Eldo | Upper Peanuts Wall: Proposed bolted rap route

g.miller wrote:Joe are u checking out that thin crack below the ledge? I top roped it a year ago, i left a nut in a crack on the ledge...

Greg, nah. Trying to suss out a decent rappel route for Upper Peanuts. We should hook up and send that crack!

I like your ideas, keep it up.

CJC wrote: so lets put rap stations on every route wouldn't want 'Tom and Debbie' to have an unpleasant walk-off experience

I think it is pretty obvious here the main concern is erosion and not whether someone's decent is necessarily pleasurable. I interpreted Joe's comment as 'Tom and Debbie' are in agreement that a rap would be preferable to the current decent.

I checked out the rappels and agree with Joe's assessment. The third one isn't great and could possibly be changed if there is a better option. They are definitely an improvement over the mess that is being created now. Considering "the park" has requested a change, I would agree that this is something that needs to be done.

Tom of "Tom and Debbie here. Just to clarify my stance on this issue, I am against any conveneince anchors in Eldorado whether for rappel or belay unless it mitigates a greater problem. A few reasons for adding rappel anchors would be to take pressure off of a tree which is currently wrapped in slings, an existing anchor is shot and no options for natural gear are available or in this case trail errosion.

I've been down the Upper Peanuts decent numerous times over the last 30 years and can't say if it's gotten worse or not, to me it's just another shitty loose Eldorado decent. I do think the idea of cairns would help a lot. The good thing about the rap's Joe is advocating for is they won't change the character of the climbs unlike the anchors at the top of the first pitch of the Peanuts route(how many people will top out on this route now?). There is a lot of loose rock up there however and rap stations will probably result in more rock fall.

Oh and yes I'd always rather rappel off then walk off, that however is a function of having two bum knees and feet that aren't much better. Only have so many steps left in these old boys and would rather use them climbing.

Today I looked for a better set of rappels, but I arrived at nearly the same solution. In the end I moved the top anchor about 6 feet to climber's left to allow for a nice staging area. The slings are up on the slab and the rappel setup would happen in a comfortable nook in the rock rather than swinging out onto the sheer face. There is also currently a set of rings uphill that Joe extended from the tree, but I think that line might cross more loose rock. The new station is just a few feet uphill from where P4 of Heavy Weather joins the ridge. 3 nuts in solid rock. Proposed bolts and chains would go essentially in the same place.
The middle station is easy to see to climber's left once you are on rappel. (nut, hex, tricam, red sling). Proposed bolts and chains would go about 2 feet to climber's right.
Trending to climber's left takes you over the largest boulder, not the precariously balanced rocks. There is currently a fixed line to climber's right anchored near the start of HW P3. We rapped that as well, but didn't thread and pull a rope from there.

The last station is a full 30m rappel below the middle. Blue slings around a good tree to climber's left. Be sure to toss your rope down the clean slab and not the fall line. Proposed bolts and chains would go ~5 feet to climber's left of the tree.


The trail will need to be improved for 15 to 25m to connect to the landing zone, but that is easy compared to the amount of trail necessary to fix the west descent.

Thanks for putting in more time and exploring. Does the top rap completely avoid the ledge system Steve was concerned about?

Also, what were your thoughts on the fixed line rap?

Joseph P. Crotty wrote:Thanks for putting in more time and exploring. Does the top rap completely avoid the ledge system Steve was concerned about? Also, what were your thoughts on the fixed line rap?

Moving the top avoids the dead tree and drapes the rope over the large oblong boulder on that ledge. If you go further left there are some protruding blocks that would catch a rope. This location threads the needle between obstacles. We each rapped and pulled from it.

Todd did the fixed rap while I modified the line to the left. He said he would be concerned if he had to pull it.

CJC wrote:Why would you set the top rap anchor such that a descending climber would have to rap over a party climbing that last 'pitch'? If you place the station just slightly uphill from where P4 hits the ridge you will be rapping right over that pitch, as it is a rising leftward traverse.

Heavy Weather does cross under this proposed rap line, but at that point the climber of P4 is walking on a wide ledge. The vertical portion of P4 is only ~25 feet, and climbers setting up for this rappel would see anyone below. It would be a short wait. Even if d-bag climbers above went ahead and threw down their rope, the 3D geometry of this section of cliff puts the rap rope far out from where the climber will be.

Upper Peanuts does not get many traffic jams, but the traffic it does see does leave a mark. This seems to me to be the cleanest rap line possible.

The worst area of erosion is not on the upper peanuts descent, it's on main Peanuts access route. Thus, the rap route does not mitigate erosion on the area of greatest concern.

If the #1 goal is erosion, then DESCEND THE EAST SLABS!!! The east slabs won't erode & will put you in the same place as if you had summited lower peanuts via home free / star wars...

I've never gone down the east side but it looks 4th class & sounds much more logical than several surfeit rappelling stations.

Peteoria wrote:The worst area of erosion is not on the upper peanuts descent, it's on main Peanuts access route. Thus, the rap route does not mitigate erosion on the area of greatest concern. If the #1 goal is erosion, then DESCEND THE EAST SLABS!!! The east slabs won't erode & will put you in the same place as if you had summited lower peanuts via home free / star wars... I've never gone down the east side but it looks 4th class & sounds much more logical than several surfeit rappelling stations.

Are you referring to the trail along the base of Lower Peanuts?
Or are you referring to the 40° dirt directly off the Fowler Trail? True, there is terrible erosion beside the boulder field there, but the boulder field is the obvious non-eroding approach option. Although there isn't an established trail to the left, climbers are choosing it when they should instead stick to the boulders. That needs to be addressed.
The East descent is not what the park wants to promote - it isn't as straightforward or hazard-free as it looks.