco, CA
Per his description, we ended up climbing on one 70m rope as follows:
P1-2 link
P3
P4-5 link
P6-7 link
for a total of 4 full-value pitches!
Thought the cruxes were the bolted face area on P1, and the sustained edging and definitive hand/finger-jam crux on P6-7. Oct 21, 2015
Athens, GA
Linked P1-P2. Built a gear anchor at the tree.
P3
Linked P4-P5: this was very close on a 60m rope. My belayer had to climb up about 5-10 ft so I could clip the anchors. It might have been okay if I had protected differently, but it would have been close.
P6 and rapped down to Fiddler.
Pitches 3 and 6 were by far my favorites. Enjoy! Mar 1, 2016
Las Vegas, NV
Ps- the first party up after 9/15 will be rewarded with a free carabiner on the last bolt of the 5th pitch (we used that bolt to swing over to Fiddler to begin replacement work). Sep 15, 2017