Shangri-La

This is the only route in David Bloom's old Sedona guidebook to get four stars, and it is worthy. The climb offers varied Zion-quality crack climbing that is very, very good & well worth the laborious approach. Shangri-La takes a corner system that starts out right-facing and ends up left facing on a Rostrum-like pillar of rock at the terminus of Lost Canyon.

P1: Begin up low angle rock and then head up the obvious, varnished tips crack. Some wild, committing moves up the arete make this pitch an unforgettable warm-up. I was glad to have 6 blue Alien-sized pieces, but I'm a scaredy-cat. Finish at a bolted anchor. 5.12a, 50'.

P2: Climb past two bolts to a ledge below an obtuse corner formed by a sharp flake. This pitch is a powerful lieback that only lets up slightly just before arriving at a bolted anchor. Stopping to place gear is desperate and painful. A somewhat uncomfortable belay. 5.11d, 60'.

P3: Climb up off the belay via a flake and a 0.5 Camalot placement. Here, clip the first of 8 bolts, and head up a very cool incipient crack system that requires laybacks and interesting gymnastic moves. The crux is in the first half -- getting to a series of three providential jugs, but the upper section is no gimmie... unless you're flexible! Wild climbing and an improbable sequence up high. On this final stretch the bolts can be supplemented with a 0.75 Camalot and a 0.3 Camalot (green Alien). End at a bolted anchor. 5.12+, 80'.

P4: This next pitch is a bit easier - a long lieback corner with great stemming rests to a bolted anchor. 5.11b, 90'.

P5: Continue liebacking up the corner, past a wide section, and on to a stance before a very steep wide-hands crack that guards the summit. A great, burly finish to a classic route. 5.11, 70'.

Descent: Rap the route with one rope. The anchor above pitch one can be skipped on rappel.

This is what I brought:

6 ea. blue Aliens (only useful for the first pitch)

3 ea. green Aliens/0.3 Camalots

3 ea. yellow Aliens/0.4 Camalots

5 ea. red Aliens/0.5 Camalots

1 ea. 0.75, #1, #2 Camalots

2 ea. #3 Camalots (only useful for the last pitch)

8 draws and a couple slings.

60m rope

The hardware on this route leaves something to be desired: All the bolts are modern, but many are very poorly drilled (several are drilled upwards at such an angle that the hangers don't even sit flush with the rock). This includes the anchors. This is kinda a shame for Sedona's best. One small service could be to bring a bolt kit and remove the old cold shuts from the top of P3 and install a proper rap anchor. If placed on the opposite side of the slot (from the current anchor), one could stand with their feet on a ledge and the ropes would pull more cleanly.

The botched bolt on the crux should be removed. Aesthetically speaking, I personally would pull it but not patch the hole. When the time comes to replace the bolts on this pitch, this hole could be filled with a glue-in and the bolt off to the side could be pulled and patched. This would keep all the bolts in a perfect line as was originally intended before that bolt was botched. I know it’s silly, but you know, the Feng Shui of this route is kinda odd the charts.

We removed the tat and added chains to the bolts atop P4.