general Red Rocks Climbers Guide questions.

I have been to Red Rock Canyon once and can't wait to go back! I am reading through the guidebook about some suggested gear for a given route and had some questions.

In addition, at the beginning of the book, they list that a Single rack to 3" is defined as a full set of wires, and a full set of cams from #00TCU to #3 Camalot.

Most routes list for example, single rack to 3". However a few routes I found, one of which was Tuscarora called for single rack plus some TCUs. Olive Oil called for a single rack to 4", plus double 1-2"... however on the topo they call for #1 & #2 TCUs for the anchor at the top of pitch 5.

So my question is, are these TCU requirement specific due to features such as pin scars and such or is the term TCU being used interchangeably with FCUs?

Thanks for the help!
-Glenn

freerangequark wrote:So my question is, are these TCU requirement specific due to features such as pin scars and such or is the term TCU being used interchangeably with FCUs?

Almost no pin scars in Red Rock. Sometimes a placement may be shallow, or favor a particular cam configuration, but this is not generally the case. It seems like a safe bet that if you do OK on Tuscarora, you could do Olive Oil with a half-dozen random hexes and feel overprotected.

Folks might be reluctant to guess in general what a guidebook author intends, but Jerry Handren is a member here, so you could ask him directly.

There are a lot of small, parallel sided slots in Red Rocks so I included TCU's with the standard rack. They are usually worth bringing along on any climb, although on many routes they are not essential. Yes, generally I use TCU interchangeably with any other cams of similar size. The same is true for camalots/ Friends/ Quadcams etc.

Tuscarora ...single rack to 2", triple#0 tcu... This means one of everything from #00 tcu to yellow Camalot size, but three purple tcu's.

Olive Oil... Single rack to 4", double" 1-2". This means one of everything from #00 tcu to #4 camalot sizes, but doubles of purple ,green, red and yellow Camalot size.
The topo says that blue tcu and grey camalots are good for the anchor so try not to use them lower down the pitch.

Remember gear recommendations are only a rough guide.

Hi Larry and Jerry,

I climbed last month with Mike Ward; Super guy! We climbed Birdland and Ginger Cracks. I'm just starting to lead trad and so I have a lot of questions and things to learn hence the questions about the gear suggestions.

I can't wait to climb Red Rock again next year with him. I want to tackle Epinephrine.

Thanks again!

-Glenn

Buffalo Grove, IL?

susan peplow wrote:Buffalo Grove, IL?

Now why would Suze ask "IL"...?

susan peplow wrote:Buffalo Grove, IL?

Yep... Buffalo Grove, Illinois. :)

-Glenn

Healyje wrote: Now why would Suze ask "IL"...?

Well you see there Joseph, I was raised there in ol' Buffalo Grove. Went to BGHS. Used to play Charlie's Angels and smoked my first cigarette in the now "developed" corn fields.

Big weekends in BG consisted of going to the roller rink, walking up to "down town" near the police station (where there is an actual buffalo head mounted) and/or if you begged your parents really really hard were dropped off at Woodfield Mall which at one time was the largest mall in America.

THANK GOD, my parents moved me out of the flatlands and out west.

So, Glenn - what keeps you there?

What keeps us here is a fantastic job, a partnership in another, and a top notch schools system. We have relatives who live about 15 min from Red Rock Canyon, so when we move, you know where it will be to :)

-Glenn

Well, well, that explains a lot Suze - a midwestern girl. Ha, I grew up in W. Dundee up the road and learned to ski at that little ski area along the Fox River. We also used to catch Muddy Waters in a little club there, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

Edit: well that goes to show how long it's been since I've escaped the Chicago burbs - I'm thinking Fox River Grove as opposed to the nearby Buffalo Grove.