The Riviera 

A lot of the hangers at this crag are bent from people clipping on them wrong or the belayer standing too far back and catching falls. Maybe the hangers were low quality to start with. None of them seem really unsafe, but I don't like the looks of these.

That said, this cliff is kinda sad. A lot of routes of questionable quality are crowded in, between other routes. A few of the lines here are so close in places that it's hard to tell which line you are on and which bolt you should clip.

Beach Bum was bolted so tight to the crack on Devil's Dihedral that the bolt is "on a trad line."

I did all of the climbs at this crag this past weekend. It was enjoyable, but none of them stand out in my mind. All of the climbs left me wanting more or feeling like it wasn't enough. Best described as unsustained. Definitely worth the approach though. There are 14 climbs, bring a rack of small-med. stoppers, some RPs, and Aliens. You can do them all in a few hours with a quick partner and no crowd.

For perhaps slightly better directions for AC: Drive uphill and look for the upper Bihedral area (it has an overhanging profile on the skyline) approximately 7 miles past Elephant Buttesses (1st climbing rocks in the canyon). There is a pulloff on the south side of the road just past a decent talus field that comes down nearly to the road on the north side. There is a large tree at this pulloff. This pulloff is downhill from Boulder Falls. You can look up at the Bihedral and see a big, left-facing dihedral up high on the north side of the road. Walk downhill briefly (approx 100m) to the same talus field. Hike up the talus field approximately 5 minutes. When you get to a cliff, wander east 2 minutes to the base of this rock/crag. Hopefully, that helps.

Someone has done some well-meaning but poorly thought out gear maintenance here lately. The anchor up and right of Topless Etiquette (also used for Le Nouveau Riche) has big links added, but the old links were not removed, leaving a bad situation. There are similar problems with the anchor on Bosch Blanket Bingo.

In early June, Ron Olsen, Rob Copolillo and I replaced the rappel/lower hardware on five of the seven fixed anchors on this crag. We removed all smash (lap) links and cold shuts and installed 5/16" quick links and 3/8" chain links plus new hangers where necessary. Also, we removed the worn smash links from the Le Nouveau Riche anchor (it already had quick links).

This work was performed as part of the American Safe Climbing Association's (ASCA - www.safeclimbing.org) Clean Anchor Campaign. They could use yoursupport!

I believe the parking are Leo refers to is the next wide area on the south side of the road after the Happy Hour Crag parking area (which is the next one after Cob Rock). If you walk back down the road 100' from here, there is a trail going up to the base of the Bihedral Area. Watch for loose rock, there is a block right on the trail hanging by a thread!

Parking: the wide area George talks about is also marked by little green mile marker 34. The "430" post trail is about two minutes' walk west.

Ahh, tick! Tick! Tick! Tick!
Check yourself - we picked up three on two people.

LOST RACK??? I picked up the rack someone left by Chouette and Splash today and wanted to make sure it got back into the right hands. So if it's yours, call me at 231-343-9407 and we'll get you reconnected.

Rebecca,

You might want to check the "lost and found" section. Somebody posted something about finding a camera there recently....

Just went there today and there are two new bolted routes to the right of Splash. I was there a month ago, and they were not there. So, no longer is Splash the furthermost route to the right. The starts are a little tricky, especially if you stay to the right of the bolt on the route to the right of Splash. If I were to guess, I would say a few 5.9 moves, then gets easier on the way up.

This place is nice for a quick few climbs, or for a relaxing trip out... I agree with someone else's comments on here, though, that the rock quality's not that great... Also, I've been here twice, once mid-day on a Tuesday, and both times there were two or three other groups....

Hated this place...crappy rock quality, crappy climbs, contrived bolting and over crowded. Will never return here ever again.

The post with 430 on it is right near the road, not 30 feet up.

In early October, Dale Haas, Ron Olsen and I replaced the worn anchor hardware (chain, chain links, or quicklinks) with new hardware on Splash/Chouette, Le Nouveau Riche and Topless Etiquette. Thanks to the American Safe Climbing Association (www.safeclimbing.org) for the hardware. They appreciate your support.

One note about the mentioned 430 sign: there is no way you will spot this driving by in your car unless you have eagle eyes. It is quite faded and small. It is, however, there and a good marker to tell you are starting the correct approach trail which is just east of the large talus field.

Also in the interest of toting the positive aspects of this crag:

1) Nice southern exposure for those colder days.
2) Good place for a group as all the climbs are pretty much lined up and you can easily keep track of each other if you are the leader.
3) A good variety of grades.
4) Some pretty decent easy grade sport leads for newer leaders to practice one.
5) The easy sport leads also offer the chance to place a little trad gear along the way (on the runout sections, bolts have not been placed where gear opportunities exist), so you can practice that without having to lead a whole route on gear.
6) The easier routes are actually quite long compared to a lot of Boulder Canyon sport climbs.
7) Easy approach/ nice base with lots of room to move around, drop packs, etc.
8) Ok I know I am on a roll, too much time on my hands.
9) Good place to practice your friction climbing, especially the Devils (Devin's?) Dihedral. Awesome 5.9+ (best toproped. gear tricky, only one bolt).
10) There are almost always climbers there (I guess that could be a negative in some ways) who seem to be laughing and in general having a good time and is one of the most popular places to climb in the canyon. Why would we be there if it was so bad?

Kind of funny. It seems that some of the crags on here that get the most bashing are also the most popular.

just my 2 cents