Zentropa

A fairly large hand and foothold broke off the crux in the summer of 2002, making it quite a bit harder than 11a. Mar 9, 2003

The "11a" Zentropa was to be our easier end of day climb. That was not to be. After many hangs, I aided it. I should have checked out this site before going there, but I didn't know we were going to Dream Canyon. But I was redeemed when I got home and learned that a hold had broken off. The broken hold appears to have been left of the third bolt. The climbing to where the hold once was feels like 11a or so, strenuous on the fingers. Clipping the third bolt will be very strenuous on the fingers (I clipped it on aid). At that point feet more or less run out, and the handholds get worse. I was able to slap left around the arete, but there's nothing there--smooth and round. Looks like you need very strong fingers or very good footwork, preferably both. There is a 4th bolt just left of the arete not mentioned above or in Rossiter. This bolt seems useless except to aid around onto the slab (and then it's very useful!).

Unfortunately, with the key hold now gone, the quality of the route is diminished. The rock is still as good as before (better now that the apparently fragile hold is gone), but the route is very inconsistent in difficulty now.

I'm calling this 11d, but it may be harder. It is way harder than The Deep (11c) which I got clean earlier in the day, and way harder than Sargasso Sea (11c/d/12a), which I got with a few hangs last year. But it's also a different kind of climbing. Crimpy and steep rather than technical slab moves.

Note that above the crux it is a long but easy (5.4?) runout on a slab to the anchors. Maybe 30'. If you move left on the slab it's really pretty easy, and gets easier and more positive the higher you go. Sep 8, 2004

Does anyone know what the route with red hangers about 15-20 feet right of zentropa is called and rated?looks nice but didn't do it. Oct 25, 2004

Wow! The last pitch of Zentropa is amazing. It is now one of my favorite pitches in Dream Canyon. We linked the climb "unknown w/ red hangers" to Zentropa for an excellent 3-pitch tour up the South Tower of Lost Angel. Not to be missed. Nov 10, 2004

I set up this really nice route with Gail Effron during the summer of 1997. The final moves at the top of the first pitch were very difficult BEFORE a hold broke off. 5.11a was a sandbag in the first place. The route to the right of this with red hangers was called Diabloque. See Rock Climbing Boulder Canyon, A Falcon Guide, 1999. I placed the bolts, but I thought the whole thing was weird and lacked continuity, so I never went back to redpoint it. I probably should have just stuck with it. It's all great rock over there. May 7, 2007

I thought P3 was rather stiff for 10c. Jul 4, 2008

Has anyone freed the first pitch since the hold broke? I could not make that final move on toprope today. Loved the last pitch. In addition to the runout on P1 after the crux, the second pitch is also run out after the 5.8 move but also on easy terrain. Jul 2, 2017