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The Silver Surfer

5.11d, Sport, 90 ft (27 m),  Avg: 3.6 from 91 votes
FA: Dave Pegg
Colorado > Rifle > Rifle Mtn Park > Hawaiian Wall

Description

Woah! This is another new route at Rifle. That makes, let me see ..., 3 this year! The Silver Surfer climbs the long gray streak on the left side of the Hawaiian-Two-Foot Wall (between the Skull Cave and Lower Tier). The Hawaiian Two-Foot Wall gets the bests afternoon sun exposure in Rifle in the winter (12:30 p.m. till 4 p.m.). We climbed this route in t-shirts in December.

The Silver Surfer is a sustained Rifle "slab", reminiscent of Ivory Tower but with harder cruxes (one at the start, one at the top) and more sustained. The route is still a little crisp and dusty, but the rock and position are outstanding. I'll stick my neck out (OK, it's my route!) and say that with traffic it will become a classic.

What else? Take 15 quickdraws. Ha, I told you it was long.

Protection

13 bolts plus anchors. There's two quickdraws on the anchors at the moment. I'll add a fixed lowering station soon. Beware: This route is long. Your belayer will have to scramble up a few feet for you to be able to lower on a 60 meter rope.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] Tie a knot in the end of your rope or just use a 70m rope. This route has probably cleaned up a lot over the years. Surprisingly clean with no dust and very little if any chalk. Jun 6, 2010
Michael Schneiter
Glenwood Springs, CO
 
[Hide Comment] Loved this route. Hardly a trace of chalk on it. We only had 10-15 feet left with our 70, but we belayed from the top of the stairs. Sep 15, 2011
dbyte
Carbondale, CO
  5.11d
[Hide Comment] Best of its grade that I've done in the canyon. An outstanding loooong pitch of sustained small holds & interesting sequences. Oct 29, 2011
Mort
  5.11d
[Hide Comment] Definitely harder than Hawaii Five-O. Liked Five-O quite a bit more. Sep 22, 2013
Julian Barnett
Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] This and Hawaii Five-O are incredible routes. They're long with just awesome, flowy climbing all the way. I didn't want them to end! Definitely tie knots in the end of your rope and bring a 70! Both these routes are reminiscent of techy more vert limestone like Shinto Wall in Ten Sleep, or Lime Kiln. Jun 29, 2020