Type: | Trad, Alpine, 600 ft, 5 pitches, Grade III |
FA: | Peter Prandoni and Ron Beauchamp, Sept. 1981 |
Page Views: | 699 total · 13/month |
Shared By: | Sky Sjue on Oct 7, 2013 |
Admins: | Jason Halladay, Anthony Stout, LeeAB Brinckerhoff, Marta Reece, Drew Chojnowski |
Seasonal Raptor Closure March 1- August 15
For details and up to date info visit: fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO…
fs.usda.gov/alerts/cibola/a…
For details and up to date info visit: fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO…
fs.usda.gov/alerts/cibola/a…
Description
Quality climbing despite some friable rock and avian excrement.
Pitch 1: Follow Mountain Momma.
Pitch 2 (5.10+): Follow Mountain Momma until it heads left. Instead of going left toward the shared belay pedestal with Voodoo Child, continue directly up the corner system. Pull through a steep section on positive holds in friable rock to a belay with one bolt (can be fortified with protection in kitty litter pockets). This is a longish (~50 m) pitch.
Pitch 3 (5.10+): Continue up the corner. Stemming and liebacking lead through a bulge to a hand crack filled with bird poop. Bail gear from lost souls in search of Mountain Momma is evident. Follow the hand crack until it ends in a corner below a roof. Face climb right past the roof (take small brassies and micro nuts) to a nice belay stance with a fixed nut above it.
Pitch 4 (5.11-): Strenuous moves through the roof directly above the belay stance (crux) lead past a piton to a finger crack. The route rejoins Mountain Momma at the large ledge system below its last pitch.
Pitch 5: Standard finish to the top of Torreon via easy 5th class.
Pitch 1: Follow Mountain Momma.
Pitch 2 (5.10+): Follow Mountain Momma until it heads left. Instead of going left toward the shared belay pedestal with Voodoo Child, continue directly up the corner system. Pull through a steep section on positive holds in friable rock to a belay with one bolt (can be fortified with protection in kitty litter pockets). This is a longish (~50 m) pitch.
Pitch 3 (5.10+): Continue up the corner. Stemming and liebacking lead through a bulge to a hand crack filled with bird poop. Bail gear from lost souls in search of Mountain Momma is evident. Follow the hand crack until it ends in a corner below a roof. Face climb right past the roof (take small brassies and micro nuts) to a nice belay stance with a fixed nut above it.
Pitch 4 (5.11-): Strenuous moves through the roof directly above the belay stance (crux) lead past a piton to a finger crack. The route rejoins Mountain Momma at the large ledge system below its last pitch.
Pitch 5: Standard finish to the top of Torreon via easy 5th class.
San Diego, CA
And yet, in spite of all that, this is a really, really good route and deserves more traffic. Oct 7, 2013
Utah
Anyone with a soft spot for swallows swirling around Torreon might want to listen to the Leave-No-Trace fairy and avoid this route. The Grand Canyons of shit come from a well-established colony of barn swallows and frequent traffic on this route will disrupt their breeding efforts, possibly moving the colony elsewhere (or disbanding it). I'm not making a normative statement but just a heads up. I felt kinda bad seeing those cool birds freak out just so I could get my rush, so I probably won't do it again even though the climbing was fun and adventurous.
Worried that the bolt at the top of P2 was a manky a** thing, I'm happy to say that it is a modern bolt thanks to someone more awesome than me, and can be fortified with small cams (~1 mastercam and .3 BD) in a perfectly good crack more confidence-inspiring than kitty litter.
Lastly, posted some pics of the bird poo for your amusement. Jun 15, 2015