[Hide Comment] Every pitch is stellar on this one. However I realise that alot of folks out there don't like/ are scared of Offwidth's.
However if you skip the last pitch you haven't really climbed the route have you?
So! I suggest that anyone climbing only the first 4 pitchs(which are Awesome, did I say that yet?) has climbed a variation to the route.

This variation has a name....Adventure yuppies.

Plus they will miss one more great pitch. The blue collar pitch! Sep 12, 2008

[Hide Comment] Topo available here:

redrocksguidebook.com/forum… Sep 13, 2008

[Hide Comment] Josh, I agree, this route is superb. I can't believe it's been overlooked for so long. Rare for Red Rock, this is a crack climbing route with five sustained pitches, and a blue collar finish that'll tell the men from the boys! Sep 14, 2008

[Hide Comment] this route has several good stories with it, esp considering how few ascents it has seen over the years. here's one from recent years:

a couple of guides were climbing this route a few years ago. the day went swimmingly until their arrival at the base of the wide pitch. apparently the leader didn't know how to wiggle up chimneys, so instead she went out on the face to try unprotected .11ish slabbin'. her fall ended with a badly broken leg (femur, i think?) and a helicopter ride out of pine creek.

as a testament to how rarely this route gets done, their bail gear was still in situ 2-3 years later. this is a shame b/c this route is quite good and deserves more traffic.

finally, a note about the 'offwidth.' don't let it scare you off. like pretty much every rr route, it doesn't really require crack skills. its wide enough with plenty of face holds to allow a couple wiggle moves and its over. no worries; it would be more like 5.8 a lot of places. and if they haven't been removed yet, there are a couple of bolts on the pitch mistakenly added by a party who thought they were making an fa a few years ago. Sep 15, 2008

[Hide Comment] beny,
I agree with you to a point concerning the last pitch. However I did use multiple Chicken wings, a couple of arm bars, one stack(which isn't the only move there), mixed with alittle squeeze chimneying.
But due to some key foot holds stemming keeps the grade around 5.10+....in true Red Rock form!

Cheers! Sep 15, 2008

[Hide Comment] Contrary to the often spot-on guidebook, the anchors on this route are OLD. Only the top of the route has a new anchor. The bolt atop p1 is an artifact. #3 and a Yellow Alien can back it up. May 20, 2010

[Hide Comment] I don't usually add a comment to any routes that I do, but this one is sick. This is definitely one of the best routes in Red Rock. I'm not that good at wide cracks and was able to pull off the wide pitch. Don't let it scare you. The rack beta was spot on. Some of the pitches make you earn your gear, but what good trad climb doesn't? Launched some rock off during the wigglefest of the last pitch, so it should be good to go for subsequent parties. Compared to other wide pitches I have done I would say this one is not harder than 5.10, not 5.10+. Go for it. Aug 21, 2010

[Hide Comment] Any thoughts on comparing the last pitch to the Fox? Jan 7, 2011

[Hide Comment] Have to agree with John, the best 5.10 route I've done at RR. Found it helpful to have slider nuts for a few places on the 10b pitches. Jun 5, 2011

[Hide Comment] ASCA info-all belays up to top of fourth pitch are brand new 1/2 inch stainless with Fixe double ring hangers. A rad route that had seen some sheisty retrobolt action at the stations...new bolt at top of first pitch was placed far away from the original, in hollow rock. This necessitated still using a big, decaying piece of tat for the raps, and 2 bad bolts instead of one. I left the original as historic decoration-but installed two new good ones to the right and chopped and patched the newer bolt's hole. Try thumping on that spot with your hand when you're up there-bonehead move, placing a retrobolt on a classic route and not having the brains to tap with the hammer first and see what kind of rock quality you're dealing with. At P2 anchor, there was a retrobolt and new hanger on the older (but not original by the looks of it) stud bolt. Big ass, ugly chains had been added to these, and the older bolt was placed in a watercourse and looked solidly in danger of corroding out of there in the next few years. I chopped the FrankenAnchor and put in the crisp stainless. 3rd pitch was really fun-two holes drilled beside a gear anchor-looks like whatever Home Depot garbage bolts that were placed there originally were pulled out pretty easily. The gear anchor has been reduced at times to a single #4 wire (my first time up the route, we put in a second nut and re-equalized everything with new slings. That was three years ago-same slings and nuts were still in place, sunburnt as shit.), and Richard and Paul both expressed enthusiasm towards having the best anchors put in possible. I enlarged and filled the already-existing holes with brand new stainless. This allows a safe rap from the top of the third-no bail wires or slings need go on the gear list. Here's hoping that misguided choppers don't miss the message-the first ascentionists wanted good anchors on the route and were in agreement to fill the empty holes with good bolts. Please don't leave empty holes up there as did a previous party. At the next anchor, non-original drilled angles are rusty and the right one is eroding. I left these in place for now as we did not have the right tools (funkness) for pulling them. We'll be back.

The top anchors have been reported as fine, but considering the lame state of the rest of the anchors, I'd be ready to be unthrilled when hitting the last belay. [Edit: I was just assured that the top anchor has been replaced...] We started rapping with a little over an hour to get back to the car (no late pass, bonus points for forethought), foregoing the $200+ ticket for the chance to come back on a non-rotisserie heat day and finish the last pitch. It's really obvious that the retrobolts placed for pro on the final OW pitch are convenience bolts, nothing more. I can't believe that anyone climbing up past fixed pins, four anchors, well-worn and non-snappy climbing in the ass-end of pine creek thought they were on a new route and just happened to have 2 bolts to put in on a continuous crack climb. Those bolts are there to help lazy climbers dumb down a classic and get by without the double set of big boys that anyone less crazy than Richard would want to lead a pitch of those proportions.

The first ascentionists want those bolts gone and give their permission to return the route closer to its original state. As Richard put it, it was a rap route, it IS a rap route-nothing wrong with having safe raps so no one gets hurt and people can enjoy the route without shitting themselves getting off the thing. Richard Harrison considers that route and specifically that pitch as a statment of everything his climbing style is and was about at the time the route was put up. There are plenty of unclimbed, scary and gear intensive offwidths to be put up as first ascents that are legit (if not legal or respectable) to bolt up as sport climbs if that's really what turns you on. In the meantime, please leave the classic routes of Red Rock how you found them, and preserve the history and challenge for the next generation. Better yet, climb a route like Adventure Punks, learn what can be done with a pair of brass balls, some brass nuts, and a little belief, and put up routes that carry on the style and tradition that made routes like this great. End rant. Jun 9, 2011

[Hide Comment] PS aside from gear and ethics issues, the first three pitches are well worth the hike and require no big gear other than an optional new #5 camalot on the wide flake of P1. If just doing the first four, I'd rate the pitches 5.9+ R/X, 10a/b PG13 (safer if you bring a small ballnut or two to back up the old pin), and 10a SOLID with an R start. This is a great intro to the area, 2 legit five star pitches that keep your attention the WHOLE way, and your rack's solid at doubles from .3 to #1 camalot, singles to 4 or five. If doing the upper pitches, the rest of the rack could be hauled or left with the second till the last pitch (the #5 is really key on P4). Hope that helps a few yuppies enjoy a long hike, beautiful views, and some exciting, memorable climbing. Jun 9, 2011

[Hide Comment] Thanks again Rob and Killis for the bolt replacement. Nice meeting both of you. -Michelle Jun 10, 2011

[Hide Comment] Michelle, if you start acting like me and my boys aren't horrible, demon baby-rapers, my rep is going to suffer. Glad you guys had fun up there, was nice meeting you too. Rob and I are still laughing about our conversation up there.

Hey Wilder-only Rob gets a thank-you? I'm hurt! Now if I don't hear from you on Valentine's Day, I'm going to KNOW something is up... Jun 11, 2011

[Hide Comment] If I post one more comment after this one, it's gonna have to start with, "I am SO gay for this route..."

Anyway, I just want to give a nod to the person/persons who added belay bolts to Adventure Punks not too long ago and give respect for actually taking the effort to explain what and why they did on the route. I also want to clarify that the newer bolt atop the first pitch was in hollow rock, but so was the original. In the case of the bolt added at the second belay, it was placed well.

I think that Adventure Punks is a good example of what happens when people do "work" on existing routes a little at a time, on their own, without necessarily having the best ASCA hardware, and, more importantly, the permission of the first ascentionists to make those changes.

Who added the drilled angles? Why drilled angles of all things? I confirmed with the FA guys that they've never placed a drilled angle-EVER. The route in its original state had two bolts, a few nuts and slings, and one pin for raps-not the safest, but also not a mess of random crap put in by whoever felt like it over the years.

The lesson to learn here is to consult the FA team before making changes, and avoid getting too "creative" with someone else's statement of what a climb should be. Paul and Richard are psyched that the anchors on the route have been upgraded, the mystery holes filled, the tat and chain removed, and the visual appearance of the route restored as best possible.

Again, thanks to the person/people that contacted me about previous work done. I hope that the next time you get out to climb Adventure Punks, it's the safest, most pleasant, and aesthetic trip you've had up the route. Buy the FA guys a beer sometime-they take a lot of pride in that route, those memories, and those friendships. Plus, added bonus-they lived through it! Jun 14, 2011

[Hide Comment] Thanks for the fixing up the anchors.

When Joanne and I did this route there wasn't too much known about it.
A lot of the rappels were from fixed nuts(even a cam). Sounds like there's been some improving on that...thanks!

This route is one of my all time favorites anywhere....

josh Aug 4, 2011

[Hide Comment] The traverse is really scary, it seemed much easier to go straight up to the flake for my partner. There is no OW anymore. Lieback, squeeze, stem and 2 extra bolts turn it into sustained hard pitch, but way far from true OW..so go for it, one of the best routes in RR for sure.. Dec 1, 2011

[Hide Comment] Whats the dealio with the first pitch of this climb??? Was thinkin of gettin on it on my next trip; is it 5.9X?? How far to the first pro? Hopefully not 5.9 on brittle sandstone edges.....
thanks... lou Mar 7, 2012

[Hide Comment] I'm so gay for this route....

I've seen strong 5.10 trad daddies sketch out and struggle on the first pitch. The initial pro is AFTER 5.9 cruxing, is bunk 00 tcus and small wires in a hollow, 1/2-3/4 inch thick bongo flake. The gear on this pitch is consistently hollow, gongy stuff. It's beautiful and fun but no joke. It's by far the easiest on the route physically if not mentally though, so if you're not able to pull the moves I'd downclimb and move on with your life. Not every route's for everyone. Despite the "not X" banter you're hearing, a fall from 40' up might rip all the junk gear and take you and your belayer for a long tumble down slabs. The initial impact could easily kill you and holds are waiting to break on this as with most RR climbs. Heads up, wear a helmet. Mar 10, 2012

[Hide Comment] I did the route today. The run out section of the first pitch is about 20 feet above a sloping belay ledge, 35 feet off the ground. Easy for the first 15 feet then probably about 6-8 feet of quite thin crimps and smears for the feet to a solid 1 inch wide, 6 inch long flat edge. I guess you could duct tape a hook on that though it might rip off the edge. The gear right there in the flake is questionable as it might just pull the flake. Just grab the flake gently and mantel onto the ledge, then you can get a small cam or RP that I did not trust due to the looseness of the flake. However after that you climb a bit farther on relatively easy terrain to a better flake and good cams so once you get the 6 inch edge its over in terms of difficulty / risk. Rest of the pitch - good cams and wires in an at times pretty hollow flake. I thought the pitch was PG. My partner assures me it was R rated and in retrospect a fall would have been bad so I will go with that consensus. Pitches 3 and 4 are fantastic. Pitch 5 is a true blue collar bitch - I bought a #6 cam (my first true monster cam in 32 years of climbing) just to do this pitch on this route. One big cam is not enough (for me) to safely free this thing even though I got some occasional other gear - Humbly I backed off 1/3 of the way up. Guess I am an Adventure yuppie. Kudos to you who have led that entire pitch. We brought an 80 meter rope and were able to rap with a single line. The rap down the second pitch is 41 meters but with rope stretch makes the belay - tie knots, use a prussik. Mar 13, 2012

[Hide Comment] Very interesting.... awesome honest beta... coolio.... ..done enough aid to not be jacked on taping a hook on an edge ...

cheers.... Mar 16, 2012

[Hide Comment] the third pitch is incredible! final pitch is a knee-breaker, good luck Mar 27, 2012

[Hide Comment] This is not a Urioste route. Much more in your face than your standard 5.10 affair at RR.
Pitch 1-people exaggerate the initial move off the deck. You can reach the solid edge without doing any slab moves, then mantle and its done. Its only 15 feet up on a slab, not 35. Don't bother with the traverse beta from the left. Really fun flakes follow.
Pitch 2-The initial 15 feet are the crux, but gear is there though creative. The last 20 feet all I could get was a purple tcu and green c3, so it felt pretty heady.
Pitch 3-Best gear pitch. Not heady, fun great climbing in a corner.
Pitch 4-most heady for me. The corner lacks obvious gear, mostly really small stuff till you can get to the finger crack which was flarey with pods, then I couldn't find any good gear minus a purple c3 in a horizontal from the top of the crack to the anchor, which felt like 30 feet. If this was a Urioste route it would have 5 or 6 bolts on it. Not my favorite pitch. Not sure where Killer thought a #5 would go as there is barely any crack on this pitch.
Pitch 5-Easy up to first bolt, then walk the #6 for 10 feet till you get a hand jam, then easy to 2nd bolt, then squeeze chimney. From the squeeze chimney you can bail out to the crack on the left wall, and no more OW from there. So really, its 20 feet of hard OW or squeeze where a 6 is nice. Those bolts were nice IMO, but not where I would have put them.

Gear:bring some small stuff for sure, multiple c3's with doubles up to #1 camalot with a 2 and 3 camalot. I did not place a 4, or 5 camalot on this climb. The #6 is pretty critical for the OW unless you are cool running it out. Feb 17, 2013

[Hide Comment] Great climb. Steep. Varied. Word of caution on last pitch though(the OW): As you near the last 20' or so you'll find it helpful to stem/reach out for the wall right of the wide crack. A lot of this rock is fairly fragile and there are numerous missiles waiting to launch. Your partner is safe because the pitch heads up and left but any parties below would be sitting targets. Have fun! Mar 9, 2013

[Hide Comment] Big thanks for those who have helped cleaned up the anchors on this route. One of the best I have climbed in Red Rock with a bit of everything.

We cut the tat off the P5 anchor and added rap rings courtesy of the ASCA. Both bolts are bomber.

We took doubles of green alien to .75 camalot with single Green and Purple C3, and #1 to #6 camalots. If the pro bolts get chopped from p5 you will want a second #6.

The #5 is in a good placement on P4 and very nice to have.

I say this is a 5.10 route for the 5.11 climber. Exciting and stimulating climbing with just enough gear. If you can't do the start of P1 then you shouldn't be on the route.

We rapped with a 70m rope and only needed the tag line to rap p2. You need about 30 feet of cord since the rap is about 40 meters as mentioned above. The rap from P5 is very tight. Tie knots and be ready to clip the anchor below you. Apr 3, 2013

[Hide Comment] Fun route

Rapped it with an 80M and had ten feet extra on the longest rap. Apr 12, 2013

[Hide Comment] After reading mixed reviews of the runout start, I hiked up this morning to check it out. I'm a 5.11 climber and don't mind the occasional runout but I wasn't willing to risk the small chance of a slip. If you blew the moves before the flake your best case is a medivac out of Pine Creek Canyon. It's a long fall that probably wouldn't stop on the sloping ledge below. The 5.9 traverse variation appears to be protected by very marginal gear and the 5.10 direct start looks pretty greasy and insecure. The route looks amazing but not worth it to me. To each his own... Apr 13, 2013

[Hide Comment] The "direct start" is a 5.9 move, there's only one move on the first pitch that I thought even rated 10a. Traversing in looked like way more of a pain in the ass and more of an attempt to avoid the nature of the route than much "safer", seeing as the possibility of a good-sized swinging fall and lack of a clear route burn time and psych that could be better put to use higher on the route where the real challenges lie. If you can't handle a .9 groundfall possibility on good rock, there are a lot more routes in Red Rock that are off the do-able list for you as an .11 leader.

Glad you liked this rig, too, Floyd. Safe anchors rule, amigo. Apr 14, 2013

[Hide Comment] Just did route this past Sunday and I have to say has to be my favorite multipitch route in red rocks so far even though I failed leading pitch 4.

We brought TCU blue to red and single 0.4-#6 C4s. There are two bolts on pitch 5 that protect the parts of the wider stuff so doubles for the offwidth aren't necessary. I also placed two small nuts on pitch 2 I believe. Having a #5 on pitch 4 does help but not necessary. After a few more moves you can place something, but just a little run out from last pro. I had to bail on the bulge leading into the finger crack and let my buddy switch lead. I have to go back and claim this one. Apr 17, 2013

[Hide Comment] This route reminded me of the Super Pooper at Tahquitz. Numbers #4 and #5 come in handy on P4. With double 60s you can rap from anchor 4 to anchor 2. May 2, 2013

[Hide Comment] What an excellent adventure climb! I agree with RNclimber, the two bolts on pitch 5 eliminate the need to bring doubles in the #4,5,6 camalot size. A single set in those sizes were fine as long as you walk each placement a little bit. Although onsighting the final pitch was proud for me, I was more psyched on the third pitch... it was superb and classic climbing with incredibly solid stone! The goods for sure! Sep 20, 2013

[Hide Comment] No bolt for the R start, then 2 fat shiny bolts next to a splitter that protects perfectly. Strange. I figure the 5th P bolts were put in because no cams were that big back in the day so they were the only pro for the pitch, which would be bold. Kind of a bummer to see new ones there now though. Oct 30, 2013

[Hide Comment] Wylie, maybe it wasn't clear above: there are no pro bolts from the original ascent on this route. Someone with no respect for the integrity of this route added them later, and they should be removed. Oct 31, 2013

[Hide Comment] Actually. The rumor about those bolts on the final pitch is; supposedly someone thought they were doing a new route.
If that's the case: They may not have had the balls of the FA's, but they weren't out and out disrespecting them. As was implied.
Should they go? Meh. I think the real question is; at this point does it really matter either way?

josh Nov 5, 2013

[Hide Comment] Absolutely stellar route. Climbed the first 4 pitches, then had to bail due to not owning any wide gear.

All I have to add is that the start can be protected by a #1 lowe ball / slider nut in the top of an 8" hueco that's about 10 feet up.

I am 90% sure this would keep you from tumbling down the starting slabs if you botched the insecure moves that gain the flake.

I put in said piece, then down climbed to the start and gave it some fairly significant bounce testing. Seemed completely solid.

In the interest of full disclosure, my partner then lead pitch 1, as I was a little spooked after 10 minutes of dicking around at the start unable to commit to the move while feeling cold and stiff without warmup. Said move then felt like less than nothing on toprope - naturally.

Pitch 4 is a total hoot. Although we did have a party above us kicking the occasional rock out of P5 into our general direction. That wasn't so hoot-i-ful.

By rights, this route deserves to become a neo-classic. Nov 11, 2013

[Hide Comment] The bolts on P5 are great, they give you something to clip your helmet to when you squeeze into the crack and need to get your head in!

I did P5 without clipping the bolts and used 1x #6, #5 and 2x #3, #1 and I think a #4 or a #2, don't recall which but 7 pieces in 100 or so feet made that pitch very invigorating! If you have a second #5 and/or #6 bring 'em if you want additional pro. Dec 3, 2013

[Hide Comment] After backing off the runout start last year (see my comment from April 13, 2013) I came back last week armed with a #1 (blue) ball nut (as recommended above by AST) and led the route. The ball nut goes pretty deep into a shallow hueco about 10 feet up the direct start and felt pretty bomber. I added a closeup pic above. It makes for good psychological pro but if you blew the .9/10- moves right before reaching the flake you're still looking at groundfall. The moves to get to the flake are committing and would be difficult to reverse. The chances of a solid 5.10 climber falling may be very low but the consequences would be very high. The first ascentionists have the right to place or not place bolts, but this route deserves at least an R rating in my opinion.

That being said the climbing is really good as advertised! May 4, 2014

[Hide Comment] Only did first 3 pitches due to daylight and fiasco. My group of 3, all comfortable trad climbers up to 5.11ish and fully aware that it would be scary start, were all a weee bit too scared for the OG 5.9 runout. After looking for gear we had only a .1 bd like 3 feet off the ground. I will say with a ballnut, Id probably have mustered the courage but without it no way, its not even runnout, youd just hit the ground and tumble possibly taking your belayer with you. I guess just don't blow the move and Im sure plenty of people wont have trouble with it.

For those wusses like me, there is a crack that protects with the same rack 40 feet to the left. We ended up doing this one and it meets up at the same anchor and away we went. There was 1 old pin. The route was slightly dirty but actually fun and totally okay. After leading the remainder of the original start, it was fun, but next time Id definitely still do the alternate crack start. I had a friend take this beta recently and thought it was rad, do with it what you will. cheerio. Mar 19, 2015

[Hide Comment] Climbed last week through pitch 4. My thoughts: we were not willing to do the R start (especially after following a steady trail of blood drops all along the approach to the base of the climb). Rather, we climbed the alternate start (5.9?) through the less than stellar crack to the left (dirty, a little loose, and mediocre gear, R towards the top). This is NOT a crack climb. You will climb some cracks periodically, but the gear is not "plug n play" whenever you want. The climbing is pretty unique and thoughtful (sometimes awkward?). That said, the rare crack sections are very fun (P2 layback to the anchor, P3 finger corner, P4 fingers). Overall, I'm glad we climbed it. It's a pretty fun route. It'd be hard for me to recommend to everyone though, given the adventurous nature of the 1st pitch, the thoughtful gear, and the often less than stellar rock. If you want a cool route off the beaten path, go get it! Mar 23, 2016

[Hide Comment] I don't see anything wrong with Gary's thoughts; they're as valid as any others on here. Maybe cut him some slack, eh? Mar 23, 2016

[Hide Comment] Certainly a must-do in Red Rocks. I believe the grades are pretty far off though....

P1: 5.9 (there are one or two slab moves to the first piece.... nothing to be afraid of)
P2: 5.8 (I have no idea where the 5.10b comes into play)
P3: 5.10 (Consistent 5.10 climbing throughout. Why does this pitch get the easiest grade on the climb?)
P4: 5.10c (finnicky gear, sustained climbing, and a funky crux)
P5: We didn't climb this because we didn't have any big pieces, but it looks like the hardest pitch on the route.

That being said, I guess I'm an Adventure Yuppie.... for now. Oct 24, 2016

[Hide Comment] A fun Day on the line

vimeo.com/222291859 Aug 14, 2017

[Hide Comment] It appears the Pitch 5 bolts (alongside the offwidth) have been chopped. I came across 2 bolt holes filled with epoxy rather than stainless. Armed with a single #4, #5, & #6, I backed off. Jan 2, 2018

[Hide Comment] Pretty good adventure climb but no where even close to one of the best routes in Red Rocks. Wouldn't make my top 20 to be honest.
Pitch one is very R rated and not a gimme. You'd get real messed up blowing the starting moves.
Pitch two is a little scary above the pin but you can reach up and get a good stopper for the harder moves. If you're short it could be pretty exciting. I'm not sure how someone would call this pitch 5.8?
Pitch three is really good.
Pitch four is pretty good but pretty hard, 10d I would say. The #5 is real nice on this pitch. The finger crack is very good.
Pitch five is real burly and a little dirty and not that good. Two #6's wouldn't be a bad idea plus a #5. Bolts that were on the pitch are chopped and patched. Real crack climbing is required. How in the world is beny calling this 5.8? I'm calling bullshit.
All anchors are new and stainless.
2nd pitch rap is 40m. We did it by clipping a long cordallete and some over the shoulder slings on and using them as a tag line. All other raps made it with a 70, barely, tie knots!!
Nice location, good but not great climb. Mar 31, 2018

[Hide Comment] We were "Yuppies" today. I found the climbing on pitches 1, 3, and 4 to be good but not classic. Pitch 2 was just okay. All pitches were a little spicy for protection. If climbing with a 70 and a tag line you could leave the tag at the top of pitch 2 and rappel pitch 4 and 3 with a single 70m. We didn't try, but I think you could get to the ledge a the bottom of pitch 1 with a single 70m and make the very easy down climb. Oct 12, 2019

[Hide Comment] Completed the "Adventure Yuppies" variation today - a worthy climb!

As with the previous comment, I brought two #4s, one #5, and #6, and started up p5, but found that the #6 was needed within the first 20 feet or so, and looking up from the stance there, it seemed to me that there were going to be several additional long sections where only a 6 would work. Given this, I down-led to the anchor and bailed. Unless you are super-solid on 10+ wide climbing, I'd definitely bring two 6s and maybe even two #5s to comfortably lead that pitch. If you had the gear, it didn't look too bad to me - a nice clean corner and perhaps limited thrutching required.

On the other hand, I thought the p1 start went fine using the aforementioned red and blue ballnuts in the crack in the pictured hueco (I equalized these, but two blue or two reds would probably have worked as well, as the crack in there is pretty long). I also descended to the ground and bounce-tested the heck out of these pieces (there's also a decent gold ballnut placement below these), and they were definitely not going anywhere. Buoyed by this, I scampered back up and finished the pitch pretty easily. The main flake feature on the pitch isn't particularly structurally inspiring at any point, but save for very shallow placements maybe in the thinnest parts of the flake, I do think most gear spots would hold a big whipper given the sheer size and construction of the flake.

Also, there are several options for your belayer to go in direct to good small cracks at the base, so as long as they belay at the base instead of up on the slab below the start, there's no way even a fall with no gear should yank your belayer below the base/down the slabs as other comments have suggested.

Overall, if you have the ballnuts and are generally confident on 10- trad, I do recommend doing this climb (at least the first 4 pitches)! Oct 13, 2019

[Hide Comment] Start of the first pitch is protectable with #2 (yellow) and #3 (blue) BD micro nuts in the hueco for people who don’t have ball nuts. Pretty confident it would have held. A couple of things to improve the confidence of people who are sketched out by the million comments here:
1. If you fall before the ledge, the gear is pretty much at your feet so it’s not exactly “runout” per se.
2. The angle is low enough that you’d cheese-grate and probably be moving pretty slowly when the gear caught you, which, I think, makes the pieces blowing less likely.

IMO the climbing above is absolutely, without a doubt, worth it to at least go and check out the start if you climb at the grade. We got chased off after pitch 2 by absurd temperatures and screaming barfies, but were still stoked on the climbing we’d done. Nov 27, 2019

[Hide Comment] youtu.be/ctIUPK3omu0

Small video Jan 6, 2021

[Hide Comment] Fun route. Middle pitches are the best. Climbed Rock Warrior the day before, and, regarding P1 of Adventure Punks... It's kind of for real. Don't blow it! Apr 24, 2021

[Hide Comment] Did the Yuppie route.

The first pitch “run out” really is no big deal. If you can’t get past the first five metres of 5.9 face/slab without any gear then you may not want to try the other pitches.

I thought that pitch three was by far the best of the first four.

Completely agree with Derek West about the pitch grades.

A route that’s worth doing if you’re in the area. Oct 7, 2021

[Hide Comment] No bolts on OW pitch anymore. Doubles of the big stuff were nice to have. Nov 6, 2021

[Hide Comment] A 0.2 cam would certainly not go unused on most pitches Nov 7, 2021