Red Rocks panorama as Anthony heads down the trail towards Rainbow Mountain (Bridge Mountain in the middle right)
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Tom Grundy's Red Rocks 2009 Page part II
Anthony had a week free in early March and wanted to get some climbing adventures in. Originally we planned to climb some desert towers, but as the time approached and Anthony's schedule and the weather got tighter, we decided to meet up in Las Vegas to try to climb some classic climbs at Red Rocks. I took advantage of the cheap afternoon "family" skiing at the Snowbowl and then drove most of the way to Vegas. I completed the rest of the drive with a stop at the dam for some pics and met up with Anthony and we headed to the rocks.
the Nevada side of the bridge under construction
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Anthony and Tom on top of Solar Slab
it wasn't that warm
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Since we had less time this day we decided to head to Solar Slab on the SE flank of Rainbow Mountain. Someone was on the first approach climb we planned to do so we did "Beulah's Books" instead - 3 fun pitches up to Solar Slab. 2 groups were bailing off the first pitches of that because they ran into a slower party. We decided to head on up anyway and managed to pass them quickly on the 5.4 terrain near the top. Things were much cooler once this wall went into the shade, but we were in the sun on top of the "real" climbing and we hung out there before starting the many rappels back to the ground (we were actually able to see our breath).
the view from the top of Solar Slab toward Las Vegas
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Anthony enjoys the view
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For the next day (Sunday) we planned to climb "Unimpeachable Groping" a multipitch sport climb on the Ginger Buttress of the NE side of Rainbow Mountain that Anthony says is destined to become a classic. The approach was about an hour and we were glad to hit some shade as we got close to the climb. We were not glad to run into a party of 6 ahead of us with 2 more on the start of the climb. I suppose it has achieved classic status, or at least on this day it had. The fact that the party on the route was wearing headlamps on their helmets and were moving slowly was not a good sign. Luckily we had carried trad gear up so we were able to climb Power Failure just up the hill a bit. This was a fun 3 pitch climb, but once again when it went into the shade the wind picked up and it got cold. When we were all done with this climb we headed back down the hill and the last person in line was still on the ground. We hiked over to the Brass wall in Pine Creek where I tried Sky Dive. I got shut down by hard climbing and lack of small enough gear. Luckily it had some bolts too, so I was able to remove my last sketchy piece and downclimb, then move a bail link up one bolt and recover all the gear before fleeing with my tail between my legs.
Party starting the second pitch of "unimpeachable groping"
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The next day the forecast included 45 mph gusts. We took a rest day and Anthony did coursework and I messed with photos and this trip report.
I'd like to say we got to sleep early in preparation for an early start, but we didn't. When the others got back at midnight, that didn't help either. Eventually we got a few hours of sleep, but when the alarm went off at 5, it was awfully early and dark. We shoved some food down our throats and headed out to my truck to pick up a few more items like my skinny rope. Then on to Red Rocks where we had to wait about 2 minutes for the gate to open. Then we drove nearly all of the loop road and headed on up the trail towards Oak Creek just about when it got light. It was a lot colder than I expected, and it took a while before I started warming up from the hike. We ditched our packs before the canyon split and put on our harnesses and grabbed what we would take up the climb before heading up the hard 4th class slabs of the direct approach towards the Eagle Wall.
We gained altitude quickly and I finally got warm enough to unzip my side zip pants. Soon enough we got to the base of the climb and I prepared for the first lead. The climb du-jour was "Levitation 29", a classic 10 pitch 5.11. Anthony declared I would lead the odd pitches, which was fine with me as that gave me the crux pitch and most of the other "harder" pitches to lead. That's what I get for all the sport climbing I've been doing (meanwhile Anthony has been able to do almost no climbing in ages).
Anthony starts up the scramble approach
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It was cold most of the day
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The first pitch had some weird climbing but it was soon over and we were underway. Anthony got an intimidating and fun pitch with an overhang and we continued up. Soon we were at the crux 5th pitch which I managed to get up with some grunting and a fist jam plus some pumpy crimping. Then Anthony followed it and headed up his next pitch without properly recovering, consequently he got really reallypumped (he reported being still pumped 4 days later). By now any lingering warmth from the hike up was gone and the continuous breeze up the wall was making me cold. I put on my long underwear top under my fleece but was still a little cold at the belays. I really expected this long south facing wall to be warmer, but at least I managed to get warm enough to unzip a bit while climbing.
One of the original Joanne (or Jorge?) Urioste bolts - thanks for putting up the route
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Anthony checks the topo
somewhere around pitch 7
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looking down the crux pitch
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a peregrine falcon circled up past us
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Anthony on the last bit of hard climbing
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Anthony taking a pic
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We continued on swinging leads up to the top where we switched back to walking shoes and started the long scramble and walk off. The descent traversed behind the summit of Rainbow Mountain and then to a low point on the ridge before dropping into the north fork of Oak Creek which we followed for a long time. Most of this was polished sandstone slabs along the creek/waterfalls and rougher rock and talus up above. There was also some brush and large boulders to deal with. We managed to get back to the car with plenty of time remaining. A success all around as we got the approach and descent correctly and none of us fell or had to hang, I did somehow manage to rip my fleece in a few places though.
obligatory almost summit pic
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cool dead tree on top
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The last of the scrambling up
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reflection of Mount wilson in Oak Creek pool
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Anthony reflected in a pool
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Due to a scheduling surprise (a 12:30 am flight while technically on that day does not really leave any time to do anything that day) and an ever expanding task list to finish before departing to Guatemala, Anthony wasn't up for more climbing the next day, so I went out with the rest of the crew to the Wake Up wall and the Trophy for some sport climbing. This was fun, although I got pretty beat down by the Trophy. That night I took Anthony to the airport and the next day I headed back to Flagstaff, having ticked off another climb I had been wanting to do for a long time.
Anthony posted some photos in his gallery here I think most of them from this point on in the gallery are pertinent.
An earlier trip to Red Rocks in 2009