The Terrible Tadpole

Looking for a winter adventure? Well, the deep, nasty gash to the right of the Painted Wall might be exactly what you're hoping for...or your worst nightmare. It is four stars, or a complete bomb depending on your point of view. Think of it as the "Walk of Shame," aka the Cruise Gully, on steroids.

I assume we did the first ascent, but a lost kayaker or a very sad Painted Wall climber may have been there before us.

Although the gully looks like it's mostly a hike (hence the "Tadpole"), there's actually some "Terrible" passages with little bits of awkward, tricky climbing. The route has a distinctly alpine feel - lots of walking interspersed with technical steps, thorn bushes to simulate snow mushrooms, occasional icefall, and of course tons of loose rock. I think it's a shoe-in for Extreme Canyoneering Magazine's coveted drainage of the month.

There's some cool ice climbing potential high in the gully (on the backside of the Porcelain Arete), but this was melting out during our ascent in early March.

This is located just right of the Painted Wall's Northern Arete. Begin up a short 5.0 step to access the gully.

A single set of cams and a short rope will do.