5.10,
Trad, Sport, 1000 ft (303 m), 8 pitches, Grade III,
Avg: 2 from 8
votes
FA: Mike Strassman, Jackie Carroll
Arizona
> Southern Arizona
> Baboquivari Peak
> W Face/ Southwest Arete
Enjoyable route parallels Born of Water for the first 4 pitches before wending and winding its way to the top on easier terrain.
Pitch 1 (5.9): Snake through trees and cross "crap" (according to the medical community) before finding good pro, followed by 2 bolts and finally fun finger crack. Belay at cactus infested ledge (+- 120ft)
Pitch 2 (5.10a): Turn roof on good pro, continue up and left to 1 bolt before angling back right to 2 bolt belay (+- 80ft)
Pitch 3 (5.8+): Fun climbing up 9 bolts to 2nd 2 bolt belay (+- 200ft)
Pitch 4 (5.10a): More bolt (10) climbing on harder face to 3rd 2 bolt belay at right side of I'itoi's balcony (+- 200ft)
Pitch 5 (scramble): Move belay to left end of I'itoi's balcony (+- 80ft)
Pitch 6 (5.7): Follow left angling dike clipping 3 bolts, running out last 100 ft. 70m rope or 20ft of simul-climbing gets you to oak tree belay and top of I'itoi Dance, pitch 6 (+- 220ft) [NB: Strassman's topo indicates that this pitch would dump you out well above I'itoi Dance pitch 6; we did not find that to be the case...]
Pitch 7 (5.10): Last engaging pitch of I'itoi Dance (4 bolts). Sling trees at ledge and belay (+- 80ft)
Pitch 8 (5.7): Up and right on mediocre gear and sometimes questionable rock (+- 120ft)
Use 70 m rope to combine pitches 1 & 2, gain peace of mind on (our) pitch 6, and coalesce pitches 7 & 8
Topo:
rockclimbing.com/photos/Top… FA's description:
books.google.com/books?id=k…'itoi%20Dance%22&f=false
More or less in middle of Babo's southwest face. 30ft right (east) of Born of Water and just left of bolted slab (Watcher of the Skies). Someone was kind enough to leave purple sling dangling from 1st bolt to demarcate route.
Bern, CH
Locating the route is a bit challenging. The purple sling is still there, just very faded to almost gray. To find the route (from the west/Great Ramp) traverse across Lion's Ledge until it suddenly drops down and the wall steepens. This route starts about 40 feet before the steep downhill.
Pitch 1 was maybe the spiciest and felt just as hard as pitches 2 and 4 to me. The crack section would be very nice if it wasn't so full of grass.
Pitch 2 roof is extremely well protected and felt 5.9-. The bolt above is impossible to see until you are right on it. trend up and left
Pitch 3 is a nice long bolted 5.8 and the rock is pretty good.
Pitch 4 is another nice long pitch with a lot of bolts. Felt 5.9 to me.
The remainder of the route was three wandering piches with lots of easy 5th. We did the last bolted pitch of I'itoi Dance as described here (5.10a/b?), but there are lots of options to keep the grade under 5.10 on the upper section. Not sure how the OP was able to link that bolted pitch to the top. We found it to be about 280 feet. But maybe by going further right than we did you can unrope earlier.
We used a #3 a couple times, but it's optional. Single rack is perfect. Lots of draws for the 4th pitch. May 18, 2016