[Hide Comment] I highly recommend this route. The approach is a bit long (exact same approach as for Resolution Arete) but the route is worth it. It is a long one, but there is zero commitment involved as the descent is down the way you climb... The route starts in a dark, narrow gully just to the right of the start of Resolution Arete. Do not get discouraged by the first pitch, which is really bad (slippery red rock covered in moss) but not too hard. The second pitch is beautiful and it is the crux of the route: thin finger crack and face moves on very steep gray rock. The rest of the route continues straight up to the top of the buttress, following intermittent cracks and plated faces. The pro is always good and a mix of trad and bolted. All belay anchors are bomber new bolts. The climbing is not too sustained (feels like a lot of 5.9ish stuff to me), but it is of course a long route... The descent is as straightforward as they come: rap straight down to your packs. A great day! Once you've done this, you'll know the apporach already so you'll want to go back up another day for Resolution Arete.

For photos and trip reports for many other classic routes at RR, check out our web site at ericandlucie.com. Oct 15, 2004

[Hide Comment] Kudos to Jorge and Mike for the vision and effort required to put up this route! I thought this route was stellar and would also highly recommend it. We took a rather skeletal rack and this proved a bit scary on the long "S-crack" pitch which has no bolts at all.

The top three pitches have an amazing position as the face steepens. It is possible to see the very base of the climb from the top pitch.

We continued up Res Arete for "full value" and the contrast between the routes hit us like a sledgehammer. Although lower in grade, we were thrashing up wide cracks, through bushes and freaking out at the loose rock, not to mention the death march descent down First Creek racing the setting sun.

As a historical note, when you start the route, look for the ancient bolt off to the left (it's about 10' left and slightly up from the "real" first bolt, and has an aluminum hangar). This bolt was apparently placed by Joe Herbst in the 70's during a retreat from an early attempt on the Aeolian Wall. Apr 18, 2005

[Hide Comment] I agree with George that this is an amazing route. It felt like the first 7 pitches of Eagle Dance except 60% longer and with a lot more trad and commitment than Eagle Dance. Equal quality of rock and not a single poor quality pitch

The approach is long and a bit complex mainly in ensuring you find the correct gully. But I felt it was not as painful as other approaches (Oak creek canyon for instance). From the "pass" between Mount Wilson and the Pimple head up-hill on faint trails towards the left side of the rotten red buttress in front of you. When you reach the base of that buttress you will find a very well cairned approach to the gully. Resist the urge to go into the first gully you find, cairns show you that you should continue. When you reach the correct gully there are two large cairns at the base.

The climb up the gully has some 3-4th class scrambling that is not too bad but would get your attention on the downclimb. We found some rap slings in one spot.

The climb is not as "sporty" as we were led to believe in many of the descriptions we read. I think we used trad gear in three pitches for sure, maybe four, and a couple of them were 5.9. The S crack pitch is 100% trad and we were happy to use our #3 camalot and could have used a lot more gear. Although it is not as hard as it looks, the thing is pretty darn intimidating...

We linked the "roof pitch" with the next long 5.9 pitch. You need 16-17 draws for this. This combo is really cool and makes for one pumpy "full value" 5.9 lead.

Linking with Resolution Arete felt like the obvious thing to do. How can one come this far and not tag the summit? The descent via First Creek is arguably the worst trashing I have taken in my Red Rocks experience. According to Joanne Urioste, rapping into Oak Creek is a better option. Although my recollection of the Oak Creek thrashing is about as painful as the First creek one.

For gumbies like us it was a race against sunset. We wound up hiking out in the dark for a couple of hours but luckly, by then we were close to the mouth of the canyon. Full grade V (16 hrs car to car) if you ask me.

What an awesome experience!

Enjoy. WT Apr 19, 2005

[Hide Comment] Rope soloed the first 7 pitch's before getting stormed off. I thought the crux was alot closer to 5.10b. The first half of the route was quite good!! i'll have to go back with a better forecast. May 3, 2005

[Hide Comment] A great, fun route that just keeps pulling you up. Having descended Mt Wilson once thru First Creek Canyon we decided to forego that "pleasure" and rap the route. The rap went very smoothly (only hung the rope up once and it pulled after a bit of tugging). We did not find this climb to be as difficult as we thought it may be. We made it to the base in 90 minutes from Oak creek parking lot. Climbed it leisurely in 10 pitches, linking 9 & 10 and 11 & 12. After 10 double 60 raps (might of been able to link 3 & 2 for 9) we made it down 8 1/2 hours after we started.Grade II or maybe III if you rap. We took 16 draws, a couple extra long slings, a set of nuts and cams to a 3 camalot minus the 2 camalot and were fine. Way too much gear for all but the 'S' crack pitch which ate pro and was memorable. May 7, 2005

[Hide Comment] Pitch 2 was stunning, and reminded me of Urioste's Black Velvet routes.

We did the first four pitches on 13 Nov, having gotten lost above the White Rot gully on the approach -- I wasn't expecting the White Rot gully (which also can involve tunneling under a chockstone) to rejoin the main gully, and didn't know to just keep following the main gully for a while longer. Once we found the monster Ponderosa pine, the rest of the approach was obvious.

There is at least one handy rap station in the White Rot gully; two short raps would make for a pretty easy descent.

There is moss on several pitches (in the middle of the Mojave desert???), but it doesn't interfere with the climbing.

With two 60m ropes, we rapped from the top of pitch two to the ground. Nov 29, 2005

[Hide Comment] Went back and did the whole route. Very nice! The upper half involved a lot of bolted face climbing, and I think this is what Joanne Urioste had in mind when she said this route has the feel of "a giant sport climb." But there are plenty of trad sections too: our rack was a set of nuts, cams to 3 inches, and 15 runners.

It took us 12 1/2 hours, car-to-car. Apr 3, 2006

[Hide Comment] Enjoyed the heck out of Inti Wantana. It was like climbing chrimson chrysalis, but with a pitch of prince of darkness on p2, and didn't see anybody all day. dont let the approach scare you off. 'ain't bad.

the urioste supplement is a bit liberal with rope lengths. using my ropes, p5 is 95', p6 is 110'. the s-crack is long. p8 is 105'. rappelling p5 and 6 together is friendly with two 60s (but tie knots in the ends!). p4 and p3 might rappel together on 60m rope stretch, but you might be left hanging a few feet above the anchor. didn't try this one. you could link 3/4 and 5/6 on teh way up with a few yards of simul.

choice beta: take the crux when swinging leads. this lines you up for the only two plush belay ledges. (but consider extending your anchor under the roof, or risk broken head when leader pops a foothold on p10)

on 4/19/06, the first two pitches were in the shade (cold!) at 9:30am (shaded by res arete formation) and the upper pitches went into the shade by 1:00. Apr 19, 2006

[Hide Comment] I though the crux pitch was far more interesting and challenging than anything on Prince of Darkness. I usually find 5.10 pretty soft at Red Rocks but the crux on this was no gimee and much harder than any other pitch on the route. It was also very cold as it was in the shade and very windy.

I disagree about the previous poster with the approach. We got a little lost because the directions that I have seen everywhere are unnecessarily confusing. Even knowing the way now it is still very tiring with alot of loose stuff and alot of 4th class which tends to beat you up with a full pack. Plus there is no way I would want to do that descent in the dark, very good way to get hurt or worse. If you climb long routes at Red Rocks on a regular basis maybe it isn't so bad, but I would much rather do that horrible approach to Levitation than this one, although this one is a little shorter. I still can't see doing it in much less than 2 hours unless you are sprinting.

Great route and easy to rap with no real place to hangup a rope. We actually rapped the final 7 pitches in less than 45 minutes. After the first pitch(not fun) the rest of the route is great. Apr 20, 2006

[Hide Comment] Using a 70m rope you can link 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 8&9, and 10&11. If you want to do this (not hard at all) bring 20 draws. We topped out via. Res. Arete, and then rappel Dogma (17 total). This is a VERY bad idea. Res. was fine, but walk off. It's a lot faster. May 8, 2006

[Hide Comment] Hello All,

I'd like to combine this route with the Resolution Arete.
Can anyone tell me how you transition from Inti Watana to the RA?
How do you make the transition, and which pitch do you end up on after finishing IW?

Thanks for any info,
kyle Mar 12, 2007

[Hide Comment] Kyle, the final anchor on Inti is just below the end of pitch 14 on RA as shown on my topo gibell.net/trip_reports/res…
I should probably add this info on my topo regarding where Inti comes in.

Just do a short scrambling pitch to reach the start of RA pitch 15. Or, I remember continuing and doing most of pitch 15, belaying where it says "Walk left 15m" on my topo. Mar 12, 2007

[Hide Comment] Thanks for the info, George.
The topo is great!

kyle Mar 12, 2007

[Hide Comment] Possibly the best moderate long route in the park. Totally awesome climbing and exposure. Thanks for putting it up gang!

I wouldn't finish up the res. Do the res before this route cuz ytou might not want to do it after doing this one. Then you'd be sad. Apr 9, 2007

[Hide Comment] This is a fantastic route. Thanks to the FA's for the work it took to put this thing together for the rest of us to enjoy!!!

For it's grade as good as any of the Red Rocks classics. The 5.10 version of crimson, levitation or dark shadows. We climbed it on 10/28 and after much piecing together of beta here's my 2 cents.

Approach/Descent-Check out ericandlucie.com there's a great overview picture and description of the approach. I would do this approach rather than the one to Levitation any day. The hike to the Wilson Pimple is flat and once you start up it's shorter with way less exposure. The traverse to the left is easy to find and there are maybe two or three 4th class bits in the White Rot gully and that's it, no more peril. You cross over into the main gully AFTER going under and then back on top of a HUGE chockstone.

KEY BETA!!! On the descent CONTINUE DOWN the main gully DON'T go back into the White Rot gully. The main gully is a MUCH better/casual descent more of the same boulder hoping. We made one short 50' repel (could be downclimded) just below the point where you come over from the White Rot gully on the approach and another (130') at the very obvious end of the gully. Both from easily accessed good trees.

The 1st pitch is now very clean and great, in no way did it detract from the route.

We took 15 draws and a single BD rack .3 thru #3 with a green and red C3 and every other nut. Neither of us are particularly bold or great climbers (inti went in good style, levitation 29 we "got up")and we both thought this to be perfect as several pitches including the S pitch are long and need gear and pitch 10 needs 13 draws.

My partner payed very close attention and here's the low down on what can be rapped together with 60m ropes no shenanigans or downcliming.

12 and 11
10 and 9
6 and 5
4 and 3
2 and 1

Maybe bring a wrench, some of the new nuts could use a turn or two.

A must do!!! Enjoy. Oct 30, 2007

[Hide Comment] Got back on this route sunday 11/11 after only getting through pitch 7 last year since we got lost on the approach which took us 4 hours last time, YIKES! It probably was also slower last year since we did the climb right after doing Epi.

Anyway this year while the approach was no walk in the park it took us 2 hours and there was no getting lost. There were 4 of us so we climb in twos with a single 70M each. I wound up linking the first two pitches for a great, long 200 foot pitch with the best climbing at the very end. I also agree that the first pitch is cleaning up a bit. While it will never be anywhere near the highlight of the route it is now much cleaning and more enjoyable. We climbed everything else as single pitch until were reached the roof/bulge at the start of pitch 9, where we linked 9/10 and then 11/12. If linking 9/10 you may want to use slings instead of draws in a few spots to cut down on the drag a bit. The 11/12 linkup was alot of fun on steep rock, but I'm not sure where the 10c was as the last pitch is much easier than the pitch 2 crux. Either way a great route where the climbing goes incredibly fast after pitch 2. We did the route in 6 hours. It took 4 of us about 1 1/2 hours to rap the route.

It was allot of fun to have 4 of us up on the wall at the same time and only took us a little longer with the rapping.

Anyone who can lead hard 5.10 on bolts and is competent with gear should have a blast on this one.

Looking for the next challenge on Mt. Wilson. Has anyone out there done either Dogma or Woman of Mountain Dreams? Nov 15, 2007

[Hide Comment] You really don't need all that much gear. The the harder pitches are all bolted. Many say that you need large cams for the S Crack pitch, but there is plenty other gear. We went light and had not problems. Single set of cams up the #1 Camalot(red) and a single set of wires should be more than enough. Even if this is pushing you limit the majority of gear pitches are not very hard and there really isn't any required gear for a particular spot. If you are solid at the grade then this an excellent climb to go light and fast on. Mar 18, 2008

[Hide Comment] OK. First off the route is not as good as many claim, in my opinion. It is very contrived in places, poorly bolted, anesthetically in the middle of a random wall, and just plain seems not worth the trouble.

The guidebook I have (Roxanna Brock's) gives first ascent credit to 5 different people. I think that the widely varying bolting skills, ethics, and overall visions of such a large group ruined what could have been a much better route. You find runouts between bolts on challenging terrain, but on easier sections, you can literally back-clean your draws if you want. Some pitches have bolts next to great, and obvious gear placements, while others have hardly any bolts at all. It seems like the first ascentionists couldn't decide if they were making a sport climb, or a trad climb...now I do understand the whole mixed style of many long Red Rocks routes, but this one seemed very inconsistent, confusing and really distracting. I found myself wondering what in the heck the FAs were thinking instead of enjoying the exposure and movement of the route.

Anyway, here's some facts from our ascent:

We did the route on 3/23/08. Total approach from the car to the base took us 1hr 50min. My partner and I are both reasonably fit, but I am much stronger on 3/4th class terrain. I eventually had to carry her backpack on all the steeper sections of the gully. I'm not saying this to brag, but to provide an example. Even while carrying two backpacks in 30% of the gully, I made it to the base w/in 2 hours. VERY possible.

Approach instructions: Follow the most traveled jeep road from parking area to where the road turns right and heads past Wilson's Pimple. From here, look for the best looking gully, remember which one it is, then head towards it, erring to the right. You should see cairns once you get close to the cliffs. Head up the narrow, leftmost gully (the one that looked the best from afar...) follow cairns, tunnel under a giant chockstone, and follow more cairns. You'll eventually hit a gigantic Ponderosa, head directly up a cleaner gully above the tree, tunnel through another chockstone (one it's left side) and then look on the right wall for bolts.

We got to the base at 9:20am and were a bit cold in the shade. We didn't hit any sun until the 4th pitch, but stayed in the sun until the 7th pitch or so...by then it was definitely warm enough to climb in the shade.

You can link pitches 1&2, 8&9, and 11&12 (we had a 65m rope.) I bet you could link others, but that's what we did.

When rapping we followed "cdec's" info from above which is as follows:

"My partner payed very close attention and here's the low down on what can be rapped together with 60m ropes no shenanigans or downclimbing.


12 and 11
10 and 9
6 and 5
4 and 3
2 and 1"

I can say that 4&3 were VERY close. I had to reach down to clip my sling into the anchor so that I wouldn't rap off the end. Our rap line we brought was an 8.6mm 60m. We could have gotten another 12in or so if we had tied the rappel joining knot closer to the ends, but our tag line had a small core shot that we wanted above the knot.

We descended in the dark, which was not too bad. all in all the gully is pretty straight forward, but kinda technical in spots. You can easily pass bags to one another if needed on steeper sections. We opted to rappel the steepest section that is near the mouth of the gully. I did a Dulfersitz, which worked great, and my partner used a harness and rap device.

If it's dark, just spy Wilson's Pimple, silhouetted against the sky and head directly for it. You will hit the road eventually. Take it right, back to your car.

We took 1 each blue alien through red alien, 1 each #.5 Camelot through #3 Camelot, 6 nuts, and 18 quickdraws for linking pitches. I would suggest leaving the #3 and even the #2 behind. You can get good smaller gear on the S Crack pitch no prob.

All in all a poorly engineered route, on a ho-hum buttress, but the view of the Horseshoe wall from the top can't be beat. Mar 27, 2008

[Hide Comment] Great route. Interesting climbing on good stone the whole way, kudos to the FA team for picking the line and doing all the work. At some point it would be good to replace the slings with chain at the belays. I would not recommend applying a wrench to any of the bolts as the nuts were not loose and further mechanical action would possibly make the bolts worse. If one were to replace the slings it would be good to have a drill along in case one of the bolts is fouled, a couple of them moved in the hole a bit.

On the descent we followed what I believe is the Aeolian Gully which was more direct, but did require two rappels. This was the next gully to the west of the White Rot Gully. We left a sling on a nice solid tree at the top rappel and reinforced the sling at the lower rappel on the rather sketcky small oak. Apr 24, 2009

[Hide Comment] My friend Matt and I climbed this route on the 24th of Oct. We got to the base about 45 minutes before dawn. We were a little anxious that a party of three we talked to the day before were going to get ahead of us. Needless to say we were the first of 7 people on the route that day. We blasted up to the top of Inti Watana linking all but three pitches. Reach up grab incredibly good edge or knob. Repeat! The last pitch has one gear placement before the last bolt. Wish I would have known that! We continued up Resolution Arete to the summit. We brought up to a #4 BD I wish I would have had another one for pitch 19. It's only awkward 5.8 but I was getting a little tired at this point. We descended via Oak creek. I believe we actually descended the SE fork of Oak creek. We took the gully where the sandstone meets limestone but looking back I think we should have gone over the ridge to the next one. We passed to the right of the tower with the Van shaped top and dropped steeply through brush to a 20' rap with natty slings. A little further down we encountered a 70 meter drop. There is a very old rope here with many knots in it, tied around a boulder. we left two four foot slings(red and green) around more boulders to equalize the two boulders. A SINGLE 70 METER ROPE will just get you to another anchor that consists of an old .75BD and a large nut on a small ledge. From here we rapped to the end of our rope on low angle rock. We continued down to hit the S. fork of Oak to a vertical 10' drop with a large knotted rope around a tree for getting down. Then the main fork of Oak creek where we turned our headlamps on. 16.5 hours car to car. A fantastic way to spend a full day. As we walked back around we could the see headlamps of the party of three still rapping the route! Nov 6, 2009

[Hide Comment] This is a fine line, we thought the crux was the 2 hour approach although pitch 2 has a few feet of thin 5.10 lie backing. I did not think there was any 5.10 past that pitch - just wonderful fast flowing 5.9. With a 60 meter rope and a good partner you can link pitches 5&6 (15 feet of simul climbing), 7&8 (25 feet of simul climbing) 9&10 (no simul) and 11&12 (no simul)making this an 8 pitch climb and knocking considerable time off your ascent. The second pitch and the upper pitches are fantastic. Jan 24, 2010

[Hide Comment] Great route! I climbed it on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Didn't see anyone on this route the whole week. The route was dry even though there is snow on some ledges still.

I was actually surprised to see all the anchors had tat (random slings) and rap rings on them instead of chains, Metolius Rap Hangers, or a Fixe anchor set-up. This is really annoying to me as some anchor bolts cannot be clipped directly because there is so many slings tied into the bolts. If I had known this I would have brought some chain with me to help the cause. Mar 7, 2010

[Hide Comment] Climbed Inti to Resolution arete on 3/27/2010. It was a pretty cold start and then in the sun for most of the climb. We still used down jackets for belays as it was cold and windy. Inti itself is fantastic. We combined the first two pitches and this was by far the crux. I thought those 10c moves were pretty hard. The 10c pitch up high was easy(er). We also combined the last four pitches of Inti into 2, to make one long 5.9 pitch and the 5.9 combined with the 10c pitch. I'm glad we continued on Resolution just to finish it off, but the climbing was not impressive and I'd probably not do it again. The walk off was long and hellish, so my beta is probably useless. We followed cairns for a while but then lost them and found a 3rd/4th class scramble into First Creek Canyon. Then it was endless boulder hopping and scrambling down the wash in the dark. We were not super-fast, the approach took ~2 hours 15 minutes and it is pretty steep 4th class if you've never seen it. We took a rest day earlier and stashed ropes and water at the base and figured out the approach, and I think this helped a lot. The climb itself went from 7am to 5:30pm. The walk off started ok until it was really dark (~7:30pm) and then it took forever to find an acceptable way down, and ended up taking us more like 5 hours to get back to the car. Mar 30, 2010

[Hide Comment] Climbed in March 2010, it was cold down low, but wonderful up top. worth the cold to have a longer day and good temps overall.
Saw nice big horn sheep on approach. Jan 12, 2011

[Hide Comment] Fun climb, and certainly well worth finishing on Resolution Arete to top out. Walk off down First Creek is casual, but probably slow if you get caught in the dark. Even if rappelling, make sure to scramble up to the awesome sundeck where the two routes join! Nov 4, 2012

[Hide Comment] Classic Red Rocks face climbing for ~10 pitches up a sweet face. I'll just second that 4&5 link fine and to get the view of horseshoe if rapping. Try and work it to get the good belay ledges. Feb 3, 2013

[Hide Comment] All (12) belay stations on this route have slings and aluminum rap rings. This route really could use some steel quicklinks and all slings removed. This is a good reminder to always bring a few on big routes in Red Rocks.

Handren's pitch lengths are off a bit. With a 70m rope we linked, 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 8/9, 10/11. There was rope to spare on all of these pitches.

-Aaron Apr 8, 2013

[Hide Comment] We added chains to the rappel route today. 7 double 60 meter raps gets you down from the top. Definitely tie knots for the second to last (pitches 3 and 4). Oct 3, 2013

[Hide Comment] First off, thanks to Wormly81 and his crew for adding the chains! Such a nice surprise to find those!

We climbed Inti yesterday and I must say, this is one of my new favs. There is not a bad pitch on the entire climb. It is very sustained and offers a little bit of everything. The quasi-gnarly approach keeps the crowds away.

A little beta:

70 meter ropes are the way to go on this one. With two 70 meter ropes you can climb AND rap the entire route in 6 pitches. 1500' in 6 pitches!

With 70's link the following and rap it the same way:
1 & 2
3 & 4
5 & 6
7 & 8
9 & 10
11 & 12

Make sure you bring 18-20 Draws if you're going to do these link-ups. A couple of the link-ups will be really close but you'll make it. By linking up this way you'll also have bomber chains at each belay. This route is not to be missed! Oct 9, 2013

[Hide Comment] I had a great time clipping a lot of bolts and pulling on mostly great holds. We linked all the pitches as suggested above by Jared with a 70 m rope. Pitch 7&8 barely made it and required some strategic run outs to keep rope drag at bay, but nothing too bad. One great benefit of linking is getting all the good belay ledges and missing some of the semi-hanging anchors.

I don't think its an exaggeration to say that 50% of the bolts were loose, but all seemed very new and solid. The pro is great. I will go quite light on the rack (emphasize smaller pieces) and bring a lot of alpine draws if I do it again. Nov 22, 2013

[Hide Comment] The approach is very doable in under 2 hours. It took us 1.5 hours and we spent 15 or so minutes lost. We had full daylight for the approach and previous experience on the wall so I'm sure that helped.

The climb works we'll with 70m ropes. We linked per Jared's comment above and it worked well but we came up ~20 feet short on the pitch 5-6 link. The climbing here was easy so a short simul was not a problem. Perhaps my rope is not a true 70m? Even so, the rappel is more direct and would have reached easily (our 70m tag line was still clipped to the previous station). The climbing on Inti Watana was enjoyable and flowing. The second pitch is definitely the crux. Surprisingly this route seemed to be most bolt protected where the climbing was easy (and often easily protected by trad gear) and a little sporty when the climbing was relatively harder.

We continued up Resolution Arete and felt that the rack we packed for Inti Watana (Small set stoppers, single set of cams to 3.5 and 20 draws/runners) was sufficient. It took us 2.5 hours from just below the summit of Mt. Wilson to the car via First Creek which is not an enjoyable time. All in all we spent 14 hours car-to-car. Jun 2, 2014

[Hide Comment] Great route. We linked all the pitches except 7 and 8. I highly recommend topping out via the res arete - the climbing is pretty easy and not very interesting but the setting is amazing.

Did the route in early October. Left the car at 4:30am and got back at 7pm. We did the spring creek canyon walk off (rather than the oak creek canyon descent) and it took us 3 hours. Oct 30, 2014

[Hide Comment] Awesome route!

As of Nov 22 2014, there is a very sketchy bolt right at the crux move (on p2) (you can pull it out an inch by hand)

If you're going to the top, I'd follow notmyname's descent beta in the comments for Mt Wilson - worked perfectly! Stay skier's left of the van-sized balanced rock, down an unpromising-looking gulley. Nov 28, 2014

[Hide Comment] I'm hesitant to share this, as it might drop the commitment level of those choosing to commit to the Rez link-up and bring only one rope. You CAN rap all 12 pitches of Inti with a single 70 and no shenanigans. I've done it. For whatever reason, even accounting for the very moderate wondering of a few pitches, many of Handren's pitch lengths are WAY OFF. I would suggest you make sure your rope is a true 70, but even there, I'm not totally certain how long our rope was beyond to say they it was an older, uncut Mammut 70.

I climbed this rig twice recently, both times looking to link with Resolution Arête to the summit. We cruised the first 12 pitches in 4 hours on 70 halves linking 1/2, 3/4. 5/6, 8/9, & 11/12. Making the decision to not epic with the short days and with a memory of the beginning of the descent off the summit as confusing, we decided to rap at 1:30 and promised ourselves an earlier start next time.

Climbed it again, but we were slower and made the same choice even though we had only a single 70, opting for shenanigans on the rap rather than an epic on the descent. We favored one side of the rope as I rapped many of the longer pitches first on my Grigri on a single line. The longest pitches don't have many or any bolts to bail from, but every time I got off the rope and we centered it in the chains, both ends reached the anchor without issue.

Also, I was expecting something heinous for the approach with a vague memory of the same from when I climbed it back in the spring. Anything but, really. The approach is shorter and less confusing than for the Eagle Wall, about as strenuous and long as for Cloud Tower, Crimson, etc. The second half of the approach is somewhat strenuous with a lot of 4th class, but we didn't find it confusing as long as you get the first part of the second half right.

When you come up on the saddle between the Wilson Pimple and Wilson, the dirt turns a noticeable deep red. With the Pimple to your right, about 100m after you start descending the saddle on the main trail, there is a large campground area on your left. This is where you turn left and start heading up. The campground doesn't look that old or super-developed, but it is noticeable--stone fire rings, cleared ground, etc. Go out the back of the campground and head up the hill toward Wilson. There are cairns starting here. You're aiming for the left side of the white pile of stone/hill in front of you. The trail hits the left side of this white pile at a red cliff band that becomes obfuscated from the campground. Traverse left directly below this cliff band. Then follow the cairns trail up staying just out of the big gully that is on your left. Keep an eye on the biggest pine tree you can see and when you eventually hit it, there is a a deep recess/gully that heads a few hundred yards up and left. The start of Inti is visible on the right wall of this gully/recess, although you have to get closer to see the bolts. Look for the traveled "ramp" through the mossy slab of the first pitch.

Phenomenal route. Per one person above, this route feels a lot like Eagle Dance only a lot longer and in a remote area. This route is classic. Took a ride on p11 when a hold broke, but that is uncharacteristic of the route. The pro, hardware and rock is all very solid. The S-crack pitch eats any and all gear you have. We found that the route as a whole loves the green alien, .3 BD, blue Metolius size pieces. I'd take a couple extra in that size for the route as a whole.

The last time I led a gnarly, super-exposed 5.6ish? traverse looking for Resolution Arête before we turned around. Need beta for finding the Rez link-up. We got confused I reckon. Dec 16, 2014

[Hide Comment] That's a pretty great post, lots of useful info. Check out George Bell's link above for Res beta. Hope that helps. Dec 17, 2014

[Hide Comment] @stonenude

Got the link-up! Even in hindsight, it was not straightforward. Thank you for pointing us toward tried beta. Feb 20, 2015

[Hide Comment] Really cool, man. Thanks for all the positive contributions. Feb 21, 2015

[Hide Comment] Be warned! We did it yesterday with a single 80m rope and it was way too short for rapping pitch No. 7. We had to put in slings to reach belay No.7.
No way ever with a single 70m rope!

AND: It is still one of the best routes in RR, even doing it the second time! May 13, 2015

[Hide Comment] For anyone doing the Resolution Arete link-up I added some beta pics on the Mt Wilson page mountainproject.com/v/mt-wi… for the Oak Creek descent, minimal thrashing and no more than 1 rap required. May 18, 2015

[Hide Comment] Because I'm dumb, I rapped this with a 70m rope. There's only one pitch where the rope ends about four feet above the anchors. I was able to clip a sling to the chains, untie and downclimb the slab to the belay ledge; my partner did the same. It was an easy downclimb, but I'd never intentionally put myself in that situation. If you're comfortable with downclimbing unroped to a ledge, 70m is no problem.

The climb itself is enjoyable, but I agree with those that describe it as rather banal. There's nothing about the line that makes it memorable aside from the situation. May 25, 2015

[Hide Comment] Wonderful route, but the opening 5.9 slab is not easy, and the first bolt didn't look very trust-inspiring (May 2015). Oct 6, 2015

[Hide Comment] 9:30 car to car - RAD route! Fumbled the approach a bit, but overall the route flows very well, 70m rope is the way to go. Linked every pitch as a double pitch and its pretty casual. Go with a slim rack with small cams (under .75), and if you're ok running it out a bit on <5.8 terrain, its casual. Apr 1, 2016

[Hide Comment] Climbed the route yesterday, and in all honesty it's bit overrated in difficulties and quality. Besides a couple short sections it's not any harder then Crimson Chrysalis (CC is much more esthetic). If La Cierta Edad or Nightcrawler are also 10c, second pitch should be rated about 10a/b at the most. P3-6 felt more like 5.6-7 range, also S-shape crack (if you climb it as face climb and actually stay away from a crack) was more like 5.7/8 range. Last 3 pitches were by far the best, both in quality and the position.
With 70m ropes, we did 1st rap as single, then combined p10 and 11, then did single rope raps to top of pitch 4. From here 70m and 60m gets you down. Doing shorter raps in mid section also rapping top pitch short will ensure you don't have rope hanging on some flakes.
We managed 12 hours 15 minutes car to car, at pretty casual pace. As far as gear goes, the route can be climbed with a single rack up to 2.5" (golden Camalot), blue #3 Camalot is overkill, and you absolutely don't have to run anything out with this rack. If something trade 3" cam for a couple of 0.4 and 0.5" extra cams.
No crowds- we have not seen a single person all day long.
Over all a pretty decent outing , with good final position in uncrowded location. Just make sure both rock quality and difficulties are below what descriptions give you.
P.S. Even after rebolting, a lot of bolts are already rusty- one more reason to use SS bolts and not skimp on cheap hardware. Oct 27, 2016

[Hide Comment] We climbed into this first day of December, 2016. It was very cold and I wore gloves while clinbong P3-8. We climbed on a 70 and linked 1/2 3/4 5/6 7/8 9/10 11/12 with <5 feet simuling for 7/8 to skip the hanging belay (plush ledges)
We had singles 0.4-1 and it was great. 9/10 was the money pitch. Crux is 5.10b of you are 5'10 or taller and probably 11a for me as I had to get high feet and use a shit hold to reach the sinker finger lock. I give inti 2 stars but 3 if you link it into res Arete to summit. Dec 1, 2016

[Hide Comment] Way fun. A .4 is useful on the second pitch. Mar 13, 2017

[Hide Comment] Except for pitch #7, all rappels can be done with a single 70m. We rapped with a single 70, and did a single strand rappel for the 7th pitch, using our cordallettes and a couple sling as a pull rope(this pitch is about 40 feet too long being able to do it with a single 70). Was happy to not have to carry two ropes the whole way up(and approach) just for this. Apr 27, 2017

[Hide Comment] 100% raps cleanly with an 80m rope and no shenanigans. Nov 14, 2017

[Hide Comment] Inti-RA

Approach: 1:40, no mistakes, did not rush. Used info gathered from MP.

Climb: 3hr to top of Inti. 2hr more to top of Wilson. Linked every pitch.

Descent: 3hr from summit to car. I did the most research for Oak Creek descent and still was confused at the summit. After doing it, it really doesn't seem like the descriptions needed to be so complicated. From the summit, located the very back of Oak Creek canyon, past Levi29. Walk to there, it's basically the last gully. You'll be walking for about a half hour before you hit the gully you go down. Maybe 45 minutes. We kept thinking we missed it, but really, it'll be the last gully and also the first gully that seems doable to walk down. Mar 5, 2018

[Hide Comment] Rappel beta: rappel the route with 2 ropes. We did this in 1.5 hours and 8 rappels, as follows:
Link Pitches 12-11
Link Pitches 10-9
Rap Pitches 8, 7, 6 individually
Link Pitches 5-4
Link Pitches 3-2
Rap Pitch 1 on single rope

Pitch by pitch gear beta:
Pitch 1: ~7 bolts, no gear
Pitch 2: ~10 bolts, no gear but you can place a 0.5 cam if you want
Pitch 3: ~12 bolts, no gear
Pitch 4: ~12 bolts, no gear
Pitch 5: all gear
Pitch 6: small gear + a few bolts
Pitch 7: all gear
Pitch 8: gear + a few bolts
Pitch 9: ~5 bolts, no gear
Pitch 10: ~12 bolts, no gear
Pitch 11: ~5 bolts, no gear
Pitch 12: ~7 bolts + a few offset nuts to supplement Mar 29, 2018

[Hide Comment] October 2018
Summited Wilson via Inti Watana into Resolution Arete. 15 hours car-to-car.

Pre-scouted the approach (recommended if hiking in the dark) and was at the base of the climb sub-2hrs.
Linked many pitches easily with 70m rope.
First crux 10+ was harder than expected.

Resolution Arete topout was less straightforward than topos made it seem - short 5.8 OW section involved brittle, loose, and sandy rock with poor pro - very committing.
Descended via First Creek as we were unable to satisfyingly locate the Oak Creek descent trail and were losing light. Oct 25, 2018

[Hide Comment] Definitely a full value route with interesting climbing, but by golly don't do it in the winter. We approached at 8am Jan 2, 2018 and reached the climb at 10am. 2 hour approach beta == correct even with a party of 3+2. What we didn't think about was that the rock on the first 2 pitches literally NEVER sees the sun. It's just been cooling all winter, and on that day it was %#*$^#! cold. After 2 minutes on the rock, the tips were numb. After the first pitch, my whole hand lost feeling. As I belayed my partner up, my hands regained feeling, but I wish they didn't. They stung like I stuck them in the butt of a hornets nest. We continued up to the top of P5, at which point the wind chill combined with cold rock made the temperatures too cold to endure. We rappelled down and began the descent. We took the main drainage gully to the right, instead of the auxiliary gully for the approach. Two clean rappells plopped us right down in a creek bed we followed until we passed the Wilson Pimple to our left, and then cut left to the road. Took no more than an hour for the descent, and about 8 hours C2C. Will absolutely go for it again in milder weather! Jan 3, 2019

[Hide Comment] Per Steph's pitch-by-pitch gear beta, I found it accurate with the exception of Pitch 4, which has 3 bolts and then finger sized gear on easy terrain to the anchors. I led this expected to find many bolts like the previous pitch, and was surprised after pulling the small bulge to find no more! Thankfully I had a rack in the .2-1 range! We brought about 16 alpine draws/quickdraws, along with a rack of doubles .3-2, with 1 each of 3 and 4. This was plenty, might want more draws if you want to make some links (which is easily done and super fun).

Took about 14.5 hours car-car, with probably an hour lost to stuck ropes on rappels. Killer route! Approach/descent was strenuous but not difficult to find, even without pre-scouting. About 2 hours. Mar 20, 2019

[Hide Comment] Amazing route, gorgeous position and exposure, and you'll have the wall to yourself. The climbing is very well protected, no need for anything bigger than a red C4, and no need for crack technique on the crack pitches. I'd bring a nut or two for the crux 2nd pitch to protect moves between bolts if you're not totally comfortable on 10+ smeary face climbing, and the top "crux" pitch is more like 5.9 with plenty of bolts. 6-7 hrs to climb the route at a human pace, 1.5 hrs to rap it, and the approach/descent are not too complex. Go do it! Apr 2, 2019

[Hide Comment] Big thanks for rebolting the first two pitches with glue ins, and for installing chains at the rap stations. Your hard work is greatly appreciated! Nov 15, 2019

[Hide Comment] Highly recommend linking certain pitches. Take a look at the length of each pitch and take advantage of it if you can, we had a 70m and linked several. The only gripe I have about this climb is how crazy bolted it is, literally almost every 5-7 feet. If you link pitches be prepared to skip bolts or bring 20+ draws. The 10c crux is short and well protected, bring that .4! We continued up resolution arete after summiting. If you are linking the two climbs, finding the start of resolution can be a little tricky. From the top platform of Inti head NW until you find a very obvious bivy spot. The start of resolution is about 10-15m NW from this in a little saddle with bushes and rocks. Start the belay here and head up the left leaning crack. Be prepared for loose and rotten rock on the upper pitches and sparse pro. The two climbs are VERY different in style and the dramatic change took some adjustment. Oct 18, 2020

[Hide Comment] We did the approach in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Info was gathered from MP and various trip reports. Hiked the jeep trail in the dark. Started scrambling at first light. At the base of the white rot gully, the easiest way up is on the right. Follow cairns for a super cool and fun approach! Once you get to the big pine tree, you're 3 minutes from the base. Turn right and go up a chockstone tunnel.

Possible to link pitches in pairs with an 80m. Majority of the climbing is 5.8 face climbing or below. I did 5 feet of jamming on the whole route.
P1: All draws, optional nut placement, 0.4, or 0.5 for the crux. Give your partner the rest of the rack.
P2: Bolts to anchor, 3 more bolts, then 60 feet of thin gear. 1st half had some spooky hollow holds. It was wandery, slabby and juggy. Once you past the first anchor, it's positive face climbing to the thin gear section. It's slabby and easy.
P3: Gear and a few bolts. Step right and up a hand crack. Run out on easy, positive holds after the first anchor. Go slightly left after the bolts end to the first good belay ledge at the top.
P4: S crack, cool overhung stemming move, then more crack. Lots of gear opportunities. Ends with bolted positive crimpy face climbing to an even better belay ledge. Extend gear lower on the pitch. 75m.
P5: Fully bolted. Starts with a juggy roof pull to the right of the anchor. Amazing, sustained, positive holds for 50m. Extend draws before you move left. Ends at an uncomfortable belay stance.
P6: 90% bolted. Short section ~3 bolts from the top for an optional nut or small cam. 40m.

If I were to do it again, I'd bring a headlamp, 22 draws (10 alpine), nuts, doubles in small cams up to 0.75, single up to 2, and a single 80m. You can clip every bolt with 22 draws.

Every anchor is bolted and we used pre-tied quads for efficiency.

You can combine the P11 and P12 rap with a single 80m. It is a full 40m rap so tie knots. Rap every pitch individually afterwards. It took us 80 minutes to simul rap on Grigris from the top. No shenanigans.

On the descent gully, the first rap is obvious off large boulder with webbing and quick links. Rap to a big ledge filled with loose rock. Facing the wall, go right to chains. Once on the ground, don't go back across the band of white/red rock. There's cairns and a decent trail in the gully between the cliff band and big boulders.

4:49am started hiking
6:58 arrived at the base
1:38pm summit of Inti
3:10 finished rapping
5:38: car

Shade all day in mid November.

13 hours car to car at a mediocre pace. Epic and satisfying day! Nov 18, 2020

[Hide Comment] This climb is amazing. The approach is way harder than Levitation 29. There were many spots I needed to take my pack off and pass it on the 4th class whereas on the approach for Levitation I never had to do that. If you read the beta here and look at the pictures in the Handren guide, it’s not too hard to not get lost on the approach. The one thing I would add is that there are actually 2 places you tunnel through a giant chock stone. One is in the white rot gully and it’s huge. The other is smaller and looks improbable from the base of the gully that leads to where the route starts. I didn’t realize you could get through it until I hiked right up to it.

On the descent, both raps that avoid the white rot gully can be done with a single 70m. We climbed and rapped the whole route with a single 70m. Only the 7th pitch rap needed a 35 foot pull cord after single line rappelling. Apr 8, 2021

[Hide Comment] We brought a 4 camalot for upper resolution, which was nice. The first 5.8 OW pitch isn't too hard, left side in, takes hand gear in the back, but the 4 protects the top. A 5 would have been ideal on the 2nd OW pitch after the catwalk, decent 20 foot section w/o other great gear options, but isn't terribly hard. The last major pitch is on pretty terrible soft loose rock over a bulge. We did 2 more pitches after the giant pine tree(end of George Bells topo) which was mostly scrambling but had some harder sections as well. Route finding isn't super straightforward, but take the easiest looking line. Easy 5 min scramble to summit from there. Oak creek descent took 3 hours as expected. Apr 18, 2021

[Hide Comment] The approach is easy to piece together from the comments here.
One thing that wasn't obvious is that you cannot always follow the cairns... at some point still on hiking terrain you will see a pink/red cliff band in front of you that has a really obvious red pillar on the left; to get to white rot gully as described you need to go to the left and around that pillar.

There's a line of really big, obvious cairns going up and right well past the cliff band; we followed those initially and they seem to lead to nowhere. Apr 19, 2021

[Hide Comment] Confirming that you can safely rap from top of Inti Watana with a single 80m rope. May 5, 2021

[Hide Comment] We climbed the route a few weeks ago. Super fun climb! I just wanted to mention that you can (just barely) do both descent gully rappels in one with a single 80m rope. Also we rapped the route with a single 80m. We had to rap each pitch individually with the exception of pitches 11&12. Nov 4, 2021

[Hide Comment] Truly an excellent route! People complain about the belay stances but after Velvet Revolver they weren't bad at all. My partner has been trying to talk me into doing this to Res Arete for years and I was too intimidated, but it really wasn't bad. The crux is the second pitch and everything after that was pretty cruiser with a single set of camalots to #4 (for the arete) and 17 draws (we skipped a few bolts in easy terrain). If you do the arete, print out George Bell's topo; it is much better and more accurate than the Handren guidebook (which also has some bad beta for this climb - the same incorrect info as the last edition from over a decade ago). Mar 23, 2022

[Hide Comment] We linked this with Res in 12 and 1/2 hours car to car. The approach took us 71 minutes, and the descent down Cleaver Crack a bit under 3 and 1/2 hours. Inti is well bolted and totally cruiser. The upper pitches of Resolution were complete choss, and the Handren guidebook was mostly inaccurate. We were made it to the catwalk feature, and after that nothing matched what the guidebook mentioned. Route finding to the summit was long and involved, and entirely choss. Amazingly no holds broke off. This was in stark contrast to Horseshoe wall. If you're up for some serious adventure climbing then you might enjoy summiting, but for most people I'd recommending rappelling from the top of Into. That would be a long, mostly casual day, with some of the best exposure Red Rock has the offer Mar 27, 2022

[Hide Comment] Had a fantastic outing on this route and would recommend that people get on it even if 5.10 is your cap for multi pitches. Let me clear up some info for future climbers. The approach is a full value adventure approach, I would scout before attempting. The crux is no more than 5.10b sport, even for short people. I am 5'6 and not overly strong, crux felt like techy 10b. More gear is required then what others mention. There are heavily bolted sections, but you will definitely be plugging gear throughout the day. Upper 10c pitch (per guidebook) is 5.8 or 5.9 roof. For someone climbing towards their limit, I would pitch out 1 & 2, link everything else. If you are linking gear pitches which are scattered throughout the climb past 1 & 2 then bring doubles to #1 and a single 2 with offset nuts and additional nuts if you really want to sew it up.

I would recommend climbing this route with an 80m or a 70m + 10m of accessory cord to rappel pitch 7 without issue if you know how to extend your rappel. I would not want to haul two ropes up to the climb or deal with rope management of two ropes in all the hanging belays you will encounter.

Most importantly take note that one of the pictures for this climb indicates a rap gully for descent instead of down climbing the white rot gully. I can confirm that this descent 100% requires two ropes. Even with two ropes the gully can eat your rope. My partner was fatigued/sick so I took him down the rap gully. Had to bail cams since we had 1 rope. I came back and collected my cams with two ropes. The gully then ate my tag line. Had to re-climb the white rot gully, free the rope then downclimb the white rot gully.

Do yourself a favor and just take the white rot gully out. Mar 30, 2022

[Hide Comment] My wife and I climbed this route yesterday with 2x60m half ropes. Fun route! The pitch ratings felt soft as compared to other Red Rocks climbs (e.g. Night Crawler also at 10c is much harder than IW; the 5.9s on Refried Brains much harder than the 5.9s on IW). The two half ropes allowed linking rappels (see Steph Abegg post) and allowed sharing the rope weight on the approach (which is full value as others has pointed out). Also, we found the main descent gully to be straight forward down climbing on solid rock to the rappel anchor. The double 60m ropes got us to the bottom with about 10m to spare and for us the ropes pulled clean. Apr 30, 2022

[Hide Comment] Went down the “descent gully” for the de-proach. Found the rap anchor easily. Never found a second rap anchor. Our single 80m rope barely made it to the ground in one rap. I doubt a single 70m would make it. Not sure if there is a second rap anchor, perhaps we missed it somehow.

Amazing climbing for the whole route. Pitches 10-12 can be linked with an 80 for a mega long pitch with awesome exposure!!! Feb 19, 2023

[Hide Comment] Two 60m ropes will get you down from the top of P4 to the top of P2 but KNOT YOUR ENDS. It's very close. Apr 17, 2023

[Hide Comment] There is currently a hive of hornets on P2 (crux pitch) there are probably 100 or more right in the crack (see photo). Not really anyway to climb past them, we bailed. Hopefully they’ll leave. May 28, 2023

[Hide Comment] This route is very straightforward and can be climbed quickly. With a 70 m rope, you can climb the entire route in six pitches. The position is spectacular, the belay stances are great, and the climbing was fun

I thought the beta in the guidebook was a little confusing for linking into the resolution arette. So here’s my two cents. When you top out the pillar, walk over to the main wall with the large, detached blocks/pillars. Step down, slightly right over a really nice looking bivy spot. Tunnel through the hole into the chimney behind the pillar.

The chimney is easy and protects well enough. Once out of the chimney, step left onto the face of the pillar. 5- easy climbing.

The resolution arette pitches aren’t really that great, but well worth doing to top out such a big mountain! The walk off into oak creek canyon is awesome. Plenty of beta online to do it right if you’re paying attention. It’s beautiful back there. Nov 16, 2023

[Hide Comment] Approach is probably the crux (3 hours, easy to get lost). Find good beta or better yet climb it with someone who's been there!

Fun, aesthetic, simul-repelled to the ground. Start in the dark because it could be a 14 - 16 hour day with approach, climb, rappel, return, especially if as a partnership you're unfamiliar. Nov 22, 2023

[Hide Comment] What a wonderful line hidden in the folds of Mount Wilson. Great position and we had the whole mountain to ourselves.
Some quick notes after climbing it yesterday-

• The approach is longer than you think. Basically think of it as four stages- 1. across the desert to Wilson Pimple (20-30 min) 2. left at cairns onto a ridge eventually dumping you into a drainage arriving at the "white rot". (30 min) 3. up the drainage- this includes scrambling, tunneling, a couple hand-lines, moments of doubt, and eventually the singular obvious hidden large pine tree hooking up a canyon to your left (south) (45-60 minutes) 4. pass the big tree, then shortly after tunnel beneath a massive chockstone (5th class) and after a few minutes of hiking up the corridor later the route is on your right. You cant miss it because it's the only bolts you've seen all day, and it's very obvious. (5-10 min)

• There is no 10c move on this route. Maaaaaybe on pitch 2 but that's a stretch.

• There are some moments where there are oddly no bolts (poor protection early pitch 4) then moments where a bomber cam can go right next to a bolt. Just be aware. This is basically a 12-pitch sport route with a couple pitches requiring the rack you brought up. I was happy to have the full rack for the S crack (I had bd cams 0 to #2)

• We find it odd the line stops just because it arrives at a ledge at 80% height up the mountain. Sure, Resolution offers a path to the top, but requires a different rack and is notably less quality, so why? The quality face climbing of Inti keeps going all the way to the summit directly above (300'?). Someone should seriously finish the stand-alone line to the top in consistent style and same rack IMHO.
• Pitches 9-10 and 11-12 paired together make very nice single pitches. If you feel low on draws you can skip because there are PLENTY.

• For some reason most of the rap stations have offset bolts but same length chains, so you are basically rapping off a single bolt with a “backup” eight inches lower. Why?

• The descent option (rapellers right in the gully) didn't seem worth the hassle to us but it was "fine". I would have also been just as fine reversing what we came up and not pulling out rope and harness again. Dec 14, 2023

[Hide Comment] I feel weird doing this but after giving it some time and thought, kind of feel compelled to at least comment on it. Comparing this route to all other old school routes I've done at the grade:
Tribute 10c, ZNP, Utah-- similar
Made To Be Broken 10c, ZNP, Utah --much harder
Livin' On The Edge 10c, snow canyon, utah -- harder
Simple Truths 10c, lime kiln canyon, AZ -- easier
Riddlers Delight 5.10-- much harder.

I personally feel from these experiences that this route is probably pretty spot on for the grade. But all that said...made to be broken has been suspected of 5.11 these days as it has broken and cleaned substantially. Riddlers delight to me felt very sand bagged. Listening to honnolds interview on the HURT, he suggests 11a as an upgrade and think there's serious weight in that. I'd suggest 10d, I also graded Livin on The Edge as 10d so that feels right to me. But what do I know. Lol Dec 21, 2023

[Hide Comment] This was the last climb for our trip. This was an epic day.

Approach is super easy and straightforward, so much info on the web just follow the old road until you find some karns on the left. They will bring you to the red band (go on the left), follow the gully and then the super big tree mentioned in detailed beta.

1st pitch is crappy but the rest of the climb is nice. Only 1 pitch is trad and most pitches have loads of bolts. It kinda feels like a sport route :( (This is not an adventure route, just a really long climb with a steep approach).

Most pitches can be combined making the whole route faster, just make sure to bring a bunch of draws (would guess 13-14). Same thing with the rappel, combine them. Just make sure to flick the rope when it’s about to pass through the rings to help it not get stuck.

Otherwise climbing feels secure and the pro is good. Jan 23, 2024

[Hide Comment] Plan minimum 2.5 hr approach from road beginning at aeolian wall trail on MP. Gets steep. Need 2 60m ropes for raps. If you're lucky, you will find a solid 2 bolt anchor on the descent trail that needs a double rope rap as well (the half way on my 70m was still approx 30 ft up). This bolt anchor won't be located on the way up because you scramble up and around it. But coming down it seems to be on the logical path down. No beehive on 2. Really fun. Crux felt soft. First bolt on P1 is easy to clip. Mar 27, 2024

[Hide Comment] Awesome route!

We used an 80 meter rope and highly recommend. I'm pretty sure it allows for linking any 2 pitches. We linked everything except for 7 and 8 but I think we could have linked those (~75m total per guidebook). We were also able to Rap 12 & 11 together. It was single raps thereafter (no shenanigans on P7 S crack) and as a bonus, the white-rot-gully rap line can be done in one go, saving on the de-proach time. It would 100% need to be split into 2 raps, separated by a ledge traverse if a 70 were alternatively used. Apr 16, 2024

[Hide Comment] Brought a total of 16 draws (6 QuickDraws and 10 alpine draws), and a single set of cams in sizes 0.3 - 1. This felt like plenty of gear if you’re ok skipping bolts and running it out in easier terrain.
Here’s how we linked/pitched it out with an 80m rope: 1, 2&3, 3&4, 4&5, 6&7, 8&9, 10-12.
I didn’t link pitch 1 with 2 because of all the talk of pitch 2 being sandbagged at 10c. In hindsight I would have linked them as it felt correct at 10c (definitely easier than the crux pitches of the nightcrawler). Apr 24, 2024

[Hide Comment] What a great route! My friend and I climbed this on the 27th and couldn't have asked for better weather. Here's how our day went...

A bit of personal background - my partner and I both have lots of multipitch experience. He's in great shape and can confidently lead 11+ trad in RR, whereas I'm in okay shape and my headgame can get iffy. However, despite the exposure on this route, I thought that almost all of the holds were very positive/juggy, which made for a cruiser climb.

We brought 12 quickdraws, 8 alpine runners, a single rack of #0.3-2 BD cams (if you're comfortable running it out on 5.9 RR terrain, there's no need for a #3), a few nuts, and a 70 m rope. We parked at the south creek lot outside of the scenic loop, left at 7:05 am, reached the turnoff on the main trail at around 7:45, and reached the base of the climb around 8:40. The approach was fairly straightforward, and required quite a bit of scrambling and bushwacking (worse than Levitation 29's approach IMO). The first 2 pitches we led separately, and I found the first pitch to be the scariest of the whole route because none of the holds were super positive and felt slick with sand. The 2nd pitch I thought was closer to 10a/b (I'm 5'1" and didn't think it was height dependent). From there to the top, I linked two pitches at a time. Pitches 3&4 required me to use all my draws without skipping any bolts (although it's easy enough to skip a few). Pitches 7&8 required my partner and I to simulclimb ~15 ft. It's very to easy to run out the "s" crack if confident on 5.9 RR terrain, so there's no need to bring more than a single rack. It took us 3.5 hours from the base to the top of the climb.

We pre-rigged our rappels and made it down in an hour. The only shenanigans that occured was a carabiner block on pitch 7, for which we had each brought a ~20' cordalette to help pull the rope.

The descent took a little over an hour. In the interest of time/not wanting to test the rope-eating red gully, we went back down the white rot gully. It did require me for a few sections to be slow and very purposeful with my movement, but even in retrospect, I think it was better and faster than rapping the red gully.

10/10 would climb again. Oct 30, 2024

[Hide Comment] Climbed this over the weekend. We used a 70m rope and brought the following gear: 22 quickdraws (including 6 alpine), a single rack of cams up to #3 BD, and a small set of offset nuts. In hindsight, a single rack didn't feel sufficient for linking pitches, so I’d highly recommend doubles in small to medium sized cams. Running it out to conserve gear slowed us down.

The rappels went smoothly with a 70m rope. We followed the advice below and brought 50 feet of cord for rappelling Pitch 7. For the descent, we downclimbed the White Rot Gully and lowered the packs in a few spots to make the downclimb more manageable. Mar 3, 2025

[Hide Comment] My partner and I did this into res arete yesterday! Loved the climb. We got a little confused with the transition from Inti to Resolution Arete, so I wrote up our beta with some photos of the transition and the last few pitches on my site: miaclimbs.com/2025/03/21/mt… Mar 21, 2025

[Hide Comment] Car to car in 10hr 5min starting at South Oak Creek Trailhead, climbing Inti Wanta and descending via rapping the route. Our poop adjusted time is 9hr 55. I feel like poop adjusted time is important and I hope it catches on haha. Started walking out at 5:45am on a Saturday and had one party ahead of us that introduced 30min of slow down. Rack we took was, doubles to .5 and a single .75-3 and 20 alpines. Could have ditched maybe 1 of the .5s and a finger size. The trad climbing parts are pretty easy and we ran it out. 5.9? Felt like 5.8 but who am I to say? All bolted belays.

It took 2hr 50min (non poop adjusted) to get from the car to leader starting p1.
4hrs to climb the route in 8 pitches using a 70m
80min to rap the route with a 70m and 60m in 8 raps
3hrs to descend, we skipped the white rot gully and opted for 2 single 60m rope rappels, as per the beta from many folks including Steph Abeggs trip report (highly recommend her beta for all climbs!).

Climbing linkups:
P1-2
P3-4
P5,6,7,8 (individual not linked
P9-10
P11-12

Rappel linkups:
P1
P2-3
P4-5
P8,7,6 (individually)
P9-10
P11-12

Follow the Approach to Aelian Wall trail from the parking area at South Oak Creek Trailhead. Then go up, it will be about 2miles of flat ground then a half or quarter mile of straight up to the white rot gully. Get ready for some easy 5th or so scrambling up the gully, maybe 4th? There will be a large leaning pine tree. Go up until you reach the massively amazing choke stone that you go through and out to get to the base of the climb.

The 10c move on p2 was great! Very well bolted so just go for it. Overall really chill day. Wish we would have done the arete as well. Next time! Mar 23, 2025

[Hide Comment] Great climb. With a single 70m, we linked 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12 just fine. All the raps, except P6 go with a single 70m. Handren's pitch lengths are definitely longer than the plumb line's. Apr 2, 2025

[Hide Comment] A lot of the same has already been said, but I gotta underscore one thing - don’t be fooled into thinking there won’t be 20+ people at the base of this route on any given day. Highly recommend throwing a few extra cams in the pack and having a backup plan (Dogma, GOTWG, etc) which is very manageable considering the approach is fairly chill. Apr 6, 2025

[Hide Comment] With a 70m rope we were able to link 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, 9&10 and 11&12. Fix and followed all pitches. Took about 1.5 hours to the base. 3.5 hours for the route. Finished via RA. About 5.5 hours to the summit. 2 hours down via First Creek. Pro tip: Bring a little water filter if going down First Creek early season. There was plenty of water in the creek today 4/10. Was pretty brutal hike out in the 90 Degree heat looking at the water we couldn't drink... 10c seems fair for Red Rocks, crux is short lived. Apr 10, 2025

[Hide Comment] Did a hold break on P2? It felt harder than usual, but I haven't climbed it enough to really know. Maybe I'm just getting softer :) Oct 2, 2025

[Hide Comment] @benwu I've found that move to be morpho. I've had days where it felt 11a and others where it's felt 10b. I think you have to hit it just right. Oct 3, 2025