Giant Rock Bouldering
Elevation: | 2,836 ft | 864 m |
GPS: |
34.3328, -116.38872 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
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Page Views: | 38,591 total · 184/month | |
Shared By: | Blitzo on Feb 16, 2008 · Updates | |
Admins: | C Miller, Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes |
Description
Located near Landers California, Giant Rock has always been a place of interest. It is thought to be the world's largest freestanding boulder. Approximately seventy feet high and covering 5,800 feet of ground, it dwarfs the famous Peabody Boulders of the Buttermilks.
Giant Rock itself has several old bolt ladders. Lots of bouldering can be found and good bolted routes exist at a nearby area known as The DMZ.
UPDATE: Most all of the lines on Giant Rock have been rebolted during the covid shutdown. There are old stone master era routes, about a half dozen from 12- to mid 13. Just pull the truck up underneath it and go. Always shady, always windy. And realistically with link-ups included, there are 15+ routes with 2 routes that border 5.14.
History
Historically, people have been drawn here for spiritual energy. A vortex has drawn scientists, UFO enthusiasts and other cosmic schmosics from around the world.
Do you feel the vortex? I sure don't, but with a few hits of acid, several beers and bong loads, I might!
Charlie Reche homesteaded in what's now Landers and was privileged to meet the local Indian Tribes. The Van Tassel Integratron now sits on a portion of this homestead.
In the early 1930s Frank Critzer, a German prospector staked claim in the Giant Rock area. He built a one-room subterranean home and storage room under the rock. He excavated a 400 square foot cavern beneath the rock and lived in it. He also constructed an airstrip. Local folks avoided him thinking he was nuts. During WWII, Critzer was suspected of being a Nazi spy and was killed in a law enforcement raid in 1942.
George Van Tassel had an interest in airplanes. He quit school and became a pilot, soon earning a name for himself as a flight test engineer. He worked for Lockeed and Douglas Aircraft in the 1930s. He also flew with Howard Hughes in WWII. He met Critzer in Santa Monica and was invited to visit the Giant Rock dwelling.
Van Tassel took his family on vacation to Giant Rock and later leased the land from the BLM. In 1947 he and his family moved to the area. He reopened the airstrip and built a cafe. Howard Hughes would fly there just for a slice of pie.
The Van Tassels held 17 UFO conventions. In 1959, 11,000 people visited these conventions. Van Tassel led weekly meditations in the excavated room under Giant Rock from the 1950s to the 1970s. He claimed this led to UFO contacts. His dream was the Integratron, a 35 foot high, 55 foot diameter, non-metallic structure used as a rejuvenation and time machine. Construction started in 1957, but was not complete in 1978, at the time of Van Tassels Death.
Today, Giant Rock is a place, popular with ATVers and dirt bikers. Graffiti is everywhere.
The excavated dwelling has been filled in and all that remains of the restaurant is a concrete slab.
Getting There
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