Rain and Safety

I did a search and couldnt find anything on when it is safe to climb after it rains.

Does anyone know about how long after a day of rain you would have to wait to climb safely?

Rained pretty hard all day in Red Rock today. But was dry last week. So a 24 hour wait ought to suffice. Friday morning should be good to go.

All depends on the stone.

Bulletproof granite can be climbed as soon as its dry to the touch.

On the other end of the spectrum, soft sandstone needs 3-4 days to fully dry.

Wet stone is less strong, which makes placements less reliable and increase the chance of damaging the rock.

Evan

Come on, you guys. You can climb in the rain. It just gets a little harder.

With the exception of sandstone.

Okay thanks guys. I was looking at the weather up in Red Rocks tomorrow its supposed to be sunny the rest of the week through the weekend. Wanted to see if I could climb tomorrow.

Eric Fjellanger wrote:Come on, you guys. You can climb in the rain. It just gets a little harder. With the exception of sandstone.

It has started raining on me while halfway up a route several times. It sucks balls.

From some friends that were poking around in the rain before heading to the bar yesterday: A few folks were climbing in the corridor, and someone pulled off that massive undercling flake on one of those 5.9s on the left. Didn't ask if the belayer was wearing a helmet, or if they were just lucky, but the chunks were head-size.
Moral of this story: Aztec Sandstone turns to mud inside when it's wet. Please give it enough time to dry. Just because it's sunny today doesn't mean it's dry. If you were one of those peeps in the Corridor, go home. Thank you.
Mostafa- as a local, even a new one, it is important that we try to set a good example - educate our friends about this and show some personal restraint. With the amount of rain we've had this week, if it stays dry today it should be good to go by Sat, like John said. If shady routes feel snappy, stay in the sun.

Oh the sunny routes. How I have missed you during these long summer months.

smassey wrote:A few folks were climbing in the corridor, and someone pulled off that massive undercling flake on one of those 5.9s on the left. Didn't ask if the belayer was wearing a helmet, or if they were just lucky, but the chunks were head-size.

That's funny because a friend and I were just talking about that flake and how it's going to come off soon. I'm glad nobody got hurt. People shouldn't climb on the wet rock, yet those people in the Corridor probably did us all a favor. That flake looked pretty deadly.

Can't you make this a sticky in here? It seems like "rain in red rocks" comes up at least once a week in fall?

Nick Mardirosian wrote:Can't you make this a sticky in here? It seems like "rain in red rocks" comes up at least once a week in fall?

Done.
Nick - if you see other threads that you think should be added in the future, drop me a PM.

Mostafa wrote: Thanks for the advice! I was nearby Red Rocks today and I saw a massive rain cloud figured I couldn't climb anytime soon!

How much rain did you get yesterday? I was planning on spending Saturday and Sunday on Black Velvet Wall, think I can stick with the plan, do I need to detour to something South facing or am I going to have to go to Joshua Tree this weekend? Thanks.

Matt Marino wrote: How much rain did you get yesterday? I was planning on spending Saturday and Sunday on Black Velvet Wall, think I can stick with the plan, do I need to detour to something South facing or am I going to have to go to Joshua Tree this weekend? Thanks.

This gives you a general idea. wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getob…

The rain yesterday was scattered and appeared to stay mainly in the northern parts of Red Rock. It did pour at my house last night (Sahara & 215). The gauge is located by Calico, so it doesn't really tell you exactly how much it rained in the canyons (evident by the fact that it says 0 precipitation yesterday).

It poured Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'd say Sunday would be safer than Saturday.

It was requested to add a few good alternatives to Red Rock for rainy days. Good alternatives include: Joshua Tree, Keyhole Canyon, Arrow Canyon, Xmas Tree Pass, Lone Mtn and the Gun Club. The latter two are located minutes off 215, and are one of the more popular rainy day alternatives, especially for visiting climbers that don't want to drive 1+ hr. See Desert Rock Sports for the new-ish topo to the routes at Suburban Crag (Lone Mtn). Hope that helps folks that don't want to take the time to look through the whole NV page. See individual pages for more specific beta.

so, back on the subject, was lookin to make the 10hr drive out to RR for spring break and now it is forecasting to rain on and saturday day(10%)/night(40%); sunday(40% chance); and monday (10% chance all day).

how soon will I be able to climb? How accurate are these forecasts(weather.com)? I am not familiar with the area at all so any info would help

michael rowell wrote:so, back on the subject, was lookin to make the 10hr drive out to RR for spring break and now it is forecasting to rain on and saturday day(10%)/night(40%); sunday(40% chance); and monday (10% chance all day). how soon will I be able to climb? How accurate are these forecasts(weather.com)? I am not familiar with the area at all so any info would help

I like to use climbing weather or NOAA for my forecast. In my experience, anything over 30% chance pretty much guarantees it's going to rain. The forecasts here seem to be more reliable than most places in the country that I have lived. I'm guessing Tuesday would be the earliest you should climb if it does rain as scheduled.

word squirl, anywhere else i've lived under 40% meant no rain. here, if there's even a 10% it seems to rain.

Looking at weather reports shows no rain for today anyone know when it will be good to climb again at RR? Is Tuesday 20th first day?

Great thanks for the heads up John! It would have been upsetting to make the drive and not climb.

I'm sorry but I just don't think blantantly calling people assholes is acceptable. It creates unnecessary hostility in the climbing community that we are trying to inform. Why would someone listen to another person who just blatantly insulted them? Or insulted them unknowingly on an online forum? It would be much easier to respect the opinion of a fellow climber if they talked with respect and as equals to each other. What might seem obvious to some, perhaps isn't' to others.

Sorry if my opinion is unpopular but I just don't like the tone that arises when it comes to climbing after rain. I understand this is a serious issue, so lets try to handle it seriously.

I talked to the BLM office today and disscused if they would be willing to post official signs at the pullouts/campground clearly explaining the regulations/recommendations for climbing after precipitation. From what I gathered it sounds like signage is in the works and will hopefully be displayed before the Rendezvous. It's a step in the right direction IMO.

That might help keep those wonderful, peaceful, and WELCOME visiting climbers informed about the seriousness and detrimental effects of climbing after precipitation.

Of course I mean no disrespect to anyone, I just think we could handle things differently as a community.

The newspaper-like brochure that they hand out to every car that enters the loop road says this in the Rock Climbing at Red Rock section:
"... RAIN RAIN GO AWAY The sandstone becomes very brittle when it rains and should not be climbed for at least 24 hours. By allowing the sandstone to dry out, hand and footholds will not be broken and gear will be less likely to pull out during a fall. If it rains during your visit to Red Rock Canyon and the sandstone is too brittle, consider the limestone sport crags that are found in Red Rock and other climbing sites around Las Vegas. ..."