Continue with onX Maps
Continue with Facebook
Red Rock, Slideshow and Trip Report
|
Slideshow with sound...     Sunday November 8, 2009 Glenn Gordon & Matt Edlund Purblind Pillar 5.8, 6 pitches, 900’ Purblind was a nice enjoyable climb. I found it a little soft for the grade. I led odd number pitches on this route. About halfway up pitch 1 I could hear the belayer from the team ahead of us calling up to her partner that she wasn’t feeling well. I reached the belay and could clearly see she was really not doing well. She had her partner safely tied off as she said she tought she might have to vomit. Either way, she was in no condition to climb or belay. I communicated to the guy on lead what was going on, transferred the belay over to my harness and was able to lower him back down to the anchor. I helped set them up with a tandem rappel and they were able to safely descend to the base of the climb. With that situation resolved we resumed our climb. Matt led P2 which had a few exciting and exposed moves out onto a face before gaining the belay ledge. That was the crux of the climb. I especially enjoyed leading the crack system on Pitch 5. The first move was protected by a bolt, but after that the gear placements were readily available. I enjoyed climbing this crack so much that I climbed the crack right past the ledge I was supposed to turn right on. I ended up down climbing back to that ledge to get us back on course. . The climbing on Purblind Pillar was fun and varied and I enjoyed it every bit as much as Tunnel Vision.  Monday November 9, 2009 Glenn Gordon, Matt Edlund, & Adam Jones Birdland 5.7+, 5 pitches, 550’ I had climbed Birdland a few years prior with Mike Ward and my son Sam. I led only the 5.7+ pitch three since I did not lead it last time. Birdland is a beautiful climb with nice variety to the style. Pitch three is steep and sustained with some tricky gear placements that definitely earns its 5.7+ rating. There were some really nice people from Phoenix climbing behind us and we were able to comfortably share most of the anchors. The real money pitch of the route was pitch 5 which was led by Adam. The finger crack was every bit as fun as I remember it!  Tuesday November 10, 2009 Glenn Gordon, Matt Edlund, & Adam Jones Frogland 5.8, 7 pitches 770’ This was by far my favorite route of the trip. Frogland was simply amazing; 770’ of beautiful climbing up the Frogland Buttress on Whiskey Peak. We were a team of three climbing on double ropes. I climbed lead on pitches 1, 4, & 7. Pitch 7 was just a 5.easy jaunt to the top. Pitch one was a nice long pitch with some solid 5.7 climbing. The gear was good and the pitch ended with a nice comfortable ledge to belay from. Matt, then Adam led the next two pitches… It was a busy day on Frogland. There was one party ahead of us and a party of two kiwi ladies behind us. We let them pass us at the third belay. We could hear one other party a couple of pitches below us but we never saw them. It was my turn again for pitch 4. This pitch was solid 5.8 with a PG section at the roof traverse. Under the roof, beta calls for placing gear high and traversing low. We watched the team ahead of us lead the traverse high via the 5.10a variation. I followed suit on the 5.10a variation. I places a solid 1” cam and then was on my way traversing under the roof. The holds were sparse and thin and the feet relied on friction. Once I worked out the sequence though I was able to make the moves across, gain a stance and then place a 0 TCU low in the available crack. I extended the piece so that we didn’t get rope drag as I climbed the 5.8 section above the roof. Another 25 feet of climbing took me to a decent stance where I was able to build a semi-hanging belay anchor. This was an exciting pitch for me to lead as the traverse section was probably the hardest I’ve led to date. Matt had the next pitch which was also 5.8. We had to leave our pack below the chockstone and then hauled them up after we squeezed though the little tunnel. Definitely another highlight of the climb!   Wednesday November 11, 2009 Glenn Gordon & Adam Jones – Neon Sunset 5.8, & Technicolor Sunrise 5.8, 70’ Adam and I had a few hours to kill before it was time to fly back home. After the previous four days of climbing, my hands were pretty sore and really wasn’t much in the mood to be climbing, but how could we be in Red Rock and not climb? We couldn’t. Most of our gear was already packed and so we grabbed some draws and a rope and hiked up to the Magic Bus area located at the Calico II pullout. Magic Bus is a 70’ wall with a combination of trad and sport routes. The routes were steep and somewhat sustained, a lot of crimpy holds with the occasional jug to relax a little on. The routes seemed okay for what they were, but after 4 great days leading multi-pitch trad routes, these two sport routes we climbed at Magic Bus were not all that interesting. Trip Summary This was my third trip to Red Rock and far from my last; Red Rock has so much to offer! Great rock, fun routes, and fantastic weather make Red Rock a place I plan to keep returning to! In fact, I’ll be back out there again to climb in April. |
|
Nice trip, and fantastic pictures! |
|
Addendum. |
