PRINT: Rock Climb Desperado, Adirondacks

Desperado

5.10c, Trad, 90 ft (27 m),

Avg: 2.6 from 37 votes
FA: Ed Palen and Bob Starinsky, August, 2002
New York > Adirondacks > A: Lake Champla… > Deadwater > Main Cliff

Description

Sandbagged?--You be the judge.

Start by climbing up on good holds into the steep open book. Get your stemming legs primed, and tackle this sustained section of climbing passing two pins and two bolts. (Some say clipping the 2nd and 3rd bolt are a bit cruxy.)

Milk a good rest after exiting right around the corner, then continue up the large right-facing corner until it is possible to step left and finish through steep holds to the tree anchor.

Location

About 20' right of the large corner of Space Cowboy, below a large open book that starts roughly 12 feet up.

Protection

A standard rack.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Begging for more holds on my only good foot for 25 more feet. Photo credit to the amazing Stacey Lundan.

Nearing the end of the sustained open book.<br>
<br>
Photo by, Ethan Thompson

Nearing the end of the sustained open book. Photo by, Ethan Thompson

Lindsay Duca in the midst of the stemming madness. <br>
<br>
Photo by, Ethan Thompson

Lindsay Duca in the midst of the stemming madness. Photo by, Ethan Thompson

Attempting to move upward at the beginning of a long open book crux. Used the brand spankin new anchor for the 5.12 route to the left. Photo taken by the marvelous maiden Stacey Lundan

Start of the route

The last few, hard moves of the puzzling open book.<br>
<br>
Photo by, Ethan Thompson

The last few, hard moves of the puzzling open book. Photo by, Ethan Thompson

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Greg Kuchyt
Richmond, VT

5.10-

Interesting climb. One of those "one way makes it feel 10-, every other way makes it feel way harder" type of climbs. Getting to the first bolt is unnerving in my mind, you are a ways above the second piton which doesn't look inspiring. The clip at the second bolt shouldn't be hard unless you are panicking trying to clip it out of the intended stance. Aug 8, 2011

Nick W
Orford, NH

Not as enjoyable as I hoped it would be from the ground!!! I think I did it the "way hard" way. Nov 21, 2011

Andy Casler
Northfield, NH

The pin before the first bolt has fallen out, making this climb solidly R-rated until it's replaced. Jun 26, 2017

Mike Hazard
Ballston Lake, NY

5.10b PG13

The guidebook only shows 1 pin on the topo - that being said, it is most definitely not G rated. Maybe there was another pin at some point? I led it today and would say it felt to be about 5.9R through there. Aug 20, 2017

M Santisi

The fixed gear situation I encountered today was quite a bit different then what was described here and what seems to be described in the guidebook topo. Here is what I experienced. Make some bouldery moves and clip a bolt. Get established in the open book and clip a rather old piton. Then there are 3-4 more bolts as you make your way up the dihedral. The rest of the climb has 2 pitons but one is rather hard to find as it is in a mossy crack and both are unnecessary.

Name of the game here is stemming. Stem hard and it will feel like it is properly graded. Jul 28, 2018

Jim Lawyer

5.11a

As mnjsan noted, the fixed protection on this route has been updated. Several of critical pitons low on the route had fallen out; these have been replaced by the FA party with bolts. Aug 1, 2018

Jim Lawyer

5.11a

I've led this thing a dozen times now, and I really do think this is sandbagged at 10b. I have never discovered the "10- way", so it feels really hard every time. Really cool route though. Apr 12, 2021

Jackson Deeney
Lake Placid

5.10b/c

Amazing movement in this book! Definitely engaging stemming but wouldn’t say it’s wildly difficult. Protects super well and the climbing up top is also worth hopping on this classic! Sep 15, 2023

Owen Wilkins
Lebanon, NH

5.10+

hard Jul 8, 2024