PRINT: Rock Climb Pillar Talk, Red Rocks

Pillar Talk

5.7+, Trad, 200 ft (61 m), 2 pitches,

Avg: 2.7 from 97 votes
FA: John Landaker, Jim Whitesell, Marke Moore, Joe Herbst 1973
Nevada > Southern Nevada > Red Rocks > (07) Willow Spring > Willow Springs South

Access Issue: Red Rock RAIN AND WET ROCK: The sandstone is fragile and is very easily damaged when wet. Details

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).

Description

Pillar Talk is located on the tall white pillar to the south of and directly across from the first parking lot in Willow Springs. Approach by heading down the Hidden Falls trail, take the SMYC Trail that branches to the left and as you cross the wash cut right and head straight for the feature up faint trails. Alternatively, you can approach as per Hidden Falls Wall and once there, contour to the left, east, around the base of the crags for about 100 yards.

This route gets an R rating from the guide books for the 5.4 run-out on pitch 2. We felt this section to be an easy jaunt up low angle slabs with a few opportunities for protection.

Pitch 1: On the right side of the pillar, climb the crack through wide sections. At the roof, do a fun hand traverse left on to the arête. Move up the face to belay in a crack above some tall grass. (5.7, 150 feet)

Pitch 2: Continue up the white face on balls, to the top of the pillar. (5.4 PG, 50 feet)

Variation: On pitch 1, rather than traversing left, climb the crack through the roof then catch up the regular route that is to the left. (5.10b)

Descent: Go right and rappel with a single 70 meter rope or two ropes from slings around a pine tree. This is the top of the route Sleeper.

Protection

Standard rack to #4 Camalot, doubles in #3 and #3.5 help.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Right before the traverse

From the base of P1

Pillar Talk

Jesse Patchett part way up the first pitch of Pillar Talk.

Jesse Patchett at the belay ledge at the top of Pitch 1 of Pillar Talk.

Jesse Patchett overcoming the roof on the first pitch of Pillar Talk.

P2 had more pro opportunities than expected

Traversing just before the slab begins.

Climber on P1 before the traverse

Jesse Patchett on the top block of the Pillar.

Ron Graham on the easy second pitch. It's almost a scramble rather than a climb and offers several protection placements.

Ron Graham approaching the top of Pitch 1.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ron Graham

5.7

This climb is tons of fun! It's shaded in the morning, so it can even be climbed in the middle of the summer (we did!) The crux is probably about 2/3 the way up the crack where some awkward moves are required to get past a protrusion. The face on the left has lots of great holds, but offers little or no protection. The face on the right offers few holds until the angle of it backs off just below the roof. The traverse below the roof might look scary from the ground, but has lots of finger and toe holds and is one of the funnest parts of the climb. This climb can easily be done with a single 60 meter rope. Rather than rappel it, scramble left at the top until you find a cairned ramp back down to the base of the cliff. Jul 26, 2010

Cunning Linguist

Sleeper raps nicely with a 70 to a low ledge that has a short, easy downclimb or optional second rap (12 feet or so) to the base. Way more pleasant than the walkoff.

This is a fun route but if you believe that 5.7 bit, I've got some property to sell you on the Brooklyn Bridge....

2nd pitch is heads up-easy climbing, but if you fell off of it or broke a hold, you might be PGing yourself into an ICU. Climb light. Jan 30, 2012

Patrick Mulligan
Reno, NV

5.7

I have to agree with SP/S on this. Its been years since I did this, but I remember getting a little gripped on the easy climbing on the second pitch. While there is a little gear there, the rock is very soft and if not careful you could go for one hell of a ride. Feb 14, 2013

Barry Ostrowsky
las vegas

Awesome!!! Loved every minute of it!!! Must do!!! Hiked up to Chocolate Tranquility to make it a 3 pitch excursion and this is absolutely the way to go!!! So much fun!!! Hike down a ways and rap from unknown 5.8 area Nov 10, 2013

John Hegyes
Las Vegas, NV

5.7

What does "blue collar" mean when describing a route? Mar 20, 2014

mmacelhi
Gunks

5.7+

some challenging and thoughtful climbing, especially for my first day on RR sandstone in 8 years. we had the entire South Willow springs to ourselves on easter saturday so thats a plus too. best approach comes from a bit further east down the wash May 7, 2014

Mike Zasadzien

5.7 R

Fun climb, definitely more mental than physical, quite a bit run-out for the traverse and afterwards. Plug in gear as high as you can beforehand, and make the extremely enjoyable moves over. There's a crumbly pocket to possibly fit a #2 into right after the traverse [left mine lower down, so, can't confirm but really wished I had it since a 1 was too small], but blank for gear otherwise [maybe sling a horn somewhere?]. Otherwise I had to run it out past the bushes another 15 feet up compounded with nothing during the moves over, which make it unnerving to say the least. A second 4 would have been nice during the early section, but a 5 isn't wholly necessary, as I didn't have either. Nov 7, 2016

Kyle D
Las Vegas, NV

5.7 PG13

Climbed this route to get to Chocolate Tranquility Fountain and I found P2 to be pretty sketchy. I got a couple of pieces in down low, but the majority of the climbing was unprotected on soft / crumbly rock. Fortunately it is a pretty short pitch.

The climbing on P1 was fun, especially the traverse under the roof, but it was a bit more work than I was expecting for a 5.7. Probably not the best climb for a new trad leader. Oct 23, 2017

William Thiry
Las Vegas

5.8

A tad stout for 5.7 at a few sections on the excellent first pitch, very enjoyable. 2.5 stars. Oct 17, 2018

Keith Boone
Henderson, NV

Can you climb pitch one only without leaving gear? Oct 2, 2019

John Hegyes
Las Vegas, NV

5.7

Keith Boone, the anchor at the top of p1 is a gear anchor. You cannot walk-off from the top of p1. Accordingly, you cannot "climb pitch one only without leaving gear". Oct 3, 2019

John Hegyes
Las Vegas, NV

5.7

Two-bolt anchors have been added to the top of pitch 1 of Pillar Talk along with the top of the pitch 1 variation. The bolts are right next to cracks. This route was perfectly fine for almost 50 years as a pure, traditional, gear-only climb, but now, with the addition of four bolts, it's been dumbed down so that people can skip the easy, slightly run-out second pitch, I guess. The bolters didn't even bother to clean the drill dust off the rock, so their work is clearly visible from the road. Jun 11, 2020

Miles Altivolus
Las Vegas, NV

5.7 PG13

Great pitch and solid for the grade. Just did this one again with my 14-year-old son after 20+ years and was surprised to see that a 2-bolt anchor sprang up at 100'. (Guide services do set a fine example. Top shelf guys.) Illegal bolts and equivocal "R" ratings aside, I would be more concerned about the hollow and rotten rock on P1 than about the runout on P2 which is 4th class. Recommend large hexes and cupped-hand to fist-size cams. Apr 5, 2021

sa s
Las Vegas, NV

5.7

Super fun, expecting harder per comments but only felt slightly awkward at one point trying to place a piece and did not feel harder than 5.7. I also don't know if i would call the top pitch run out although my partner disagreed. Plenty of gear up until the last 20-30 ft which was on very easy ground and not unlike many red rock slab pitches that don't get a PG13 or R rating. Highly recommend! Nov 29, 2021

Michael Bee
NorCal

This route is a must do! Had such a blast on it. Def do a few of the upper routes after sending Pillar Talk. Choco Tranquility Fountain was great, as was Above and Beyond. If waiting for a bunch of tailgating parties up Olive Oil and Cat and the Hat isn’t your thing, here’s your route - the quality is just as good. Mar 25, 2022

Paul Stoliker
Canmore, AB

5.8 PG13

There is a bolt anchor part way up the original Pitch-1, where the grade eases. Also, we traversed onto the face much lower than indicated in the pictures: before the big crack starts to bend. It was very run out, but not too hard after the first couple of moves onto the face. Oct 16, 2022

Emily Williams
Boston, MA

5.7+ R

I'd like to reiterate here in the comments that the guidebook considers pitch 2 R-rated. Perhaps an "easy jaunt" if you're very comfortable on sandstone and friction slab, bc I ran that out for abut 30-40 ft. I skimmed the description to pitch2, saw PG, but otherwise would probably not have gotten myself into this situation. Nov 29, 2022

Harris Kashtan

5.7+

Really fun 1st pitch with interesting climbing followed by a meh second pitch. There are bolted anchors with rap rings at the top of the first pitch which I would use unless you were trying to get all the way to the top to climb tranquility fountain. Jun 6, 2023

Matthew Robison
Las Vegas

5.8-

The first pitch is shaded and right facing off width crack climbing to anchor bolts. The second pitch is protectable with smaller cams in little pockets and small short cracks. The second pitch might deserve a PG, but nothing more. Sep 23, 2023

Sean Schneckloth
Walla Walla, WA

Super fun route! Totally worth doing, the most thoughtful/interesting of climbs around this grade at Willow Springs. Reiterating what's said before me, the second pitch is not worth it unless you plan on climbing one of the routes on the ledge above. I would call the second pitch PG or PG-13 maybe. The protection was better than expected (I certainly wouldn't call it R), but if you're not comfortable on that type of terrain I understand how the end of the pitch could be a little nerve-wracking. Mar 3, 2024