A relatively new, but already quite popular, climb. (Makes you wonder how many other nice unclimbed routes there are further back and higher up in the various canyons....)
Approach as per Crimson Chrysalis, but before reaching the gully which separates the canyon, take a trail up towards the base of the buttress. The trails to the base of the climb aren't as well defined as the main trail, but are certainly easy enough to stay on. Like so many of the approaches in Red Rocks, the difficulty is often deciding which of the various trail branches to follow.
The climb starts at the base of the face, at a prominent crack.
P1: Climb a long pitch up the face (surprisingly steep in places), with generally good pro in the crack. The pitch ends at a huge forested terrace. Belay at or near the boulders.
P2: Negotiate your way to the back of the terrace, and climb a crack just left of the huecoed face. Climb up to an intermediate platform with a huge boulder (possible belay), or (if you have a 60m rope) stretch it out another 50 feet to the next large terrace. Watch for rope drag if you skip the intermediate belay.
P3: Again relocate to the back of the terrace, and begin climbing a crack in the face. This face itself has a second tier, so use long runners to avoid rope drag. Aim for left of a left facing, arching dihedral. You'll go up (and well out of sight of your belayer) beyond the top of that arc, past a couple delicate stemming moves, to a small stance in another dihedral. Be careful of your anchor placements here, because one of the cracks is bisected with a flexing flake.
P4: Go up and slightly left from the belay, then up and right, hugging the exposed arete 50' to the summit of the pinnacle. The gear is a little sparse on this last pitch.
Descent: Do a double rope rappel from the summit to the top of P2, then a series of single rope rappels down the chimney that winds up 50' right of the start of the climb.Avoid the temptation to use your second rope to get down the chimney more quickly, as several sections of the chimney look to be hungry.
Maybe this has gotten better over the years. Maybe it hasn't. But all I remember are wandering, unmemorable pitches, breaking off holds, crawling through holly bushes, and the worlds worst descent line. If somebody installs a better descent I might try it again but until then I'm not going to risk losing a rope in the bottomless cracks at the back of the chimney. If this is a 2 star route then Olive Oil is a 5 star route.
The climbing is okay, the descent sucks. When we climbed it we were stuck behind a SUPER slow party on the last 2 pitches. This party proceded to get a rop stuck on EACH chimmeny rappel. They ended up cutting 2 different ropes because of this. Luckily, we learned from them and didn't get any ropes stuck, however I find it a miracle that we kept both ropes intact. Either way there are better climbs in RR with shorter approaches, better rock, and more mellow descents. I'd give this route one star, nice setting, but horrible descent.
I've not done this route, but can you scramble over the top and drop down left into Juniper Canyon as stated for MysterZ? This probably takes at least as long as the raps, but at least spares you the aggrevation of stuck ropes ...
You can continue up to the base of the Brownstone Wall with a few more pitches-- maybe 1 or 2 in the 5.7 range, then easier until you reach the third class. This gives you the advantage of missing the rappel, but also allows a fairly logical linkup with something like Black Dagger. This would be a good long day of climbing at a pretty moderate grade.
Why oh why doesn't someone put in some rational rap anchors away from that sh...y crack. I'm not going to climb it again so it won't be me. The crack's a graveyard for ropes.
Actually, Woody, I think that process may have already begun. When I was on the route last December, the rap point on one of the intermediate rap stations (anchored off of a tree) had been extended down about 20 or 30 feet. It made getting on rappel a little awkward, but the rope pulled relatively cleanly.
I feel your pain, though. The raps on this route aren't fun.
The route is a great route. On the descent stay out of the chimneys! Some nice soul added two bolts on the top of the terrace so its 1 50m rap to the tree at the end of the raps. then just on more rap to the ground. very easy and quick.
Having climbed cat in the hat, johnny vegas and geronimo all in the same week I would say geronimo is by far my least favorite simply for the horrible descent. The rock is also pretty fragile and makes me cringe just thinking about it. The one redeeming quality of this route is the consistent steepness (minus the huge belay ledges) and the last short pitch is pretty cool. The exposure will pull at your spurs ha. If you ever have the chance to let a soloist climber rap down with you take it. On our second rap he volunteered to climb up and unstuck our ropes which was nice while I sat on my ass and ate food.
Climbed this last March. Three of us thought it was a great little route. Wonderful big holds but yes steep in places. No problems with rap if you are very careful when pulling ropes.
Climbed this route yesterday (Jan. 21, 2006) and thought I could provide some updated info. (P1) There is now webbing and cordage, equipped with one quick link and one biner, slinging a very large boulder at the top of pitch one. (P2) The next large terrace at the top of pitch two now has a two bolt belay/rappel anchor. (Some people end pitch two at a smaller ledge approx. 50 feet below but this is totally unnecessary if you're using a 60 meter rope, although it is almost a full rope length to the anchors with a 60m.) (P3) No changes. Build your own anchor at the small, sloping ledge approx. 60 feet below the summit. (P4) No changes. Two bolt belay/rappel anchor at the summit. (Descent) Here's the best news. You can now get down to the base of the climb with just three double rope rappels. From the anchors at the summit rap down to the terrace at the top of P2. From the anchors at this terrace you can rap to the terrace at the top of P1. From there you can rap from the aforementioned webbing and cordage to the base. When you pull your ropes after each rappel, get as far away from the cliff face as possible and this will make it almost impossible for your knot to get hung up. (P.S. Before each rappel check to be sure there are no parties coming up your rappel line as this climb has the potential for several variations of ascent.) (IMO) I gave this route two stars but would have given it two and a half if given the option. Fun, relaxing climb with great views. I did not rate this climb for difficulty but would have no argument with someone who thought there were some moves harder than 5.6.
By Matthew Fienup Administrator From: Ventura, CA Feb 24, 2006
As an experienced climber who was new to Red Rocks, the rock quality on P1 simply scared the crap out of me.
I do not recommend this route to anyone who isn't already super comfortable on Red Rocks sandstone. Also, this is far from a beginner's route.
We linked this last week to Armatron, and found this combo to be great fun! However, I would warn people about continuing past the normal end of the route. Significant routefinding is required, and it is more runout and difficult than anything on the first 4 pitches. If you thought p1 was scary, do not continue past p4! Yes, the rock on p1 is fragile, but at least you can get pro in as often as you like.
We followed the route described by John Hegyes in his beta photo, at least for one long pitch. Just getting to the base of the pitch in his photo is nontrivial and involves some scary bushwhacking above drop-offs. John's tongue-in-cheek comment "The final pitch included fun but runout slab followed by a chossy 5.8+ chimney" should not be taken lightly. I think we did the same finish, although we found a way to avoid the (squeeze) chimney, but still experienced some pretty run-out 5.8 face climbing.
Depends on which way you go, though, maybe there is a well protected 5.6 finish, we just didn't find it.
honestly, i dont want to join the stick-in-the-mud crowd, but i think this route just isn't special. there is nothing memorable on it. it doesnt (via normal ascent) top out. there is no line. it'd beyond me why so many people slog out to climb this thing.
do olive oil instead. or johnny vegas. or cat in the hat. or birdland. or black dagger. or physical graffiti. or the great red book.
By vegastradguy From: Henderson, NV Mar 27, 2008 rating: 5.6
I cant believe how popular this route is given that it is probably only mediocre in terms of overall quality and aesthetics compared to the other classic 5.6/5.7s in the park!
At any rate- pretty decent route. Definitely avoid the gully of doom by doing three double rope rappels essentially straight down the route.
I also noticed enough tat around that I think you could do single rope raps to the top of pitch 1, and then double rope down to the ground, but I wasnt productive enough to test it.
Also, watch the pull on the last rap- its a beast because the rap station isnt extended far enough.
This is a fun route but both rappel lines are unpleasant.
From the pitch 2 ledge you can rappel back down the route in 2 double-rope rappels, but be prepared to re-lead the route to free up your stuck ropes as both rappels are rope-eaters. (I watched two parties do this and their ropes got stuck on each rappel.) The standard descent line from the chains on the pitch 2 ledge can be done as two double-rope rappels or four single-rope rappels. This gully/crack system is also a rope-eater. Our ropes got stuck when doing the standard descent with double-rope raps, but not with single-rope raps.
Starting the rappel from the second (if double-roped) or third (if single roped) standard rappel ledge can be quite unnerving for inexperienced climbers, as the rings are extended a long distance (10 feet or so) away from the anchor tree.
I don't understand some of the comments about this route, we thought it was great. It doesn't top out: There are plenty of quality routes in RR that don't top out. There is no line: I can only remember the second half of P2 not following any line. The P4 arete was pretty straight forward. Besides, I can recall route wondering and needing to read route descriptions to not go wrong on many climbs. The Olive Oil traverse for example. Rock quality on P1: No problems with quality. Perhaps it is because we are not experienced with Red Rocks sandstone? We didn't know we were on bad rock? Unpleasant rappel lines: Michael Allen's descent description is spot on. With those big ledges I don't see why anyone would stand right in front of the cracks/chimneys when pulling the ropes. Can't comment on single rope raps though, we used doubles. Overall we loved this route. Nice easy steep climbing on P1. First half of P2 was a nice crack/face climb, on the second half I got some pretty bad rope drag. P3 was great, I loved it all the way, it just got better and better with a nice passage ending it. P4 was short but I loved the exposure on the arete. Maybe it's because we are from Sweden... We just don't have routes like this back at home. Or maybe it's because we had no expectations of a great route due to the comments here. In that case I might be giving future readers great expectations only to dissapoint them? Hmm... I've changed my mind! This route is garbage! It's crap!! If you climb it you'll be disappointed!
I agree, this is a fun route. It's a mellow romp up a nice cliff, and makes for a great day of moderate climbing if you link it with Olive Oil. The 2nd rap was a little difficult to pull, be sure to move your knot as close to the edge as possible. Also, there was no bad rock anywhere on this route. And I'd probably link the last two pitches with a 70 if I ever did it again.
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