PRINT: Rock Climb The Trident, Central Arizona

The Trident

5.9, Sport, 265 ft (80 m), 3 pitches, Grade II,

Avg: 3 from 149 votes
FA: FKA: Matt Johnson, Michael Genovese, Troy Dixon
Arizona > Central Arizona > Queen Creek Canyon > Atlantis > Atlantis S Side

Access Issue: Must Register! Private Property-The Pond, Atlantis and Mine Area Details

Climbing at The Pond, Atlantis and Mine Area are private property, and now requires that you register in order to gain legal access. This is an easy process. You can do this at: queencreekclimbing.com/.
This is a one-time and free process so once you are registered you are good to go.

You can read more about this process and the announcement at the Queen Creek Coalition website – theqcc.com or the Queen Creek Coalition’s Facebook page – facebook.com/Queen-Creek-Co…

The Trident

The Trident is a 3-pitch route which tops out on the main tower that's closest to the parking area for Atlantis. Climbs like a Sedona spire but without the long approach!

It's a great moderate outing on its own and it also offers climb-in access to the upper tower routes and the New England wall, allowing for some rad link-ups!

Pitch 1. Starts on Mondo Freako (FA: Chad Cooper, 1994). Climb past the Mondo Freako anchors to a chain anchor about 25ft higher. Belay is in an alcove with a bush visible from the ground. (5.7, 65ft)

Pitch 2. Climb past eight bolts (and a piton) to belay from a chain anchor on top of the first tower. Bring 9 draws + anchoring gear. (Pitch one and two can be combined for a long, fun endurance pitch, 15 draws + anchor gear) (5.8, 120ft) (Updated 5/5/2021)

Move belay up to the bottom of the final pitch following the established path on the ledge.

Pitch 3. Spot the leader to a high first bolt, crux is to the first bolt. Exposed. Gets gradually easier. (5.9, 80ft)

Decent: You can rap the route or walk off the back. You can rap the 2nd pitch with a 60m

OR . . . The adventure continues with Poseidon's Throne for a super rad linkup!

Hints for a successful rappel: Rap 1: rope is easier to pull the farther you are from the wall. Very easy from the top of the P2 tower. Rap 2: throw the rope out to the climber's right. Chains on P1 are slightly climber's right of the chains on P2. Rap 3. Watch for pebbles dislodged with your rope when you're pulling.

Walkoff Description: From the top of the tower head South toward the higher tower. Follow trail to the left along the base of this cliff following well worn route down short boulders and through bushes until you reach the big rockslide. Head down the rockslide then follow cairns down to the creekbed. If linking with the routes on the New England Wall, head uphill at the rockslide and follow cairns.

*This route is designed to be topped-out and rapped or walked off. If you try to TR from the P3 anchors, you may wear the sheath on your rope unnecessarily.

** Helmets! Although we've been over it all with a hammer and crowbar, there may still be some loose rock. Please test holds and be aware for the safety of other climbers in the area especially below.

Location

From the Atlantis Parking lot the upper half of the route is plainly and resplendently in view. Head down the trail to the creekbed. Instead of heading left into the slot canyon, cross the creekbed and up to the base of the slab with the twin 40ft 5.7s. (approach is 10 minutes max) Start on the left one, Mondo Freako. Theoretically you could start on the one on the right but we haven't cleaned above that so don't climb it unless you're prepared for loose conditions.

Protection

Protection: Bolts, Pitons, chains

P1: 5 draws plus your anchor gear. The final 25 feet is 5.easy so we didn't waste bolts. If you're scared, bring a set of stoppers and an extra draw.

P2: 9 draws, anchor gear

P3: 4 draws, again a set of stoppers and an extra draw or two if the 5.easy runout on top scares you.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The Trident - Route Beta

The Trident viewed from about halfway down the approach trail.

Neil on pitch one.

The piton on pitch two looks bomber.

Neil comes up to pitch two

Happy people climb! On top of the Trident!

The view from the top!

Katie making her way up the second pitch of the Trident. pic. Troy.

22 March 2021. On pitch 1, make sure to climb past the top rope anchor used for Mondo Freako (5.7) and find this great ledge from which to belay your buddy. There is a small shrub/tree and two cact…

The group who climbed the Trident on opening day . . .

Unknown party on the trident

Rap from pitch 2 tower with Mo

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

beytzim

First pitch is a good warmup for second one and about the same level of difficulty, just shorter. Second pitch is a fun and long pitch. I would recommend bringing a small set of nuts for a small overhung section of the upper half of the second pitch - just to protect one or two moves. The third pitch has a couple of true 5.9 moves for the first two or three bolts and then super easy above. Nov 17, 2017

Tim Heid
AZ

Good climbing marred by climber trash. We probably saw 15 cigarette butts near the belays and someone had taken a shit at the top of pitch one, leaving it and their TP stacked under some rocks. It's right where you toss your ropes on the rap no less.. Clean up after yourselves. If you need to go -- you're only 1 pitch from the ground. fix a line, rap quick, wag bag it.

Other than that good addition to the area and nice summit. Dec 29, 2017

Scott Chastain
Orlando, FL

5.9

Fun route! My first multipitch. The listed 120’ length of p2 had me wondering if a single 60m rope would work on rappel, but it does. Maybe the 120 ft is measuring up to the start of p3 which is quite a bit above the p2 anchor on an easy scramble. You’ll likely gather an audience at the pullout for the final pitch too. Jan 2, 2018

Aubrey Runyon
Morrison, CO

5.8

This is fully my own opinion and nothing more. This route should have never been bolted. I did it never clipping a bolt and was easily able to keep it PG. A rack .3-3 with doubles on the smaller stuff and liberal use of slings kept it plenty safe. Otherwise it’s a fun route that still has a bit of cleaning up to do. We did have quite a few small footholds break off. Once the exfoliation is done it’ll be a super high quality route. We linked 1 and 2 into a long, but easily manageable pitch. I really enjoyed P3. Fun climbing, just wish it were longer! Jan 13, 2018

Brian Clay
Phoenix, AZ

Fun triple pitch. The last pitch is really the challenge, and really only at the start. Great spot, and camping over in the Oak Flats makes for a fun weekend. Lots of good spots in this area. Jan 23, 2018

Matthew.Johnson91
Fountain Hills, AZ

5.9

1/25/18 - Just finished cleaning a pitch to the left of the 3rd pitch of The Trident. When you're at the top of The Trident at the chains, look left and you'll see another anchor drilled into the summit block with some black webbing on it. Use this anchor to lower and top-belay or rappel and top-rope the pitch. I want it to see a few more ascents before adding bolts. We've been over it with a hammer and crowbar and the big stuff is all off but there is still some exfoliation that should occur before anyone leads it. Its in the 5.10d/5.11- range. It starts about 6 feet left of a rotten overhanging dihedral on better rock. Matt Johnson, Andrew Yost, Brent Lewis and Scott McDaniel cleaned it and climbed it first but it has yet to see its first lead! Enjoy and let us know what you think! Steep and pumpy AF! Jan 25, 2018

Rachel Peterson
Denver, CO

Fun easy 3 pitch route, the last pitch is the 5.9. Beautiful view from the top. PLEASE CLEAN UP YOUR TRASH. Don't be an asshole and leave cigarettes and junk up there. I see from the comment it was cleaned in January and there's already a bunch of cigarettes up there again. Mar 31, 2018

Laurel Arndt
Phoenix, AZ

Climbed this yesterday. Only saw one piton on second pitch. The beta should note that on the third pitch the climb finishes by heading up towards easy climbing to climbers right. The last bolt, that is a good 15 feet traverse to the left could causes the climber to think the route finishes to the left and because the anchor is not visible and this could encourage climbers to continue to trend left towards the choosy roof/chimney Dec 2, 2018

Joshua Ngo
Tempe, AZ

Has anyone done the 5.11 alternative P3 yet? Is it still TR only or is it bolted for lead? Thoughts/opinions on it? Dec 7, 2018

Sarah Beth
Las Vegas, NV

This route is RAD. 1st pitch is straight forward. 2nd pitch is a bit runout so a #7 nut came in handy. The start of the third scared the bageezus out of me but I made it haha. Stick clip recommended if you’re not comfortable with long overhanging(ish) start. I also placed a .4 and .75 on the third pitch for comfort. Rapped the route with a 60m. When the party before us were pulling the rope from the second belay station it got stuck - and ours got stuck on the same horn! This can be avoided by rapping the second pitch to the left rather than straight down. STELLAR CLIMB!!!!! Jan 27, 2019

Matthew.Johnson91
Fountain Hills, AZ

5.9

There is a piton missing on the 2nd pitch. After you clip the bong piton there will be a runout before you come to another pin about 18 feet higher. You can protect it with gear or just run it out. I don’t want to put a bolt there as there are so many opportunities for gear. A #7 or #8 bd stopper or a .4 or .5 bd cam will work well. Jan 27, 2019

Gregory Cooper
Phoenix, AZ

The beta on this was a little confusing. There is a set of chains on the first ledge. I then continued up past a second ledge where one would expect another set of chains, but just continued up until i was met with the strangest anchor I've ever seen. A large boulder wrapped with a large chain. I thought this was the finish, only two pitches? thought it was three. wrapped down because it getting pretty damn windy and cold anyways. What's the 3rd pitch? Someone told me when I got down that there were 2 more pitches that have been added. It would be nice to see the update here along with an update with the anchors and pitch descriptions. Didn't need any gear really if your a strong climbing. There are two pitons after the second ledge. Feb 16, 2019

Marcy -
Tucson/DMR

I thought the anchor at the top of p2 a bit odd, not a typical climbing anchor. One of my partners also commented on a bolt placement at an odd angle on p2. I led 2 and thought bolt location was a little off, and just placed pro, which was not difficult to find, to compensate for this. The pins are curious. Safe to assume pitch 2 had been climbed previously on gear and pins? Feb 16, 2019

Michael Smalley
Santa Clarita, CA

Went up yesterday (2/17/2019). The river is running pretty high right now so be ready to scramble across whatever path across that isn't underwater. The route is pretty fun with some odd anchors and bolt placement. Even if you're not planning on placing gear, bring a couple runners for some old and rusted looking pitons on pitch 2. The hands and feet are there at the start of pitch 3 but a spotter is definitely nice to have. Feb 18, 2019

Bharath Tata
Boulder CO

got to the top of P3 and found two American Death Triangles through the bolts (wtf?). there were two pieces of webbing, each was doubled for some reason, and each was configured in an ADT. I couldn't untie the master point or the water knots so I cut them both and replaced the webbing with a proper anchor. It was a waste of about 35 feet of webbing because they were both doubled
For context: I assume the webbing was left there because the bolts are awkwardly high above the ledge and it makes an anchor that is actually within reach. Apr 20, 2019

Brad Schierer
Phoenix, AZ

Fun adventure route with just enough spice to keep it interesting. Start of pitch 3 was a cool little boulder problem. Jun 22, 2019

Charles Yang

P1 and P2 linked together is about 50m/164ft. You can lower from the P2 anchor to the top of the P1 anchor with an 80m with 5 feet to spare. Nov 17, 2019

Kara Lancaster
Portland, OR

5.9

Just a note about rapping the second pitch. If you don’t make an effort to stay right, it’s easy to get your rope stuck pretty high up when it slips over a little crack. Only way I could pull the rope (after two separate raps) was by traversing the ledge at the first pitch anchors over to the little bush without any personal or other protection. Worth paying attention to on the way down! Jan 8, 2020

Dennis Williams
Mesa

Saw your stuck cam. It wiggles but wouldn't come out. We didn't have a nut pick or anything else to work on it. Still there as of 5/23. We did clip it. May 24, 2020

Tyler Collins
Phoenix, AZ

Fun climb. The runout sections of the 2nd pitch is on easier (5.6 probably) ground but I protecteded it with a .4 camalot. I placed a pink tricam towards the top near the crux but I just really like placing tricams, probably not necessary.

A #1 cam protects the first move of p3 perfectly. Jun 29, 2020

Bharath Tata
Boulder CO

just a heads up if you're going up there to TR the unbolted line to the summit block (the anchor with the webbing Matt mentions in his comment): I was up there yesterday and it seems like the webbing I installed 15 months ago is still there, sun-bleached and stiff. Bring a knife and your own webbing, or build a rope anchor and belay from above Jul 26, 2020

Cole Ginter

this is pretty much the most perfect climb. you get the pre warm up on the first pitch, the warm up on the second pitch and the mega chill, good movement on the third pitch. we also walked over to (unknown route (G.P.s route)) which was a pretty cool 5.9ish feeling slab climb which just added more views on top of this climb. was gonna go up one more pitch but we had to work so we bounced. climb this its goooooood. Sep 19, 2020

Jon Dunn
Tempe, AZ

I only saw one piton on p2 yesterday. A fall there would be catastrophic with a 20-25 ft runout (a 40-50 foot fall). The route is no longer a sport route. I didn't have gear so wasn't looking too closely, but there are lots of options for gear. Oct 30, 2020

Drew Weller
Cincinnati, OH

Just want to back up Jon Dunn's comment on the missing second (in addition to first) of the original three pitons. Only one remains and it's what I believe was the topmost one. Large fall onto ledge possible without gear. Dec 20, 2020

Matthew.Johnson91
Fountain Hills, AZ

5.9

Runout on P2 has been addressed with the addition of two addition bolts, spring 2021 May 6, 2021

Duy T
Las Vegas, NV

5.9

The left bolt anchor atop P1 is spinning and trying to come out. otherwise a great route! Oct 16, 2023