Resolution Arete 

Definitely an "adventure route". One logistical problem is that a lot of it is not so steep and with lots of face features hauling is really a pain in the ass. So I advise trying to do it in a day, which is a real a race against the sunset.

My own experiences and info on this route can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/gibell.geo/trip_reports/resolution.>>>>>

Follow Georges link above for the best topo out there.

Good route. Definately more committing than anything else in Red Rocks that I've done. If you have read climbingboulder, this is not a date climb.

Cheers,Frank

2 hrs approach, 8 hours climbing, 2-3 hours descent if I remember.

Make sure to scope the approach the day before, it is a little confusing.

We climbed this route (in a day) last spring (May 2004). I could not say that the climbing itself was that great (by RR standards) but we had always wanted to do it because of the classic line and length. We have many photos, a detailed route description, gear beta, and a trip report on our site: www.ericandlucie.com. Note that we have reports and photos for a good number of the other RR classics as well.

Wow, what a route! Doing it in a day is a must, George's site has the best topo currently available (thanks, George!). One tip for those planning the route (as heard from George): As you finish the catwalk, look to your right up a gully. The left hand wall of this gully is your pitch, not the corner in front of you!

All in all a great route- we topped at 5:20pm and made it to the fork of First Creek before dark, back to the car about an hour and a half later!

I vastly underestimated the hike off. My suggestion for a rack.

Single Tiny cams, doubles from older version BD .5 to 3, one old 4 camalot. I placed no stoppers, but that doesn't mean squat.

Good times...US classic, imho.

The name "Resolution Arête" did not come up because Geoff "resolved" to go back to it after his first attempt with Newberry cashed out. Though that was a motivating factor to be sure, the way it really went was like this...
The first day of the climb ended with us rapping to Sherwood Forest and collecting cactus stalks for a New Years Eve fire side bivouac. In the morning after ascending our fixed lines the first substantial pitch of climbing was a delicate face traverse left and up into a gravely chimney slot with minimal protection potential. [Note: this is pitch 13 in our route description] I watched Geoff lead this poorly protected face like it was a walk in the park and then he disappeared into the chimney. Now back then the Madman was a manly man, he was really large and powerful, (not like the scrawny wimp he's become, umm, He's not gonna read this is he?) and known as an animal on hard cracks, off widths and the like. I on the other hand was a scrawny face climbing specialist and I assumed that if 'ole' monstro could reef on those tiny little layback flakes then it should be a breeze for me. Much to my chagrin, when I got to the crux I unexpectedly popped a flake and went flinging into the overhanging void with a wild pendulum. I came to rest dangling 300'+ above Sherwood Forest, unable to connect with the rock and hearing Madmans' emphatic plea to "GET OFF THE ROPE NOW!" He had also had assumed I would fly across that pitch and when he didn't find any good anchors at the stance in the chimney he just put me on a hip belay backed up by some really crappy wired stoppers behind a dubious flake. The jolt of my fall hit so suddenly that Geoff was ripped off his stance and dragged down the chimney several feet. Two of the three anchors blew out completely and the two of us were literally saved from a fast trip to Nottingham by the Madman’s' shear brute force self arrest and the one remaining marginal stopper. How Geoff ever managed to keep it together wedged like that while I struggled to swing into the overhanging face and unweight the rope is beyond me. It certainly is a testament to his power and drive that he not only saved both our lives but never once thought about going down. We finished the first ascent of the route that day and being that it was new years we needless to say made several resolutions, not the least of which is that; "even if the anchors are marginal at best, put in as many as you can!". And of course there was reference to the well known quote from the old TV. sitcom "The Odd Couple" about the dangers of assuming(*). We had talked about all sorts of names the night before at the bivy but at the end of that second day the name "resolution arête" just sort of made sense. Well thanks for letting me set the record straight! Good anchors to ya.
Philo
(*) "Never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME."
PEACE philo

Great story Phil!

Great route! I agree that George Bell's topo is the best one out there. Not really as serious of a day as I expected, which was a nice surprise. We joined a party from Inti Watana near the end of the route, they said that they were going to rappel Dogma as a descent. Interesting to read their take on that idea on the Inti page. The walk off was super easy, though long (2.5hrs). With a descent like that I dont know why you would consider rapping. The aid pitch is easy, you dont need aiders just some slings.

Couple of tips:

First and foremost- descend via oak creek. This is far faster and way more chill- no boulder hopping. There is a moment of 5th class, but you can rig a rap. There is a fixed rap line a little below this point, but you can just hand over hand it, no big deal. The trick for the descent is to follow the limestone/sandstone line until you reach a grove of mature ponderosas and then drop down into the canyon. Go this way and you'll be back to your car within 2.5hrs no problem.

Second, if you're strong and willing to run it out, rack up with a set of stoppers, single green and yellow aliens, two red aliens, two green camalots, and singles above that to a #4. This lets you get through all the cruxes comfortably, but it does limit your gear on individual pitches so plan accordingly.

This route is so much fun- thanks to the first ascensionists for finding it for us!

Did this route on Sunday, December 3rd.

Things I would do again:
1. Descend via Oak Creek Canyon. It was very mellow. The beta that vegastradguy posted were perfect. It took about 3 hours to get back to the car.
2. Try to link more pitches down low. We brought a 70 meter and didn't try to link many during the first part of the climb. The top half went very quickly when we started doing this. There were many options for belays at good (enough) stances.
3. The approach was easy; www.ericandlucie.com have a great approach beta picture with the line drawn in.

Things I would change:
1. The temperature. The route went into the shade about 11 am. Vegas was forecasted for a low of 35. When we woke up at the campground that morning, the water bottles were pretty frozen. There were a couple nice pitches of water ice in oak creek canyon on the decent.
2. My partners' gear loop broke on pitch 6 and 5 larger cams fell into the void. That made it a little more interesting.

So much fun. Some folks have stated that it's a route that you won't do again after having done it once. I feel a bit different...there's a little loose rock but it's worth it for 20 pitches of fun.

It was 26 years ago today that the Madman and I finished the first ascent of the Res. I still clearly remember waking up New Years Day on Sherwood Forest to a crystalline frosty blue morning and a sunrise to "live" for. It was magical!
I just exchanged Happy New Year greetings with both Jimmy Newberry and the Madman and I am immensely gratified that all these years later we are all still great friends. And then I realize that compared to wearing dirt for a shirt, LIFE is GOOD! And good friends are GREAT!

And YES I would do it again.

Was on the route with Nathan Furman (see description above...yes, I am the guy with the broken gear loop). I wouldn't add anything to his description except to say that the ice formations in Oak Creek are amazing...there's one plus for doing it in the cold, cold winter.

Another thing, you can bivy very close to Mt. Wilson. On the approach trail are lots of small flat areas to throw down at. I agree that the approach is easy, but don't under estimate it.

Have fun!

I broke a couple of holds on this route and almost had some big consequences to pay.

The hardest parts are classic and solid.

We counted 22 pitches with 60m full ropes for almost every pitch. Didn't to any simuling though.

Communication is hard in certain places on the route.

Descent was tough to find for us using old "Red" guide..."walk back towards the limestone bands..." Try VTG's beta would be my advice.

The crux pitch would be 11c if it were a sport route.

We took the wrong gully into oak creek and ended up doing six or so rappels. We obviously were not the first people to take this gully since we were rapping off of old cams for several of the raps.

Great story Philo. Geir and I plan on doing the route this Fall.

Wow! Don't do this climb if you are expecting a lot of brilliant climbing. There are a few great pitches, but overall the rock quality is not great. But what an adventure!! My best man and I finally cleaned this skeleton out of the closet 2 days after my wedding and had a fantastic day!

Team Honcho - great to see you lads out there giving it hell!! Hope you didn't suffer TOO much! Here's some salt for your wounds: 33.5 - 12.5 = 100. Old guys RULE.

George's topo is definitely the best, but I would also recommend his route description as a supplement. http://www.geocities.com/gibell.geo/trip_reports/res_george.>>>>> It definitely saved us time on a couple confusing sections. Good Luck!

great route. definately makes for a looong day though. If descending the oak creek side, don't get lazy like we did and with darkness fast approaching get suckered into an inviting looking gully to early. It quickly turned into a ridiculously narrow and steep water chute requiring several rappells and some canyoneering. It dropped us off in one of the side canyons that runs into oak creek proper somewhere in between the slabs below levitation and black orpheus. I think if your descending either oak creek or first creek you need to walk quite a way down the west ridge before jumping down into one of the canyons.