attn Red Rocks Newbies

I just got back from a fantastic trip to Red Rocks and I wanted to give some newbie beta.

WALK-OFFS
When you read a route has a "walk-off," this is often not an accurate description. From what i experienced, "walk-off" means traverse your way to a gully and downclimb 3rd, 4th, and occasional 5th class terrain. The gullies often don't get much sun and on one occasion the rock was covered in an inch of snow and made things rather spicy. Bringing up a pair of shoes w/ a textured sole would have been a good idea.

ROUTE-FINDING
Spend some time reading the route before you hit the base. There are lots of good lines to follow but only some go to your next belay station. My partner had to set a hanging belay b/c he ran out of rope when he climbed 100' past his belay station. I learned to prefer rapping (at least during winter).

-russell

Can't argue with this-- Russell seems to grasp the basic issues. . .

I too have found the descent from the 2nd pullout routes long and tedious.

Yes, I was disappointed to find that Red Rock is nothing like climbing in a gym.

John Hegyes wrote:Yes, I was disappointed to find that Red Rock is nothing like climbing in a gym.