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NSP

5.13c, Sport,  Avg: 3.5 from 12 votes
FA: Keith Anderson (Bolted by Tom Ramier)
Minnesota > Red Wing (a.k.a… > Winter Wall

Description

NSP, so named for the power required to do it, is the premier hard Red Wing route, and among the best of the harder routes in Minnesota. It starts with a short, easy sequence of crimps, and then the crux comes, brief and brutal.

Above the crux, work your way through easy and fun full pad crimps and jugs for twenty feet, slightly angling to the right. Because of the difficulty above and below, it can feel a bit odd to be on such easy terrain, but fret not: you are not off-route.

You will quickly find yourself on some big jugs with your feet not quite beneath you. Gain a rest that I didn't think really offered full recovery. Chalk a couple times, and just keep going.

The redpoint crux, is not as difficult as the lower crux, but it's still really fun. Make long moves between good holds, and clip the anchors from jugs. The perfect Red Wing route.

Just so people understand why this route has such a wide variety of grade opinions: The original beta was a lot harder - Scott Hahn et all got their feet up super high through a kind of layback crux, which is eye poppingly desperate, and explains the original grade. Chris Hirsch came and showed me much easier beta in 2006, with low feet. Different beta = different difficulty. I'd say the way I did it was closer to the lower half of the 5.13 grade, but MP page won't let me change the grade under which the route was originally listed. 

Protection

Bolts.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

a combo of healthy shoulders and tenacity will get you through the crux! Photo by Andrea Zerbe
[Hide Photo] a combo of healthy shoulders and tenacity will get you through the crux! Photo by Andrea Zerbe
Matt cruxin
[Hide Photo] Matt cruxin
Starting the long reaches that come before the mid-route rest
[Hide Photo] Starting the long reaches that come before the mid-route rest

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ian Harmon
Minneapolis, MN
[Hide Comment] I'm pretty sure this is the route where the current rating is unknown, because one of the crux holds broke off. May 25, 2006
Scott Hahn
  5.13d
[Hide Comment] I know of at least 4 ascents since the hold broke. For me it was solid 13d. Others it may have felt easier or harder. I've heard 13c and 13d. Either way it was one of my favorite routes I ever did at Red Wing. Jun 7, 2006
Sean Patrick
Minneapolis, MN
  5.13d
[Hide Comment] Yeah, I think Andy Raether wanted to rename it after being the first to climb post-hold-break. Something like Pure Power, or something. Anyway, everyone still calls it NSP, and yeah, it's been done a bunch since then. Best route at Red Wing! Oct 11, 2010
randy baum
  5.13c
[Hide Comment] located just around the corner from jumpstart, in between relentless (11a crack) and paul's boutique (5.13 blunt arete). Oct 11, 2010
Cory Luke
Sauk Rapids, MN
[Hide Comment] Went back yesterday for my redpoint accent, but when I reached for the crux hold, it wasn't there. Good luck to anyone who tries it now. Oct 31, 2010
[Hide Comment] Cory, the crux hold broke off a couple days ago.. It has been glued back on and is as good as new...Get back on there and crush that thing! Nov 1, 2010
randy baum
  5.13c
[Hide Comment] man, gluing rocks together....when you stop and think about the stuff we do to climb rocks, you realize this is all pretty ridiculous. i love it all the same. Nov 2, 2010
Cory Luke
Sauk Rapids, MN
[Hide Comment] I gave it try without the hold, but I'm way too short to reach anything else that might make it work without. Nov 8, 2010
randy baum
  5.13c
[Hide Comment] i heard from a reputable source that the hold in question may have originally been a chipped/manufactured hold. does this change anything? would not gluing the hold back on return it to its "natural" state? am i just wasting my breath? Nov 8, 2010
Sean Patrick
Minneapolis, MN
  5.13d
[Hide Comment] I can't say for sure, but I don't think there were any manufactured, added, or chipped holds on it when I did it in 2006. I never saw any glue, or drill marks, or chiseled edges. That hold you gaston with the right hand, at the crux, looked natural to me.
If something has been chipped, or a non-native rock glued on, especially since 2006, I would be surprised. Nov 9, 2010
[Hide Comment] The crux hold has never been chipped or drilled it is all natural... but... it has been glued back on twice now... the route is close to unclimbable without the hold in question. Nov 24, 2010
[Hide Comment] I am inclined to believe your source, Randy. He is very credible and I put alot of stock in his opinion. As someone who was climbing at Red Wing when this line was first bolted and subsequently chipped, I would take him at his word. Dec 2, 2010
randy baum
  5.13c
[Hide Comment] i feel like a dreeb giving this rating, but after consulting with nic (who did nsp second go), him and i decided that nsp is much more closer to 13a than 13+. hard 11 climbing with one 5.13/v7 move does not equal 13+. Dec 2, 2010
[Hide Comment] I replaced the exposed running bolt and anchors on 4.05.15. While the other running bolts show surface rust, they should be good to go for a while yet. Apr 9, 2015
Big Chossy Hoss
Hossland
 
[Hide Comment] This route is a lot different now, and quite possibly, better. A lot of choss came off the upper section this Spring/Summer (by my hand and a few others) and while the sequence is strikingly different than before (at least for me), the rock appears to be more solid. Oh yeah, and make sure your belayer stands off to the climber's left!!! Jul 2, 2021