Becca Polglase enjoys "the Rapture," one of Santa ...
Description
The poorly named lower Gibraltar is actually up the road from the main wall. A little cliff with four moderate routes. South facing and secluded, a good place to go if Gibraltar is crowded and you have gumbies with you. There are two sets of anchors at the top and it is far easier to rappel to the bottom of the face.
It is a particularily nice area for gumbies because they get to do a rappel and then three or four climbs that are quite different from each other.
Getting There
Drive 50 yards past the main Gibraltar area and park in a turnout on the downhill side of the road. Scramble out to the point and then right (200 yards) to the top of the climbs. The approach should take less than 2 minutes.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Lower Gibraltar:
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Mar 2, 2006
There is a newer bolted line left and around the corner from Rapture. I led it and thought it to be 5.8, maybe 5.9. Anyone know the name, FA information or additional details?
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Mar 2, 2006
Note that the base of Lower Gibraltar is quite cramped, and 3 of the 4 routes start within just a few feet of one another. This area cannot really accommodate more than a few people at a time, and for that reason is not an ideal spot for groups.
By Matthew Fienup Administrator From: Ventura, CA Mar 31, 2006
Respectfully, I don't think this is a good spot for "gumbies" unless you are super proficient with traditional topropes (belayer above climber) and hauling systems.
Conundrum and the Rapture are both very sustained routes. Some beginners will really struggle on these two routes.
One way to make this work is to hang a draw on each bolt of the Rapture to give beginners something positive to pull on. The Rapture requires the use of 2 to 3 directionals anyway.
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