Alsate's Nose route in Big Bend NP

I'm leaving for BB with the family tomorrow and was going to stick to some peak scrambles with the kids because I hear the rock's crap, but I just came across a poorly written page on rc.com for a 5.7 multi-pitch on Pulliam Bluff called Alsate's Nose. The description leaves about no chance of locating the climb unless it is obvious.

Has anyone done this climb? More importantly, can anyone share a pic of where the route starts or provide a good description? I haven't been able to find anything other than the rc.com page.

If you can help, thanks!

You can google the info. The rock in general looks good but is crap. I'd check out Grapevine Hills. Some stuff there. I think there's an area north of the park that's supposed to be a little better rock.

There's lots of other fun stuff though. Like the sand dune at Boquillas canyon. Santa Elena Canyon. The Emory hike. The mules ear hike is good too. Keep your eyes out for lions and javelinas and bears. They're there.

Thanks, Rob, but I'm looking for info about this particular route, not the park in general.

The climber's guide at the visitors center might have the info you're looking for. I can't remember for sure. It used to be online but doesn't appear to be anymore.

RMS wrote:Thanks, Rob, but I'm looking for info about this particular route, not the park in general.

"The rock in general looks good but is crap."

Perhaps that's why he gave you other suggestions?

Gunkswest wrote:A bit of a summary of climbing at Big Bend here: neclimbs.com/forum.php

Here's the direct link:
neclimbs.com/SMF_2/index.ph…

Rob Gordon wrote:The climber's guide at the visitors center might have the info you're looking for. I can't remember for sure. It used to be online but doesn't appear to be anymore.

Thanks again, Rob. Through a local climbing forum, I did find an online copy of that guide. The author wrote that it took him 11 hours to complete the route from approach to descent. That, plus one of the responders' account of taking a bad 30' fall when a ledge he was standing on crumbled, convinced me to scrap plans for this route. My partner would have been my son, and no way should I have put him on that.

I didn't mean to sound like a dick in my original reply and hope I didn't. My interest in that particular route was due to its being the only multi-pitch in Big Bend I'd come across.

In the end, I took my kids on the scrambling routes on Casa Grande and Carter Peak. And they played on the Boquillas dune today. Bonus, an alcove on the other side of the river was deep enough for a little DWS. :-)

Edit: Oops, not sure how I overlooked that.

From A Climbers Guide to Big Bend National Park by David Horne (1st edition).