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Venezuelan Mafia

5.11d, Sport, 45 ft (14 m),  Avg: 3 from 84 votes
FA: Luis Cisneros,Christian Espanol,'01
Arizona > Southern Arizona > Mt Lemmon (Sant… > Mt Lemmon (Cata… > 7 - Upper Highway > Raycreation Area > Lower Wall

Description

Arguably the best route at Raycreation. Some days it feels harder than the grade, other days if feels soft for the grade. whatever, it is great. Easy face leads to steep face then thin holds which lead to big holds on very steep rock. Getting to the fifth bolt only looks a little spicy. The final steep moves are really cool. Originally a very dicey lead but Luis allowed me to add a couple of bolts before the crux, as decking out was a real possibility.

Location

Where the trail meets the wall a 30ft. tall amphitheater with a second overlap above it. The route climbs up the right edge.

Protection

Bolts

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Pulling into the crux
[Hide Photo] Pulling into the crux
Tim Campbell reaching high for the final hold of the crux sequence
[Hide Photo] Tim Campbell reaching high for the final hold of the crux sequence
Photo by Rachel High
[Hide Photo] Photo by Rachel High
Entering the crux
[Hide Photo] Entering the crux
Aleix making the reach at the end of the crux
[Hide Photo] Aleix making the reach at the end of the crux
Climber nearing the top of the climb.
[Hide Photo] Climber nearing the top of the climb.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Geir www.ToofastTopos.com
Tucson/DMR
  5.11d
[Hide Comment] Great climbing with a variety of hard moves up a beautiful feature. This climb is terrific! Jul 25, 2010
Valentin Poe
Portland, OR
[Hide Comment] Crux move is pretty sweet. Jul 16, 2013
Jordan Stone
  5.11c
[Hide Comment] Did you find my shoes here June 13th or 14th? They're black with a green trim, evolv brand. If you'd like to give them back, please let me know, because I'd like to have them back. Jun 15, 2015
j mo
n az
  5.12a
[Hide Comment] This climb is quintessential t-town. Thuggy yet techy. Hard for the grade. Exciting. Fantastic! May 20, 2018
Jon Ruland
Tucson, AZ
  5.12-
[Hide Comment] 11d? Hah! That's a good one. May 25, 2018
1Eric Rhicard
Tucson
  5.12-
[Hide Comment] Most days it is 11+ but once in a while it is 12-. Perhaps refining your beta will make it 11+ for you too Jon? Good argument that 11 is the new 12 is 11+ or vice versa. Hmmmm. May 27, 2018
Jon Ruland
Tucson, AZ
  5.12-
[Hide Comment] It's unquestionably harder than "11 is out 12 is in" Jun 1, 2018
Austin Sobotka
Tucson, AZ
[Hide Comment] Great climb!

There seems to be a bunch of different potential betas for the main crux as well as for the moves over the roof. Depending on what you do (and it's not entirely clear at first what to do) the climb could feel laughably hard for .11+ or it could feel fair. Apr 27, 2020
Andy Bennett
Scarizona
 
[Hide Comment] Felt about ~5.11e after a 5-10yr hiatus ;-). Imho the best harder route at RayCray. Probably better not to do this when people are working Cartel next door, even if they're at a fairly different height, as falling in places may result in a collision... Aug 8, 2021
Nick Henscheid
Tucson, AZ
  5.12a
[Hide Comment] I think VM is destined to forever spur grade debates. It perfectly fits the mold of “sandbagged 11d” aka probably-12a-but-who-knows-what’s-the-difference. For what it’s worth, every other 12a I’ve sent I have done so in 5 or 6 tries. This took me around 15 (lots of asterisks here but still…)

I vote to adopt Andy’s grade of 11e, feels about right.

As far as quality, I think it's a really great climb that happens to be a giant pain to work and clean. The crux is hard, committing and impossible to work on TR, which makes it frustrating. I think it’ll be much more fun with a permadraw on the 3rd bolt to make cleaning less annoying. I’ll try to get that done some time this summer (unless someone beats me to it). May 14, 2023
Joe Neilson
  5.12a
[Hide Comment] I agree 100% with Nick's comment! This felt harder than many other 12a's I've done on Lemmon or elsewhere. But this is definitely a great climb that I initially thought was too tricky for me, but I am glad I stuck with it. Oct 9, 2024