[Hide Comment] Does anyone have beta on Rock Warrior? I have the Swain guide and it's OK, but I'd love to hear some comments on this thing from someone whose done it. Oct 1, 2006

[Hide Comment] There is a variation to the first pitch. BUT!!! It is Harder AND more runout.

Instead of going way right continue up to the first obvious bolt on the wall...5.10R+ I believe this is the first bolt for sandstone samarai..instead of going left as for SS, continue straigt up following discontinous cracks. Pay Attention to Gear!! There is very little and what is there is not great. You will climb a crux in the first 60ft that checks in somewhere between 5.10d and 5.11B...and you will be WAY above gear. Follow the cracks until you reach a point where you can traverse right towards what is the first bolt on the 2nd pitch of RW. It's a long traverse and clocks in around 5.10bR. Clip the first bolt then climb to the second...and belay. There are 2 good stoppers down and left of this bolt that make the belay resonable...but they are not obvious. 5.11R/X
This variation is very good climbing, however it's not really recommended. If you want something to tick off and you can handle it...by all means!! But be warned...it's far from safe. Nov 6, 2006

[Hide Comment] The first pitch is hard to figure out and VERY run out. Straight up to two bolts, long traverse -down and right - then straight up. If you blow the top you will deck so be careful.This is the money pitch in terms of having head screwed on. Second pitch is harder but has more gear. Rest is pretty run out with occasional good wire/RP and rare bolt. Jan 20, 2010

[Hide Comment] Todd Gordon and I did what I believe was possibly the second ascent in April 1985. I remember the first two pitches as tricky. We continued to the top of Black Velvet Peak for 15 pitches, many of them after dark. We got down to the car around midnight to find our friend Holly asleep and dinner very cold. She was more annoyed than worried.
It was a long day. Feb 17, 2011

[Hide Comment] Bold! The climbing is not too hard but you're WAY above the gear and the flaky sandstone is less than confidence inspiring. Gear is mostly small and usually lousy. Be on your game! Otherwise it's a very neat section of the wall and pretty cool to climb next to sportos on POD. "What are those guys doing?! Don't they know they're 40ft out?!" As an aside, although the bolts are spaced all are bomber. Apr 1, 2011

[Hide Comment] Wendell Broussard has a funny story about the 2nd ascent, I'm gonna botch it pretty bad, but the jist is that after Nick, Jay, and Richard came back to town and sat down for beers and tales of adventure with the rest of the crew, everyone started discussing what they were getting on the next day. The consensus seemed to be "aah...maybe just a hike, or some cragging...nothing big like what these guys just put up!"

The next morning, a group of the same "hikers" smoked up the trail to the Velvet Wall, loaded for bear with small gear and brass balls, and spotted some of their buddies from the night before already a couple of pitches up. Their ruse was in common, the alarm clocks just set a LITTLE bit earlier. As Wendell put it, there was heard a great cry across the canyon...."YOOOOOUUUUU.....MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!"

Classic. I'm not sure of the exact personnel on that 2nd ascent, but I do know they were following chalk from the FA the next morning. Pretty incestuous little social gathering, classic Wendell tale. May 8, 2011

[Hide Comment] Not Runout. There is ample small gear, bring lots of small wires, rp's and hb's protect nicely. This is far better than POD, much more interesting, but I'd recommend skipping the last two pitches, the rock quality diminishes mid P4 and doesn't really improve to make the extra two pitches worth it. Great route! Oct 21, 2012

[Hide Comment] The first pitch is the only really bad one, otherwise the protection exists and there are plenty of bolts/pitons to keep you on route (for some of the pitons this is their only use). The anchors at the top of pitch 6 can be tricky to find (I'm not sure we even used the right ones), but they are up and around the corner once you reach the ledge.

Great climbing, most of the bolts are in good condition. Nuts are more important than cams on this one, and multiple sets seem to help if you want so sew it up. None of the climbing is super hard, and the wall is like a big playground to run around on (just make sure to find the protection, it's there.) But the funniest part about the route is trying not to laugh as you tap on hollow flakes trying to find pro as the Prince of Darkness people clip bolts as if they were going out of style. Nov 26, 2012

[Hide Comment] The first pitch is the only scary one. and it is scary. I remember it having slab moves on poor rock with 60 foot ground fall potential. The rest of the route however was kick ass - enough pro to be safe but runout enough to keep your attention and keep the excitement level high

I remember thinking that you could climb the first pitch of Dream of Wild Turkeys and then traverse like 8 feet over the the first bolt on Rock warrior. You skip the dangerous climbing and don't miss any of the good stuff either..

Jan 28, 2013

[Hide Comment] cool route...........but the almost hardest (felt) move is the last to the first bolt....ground fall granted ... After the first pitch it is almost sports :-) , every 50 feet a bolt, nice and funny........Gear is there but very small, don't know (and don't want to test it) if it would hold a fall - a 100 feet whipper would be a special experience.... May 19, 2013

[Hide Comment] very runout at a 5.9 level but the 5.10 moves are protected
I'd recommend finding all the bolts on the first pitch before you leave the ground Dec 21, 2013

[Hide Comment] Rock Warrior was on my list for years. Finally climbed it in January 2015 and lead every pitch while my special lady friend followed. We climbed all six pitches (the last one was not really worth it). Plenty of pro if you know how to look for it. Now just need to man up for Sandstone Samurai!

Way more of an adventure than the bolt ladder of a route known as Prince of Darkness. Jan 27, 2015

[Hide Comment] Excellent route. One of the best I've done at Red Rock.

All the 5.10 moves are protected so I wouldn't call it R, just try to stay on route!

I wouldn't bother with anything larger than a 0.75 C4. If you place tricams, nothing larger than a 0.3 Oct 27, 2015

[Hide Comment] Has anyone linked the last 3 or 4 pitches from the 2 bolt anchor? Nov 11, 2015

[Hide Comment] Well...finally got the chance to test my mettle on this gem the other day. It's not as 'R' rated as I had hoped...besides the 60 foot free solo starting the first pitch. It's a little unnerving with the down palming, but the rest of the climb is your typical Black Velvet wall edging cakewalk. Looking forward to SS. Apr 9, 2016

[Hide Comment] The entire route can be rappelled safely with an 80 meter Rope.

I believe rappelling the 4th pitch was the closest, but my 80 had a couple feet to spare (Blue Water Icon 9.1). Oct 5, 2016

[Hide Comment] First Pitch: !!!EDIT!: See Conor's Photo!!!
Be sure you traverse right far enough to clip a bolt where the white slab meets the varnish. Very close to the first pitch POD / DoWT shared anchor.
Plenty of info out there on this, but I somehow ended up doing a similar thing to J. Thompson, by going too directly up and missing the bolt off the slab. This incorrect alternative climbs through the white slab, and continues more directly up ~10-15ft into the varnish to a bolt. This is not your route. I climbed it straight up and a bit rightward, until I was a little above and between the Sandstone Samurai and Rock Warrior anchors. I then made a long traverse to the RW anchor. 5.11 X?, good climbing, but not at all recommended.
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Last Pitch (6):
I actually really liked this pitch, but I haven't found a good description of it apart from the bulge pull -- Climb up and left and pull around the bulge as you pass the bolt. From here follow a seam up until you get to a large white ledge. There's a 2 bolt anchor 10-20ft to the left before you pull onto the white ledge. You can go to there, and that seems to look more like what the Handren guide picture says to do. But you can instead climb the right leaning seam in the impressive varnish face above the ledge, eventually pulling to the right around the corner to a nice ledge with a 2 bolt anchor. Really nice climbing. This puts you much more directly over your previous anchor. ~150ft Oct 5, 2016

[Hide Comment] I did this in 1991 or 92 ish with Will Nichols. I think we bailed after 3 pitches, might have been 4. I remember rusty hangers with 1/4" Button Heads? Sound right to anyone else? Nov 13, 2016

[Hide Comment] A route for those are seeking out a journey. If you aren't elated while climbing this you must be a corpse.

Gear Beta: I used a purple c3, purple metolius, blue metolius, yellow metolius, grey alien, green .75 bd, a few offset peanuts, few offset DMM, and a few brassies.

This route is amazing but runout in a few sections. You are normally climbing well above a piece but when you do get gear you can sew that section up. The climb wanders but it is quite evident where to go. You are always on the search for a good foothold, that will be the trail to follow. The first pitch I ended up traversing right from Sandstone Samurai's first bolt which worked but was very heady. Dec 15, 2016

[Hide Comment] We had a helluva time locating the first two bolts. The first hanger was spun in a way that made it hard to see and matches the rock color pretty well. The second, up and right, is slightly obscured by features. The pitches after that were more straightforward.

Also, was able to find a couple of bomber pieces (.5 and .1/.2 offset) just down and left from the first bolt. Takes the ground-fall potential out but was still scary reaching out to clip the bolt.

Love this kind of climbing. Very similar to Risky Business. Jan 7, 2017

[Hide Comment] Me and Chris trucked up Dream of Wild Turkeys and got back to the ground with enough time left to give Rock Warrior a rip on the same day. The 'R' rating for RW is no joke. Like others said, the bottom 2 pitches were the hardest on minimal gear you need to be prepared for serious runouts the whole way! For example I led the 150 foot 4th pitch (5.9) clipping only 2 bolts, one piton and one nut placement! When other folks mention you need to get creative to find gear placements, I can't imagine what they are doing other than putting a blob of bubble gum on the rock. Also worth noting, the final pitch is very confusing where the anchors are. Climb up and left from the top of the 5th pitch belay on varnish plates over the middle of a bulge that is way easier than it looks then once over the belly and up to a ledge, go right until it slabs out. From here keep going up and right into a shallow dihedral on a pillar that trends back above the belay. The anchors are hidden just at the top of the pillar. I had the Jerry Handren guide book and the picture is wrong, making it look like the pitch ends in the middle of the panel off to the left. But overall, the climb was awesome and something I'll remember! Mar 28, 2017

[Hide Comment] Jeez, like others, and despite the copious warnings, we still had trouble finding the bolts and were instead tempted toward the first bolt of Sandstone Samurai. (We also saw another party accidentally get on Sandstone Samurai and bail.)

Perhaps part of the problem is that there appears to be a stray bolt left of the first bolt of Sandstone Samurai? These two bolts are fairly easy to see from the ground (unlike the first bolt of Rock Warrior), so it might be natural to assume, as we did, that the leftmost visible bolt is SS and the rightmost visible bolt is RW.

I find the first bolt of Rock Warrior impossible to see from the ground, even after climbing it, and even though it’s quite easy to see from the p1 anchors of DOWT and POD. As others have noted, it’s very close to those anchors, and almost level with them -- not up high on the varnish like the SS bolts. Mar 31, 2019

[Hide Comment] The Best.... like climbing used to be in the "old days". Jul 4, 2019

[Hide Comment] Better beta for the sixth pitch:Climb the bulge on the left with the obvious bolt, up to a ledge. There is a big dihedral on your left and two right angling seams in the wall in front of you. Climb the rightmost seam(eventually running into the other seam) for about 50 feet and look around the arete to your right. There’s a 3 foot by 3 foot white ledge with the bolt anchors. I used the descriptions above and ended up running it out way above this and having to down climb.

I placed five solid pieces on the first pitch not including the two bolts, and it’s maybe 5.5 climbing up to the first piece angling toward the first bolt.

That being said, I did the route yesterday and can’t remember any single bit of climbing except the right angling seam on pitch 2. It’s a two star chosspile of easy edging with 40 foot runouts through the upper pitches. Oct 14, 2019

[Hide Comment] Eric: Thanks for the heads up on the anchors for pitch 6. I did not see your remark and never found the last set of anchors and had to improvise a way off.

This is a brilliant route given the style. I wouldn't argue with Eric's opinion on the rock quality on the upper pitches - it is very hollow sounding and fragile in places. However, the gear on pitches 1 and 2 was solid. There are some delicate moves but nothing hard.

We started left of POD/DOWT directly below RW and were able to place solid gear from the ground to below the first bolt which is obvious once you are on the white slab but invisible until then. From here, proceed by faith that the route goes and try to find the path of least resistance. We completely missed the third bolt because it is beside a small protruding fin of rock that hides it from view. The line we took left of this protected adequately. Pitch 2 is comparable, protects adequately, and is a wee bit easier.

The rock quality drops off on pitch 4 leaving the leader with a dilemma - place worthless gear between bolts or just climb to the visible bolts? Fortunately, the line is easier to follow. Pitch 5 does offer some solid gear and occasional bolt but there are some delicate moves on run-out terrain. My partner placed some crappy gear at these spots knowing that it wouldn't hold a falling interest rate but there is always solid gear beneath you. Pitch 6 really isn't worth doing and not finding the anchors sucked.

Still, I enjoyed this route immensely and will do it again but everything to the right of it is significantly better quality. Nov 18, 2019

[Hide Comment] Cool route with fairly casual runouts, I thought. Only concern was you could definitely factor two it off a couple belays if you weren't careful. Bomber blue alien before the first bolt on pitch one. Never placed RPs but the small stopper sizes were key. At least 12 parties scattered about the wall but of course this route was empty! Yeah Andy! Mar 10, 2020

[Hide Comment] Beautiful climb on great rock. Obviously run out.. P1 has LIKELY ledge/ground fall potential if you climb it by the original start. As of May 2020 there is a safe and easy entry from Prince of Darkness that comes in about 2/3 of the way up P1. I'd recommend this start since you don't lose any of the climbing quality. May 5, 2020

[Hide Comment] Really fun route, with a few notes, expect to do a few 20-30ft runouts on every pitch. The climbing is secure on all of it though. the 1st pitch is the spiciest with a possible ground fall but the 5.9 pitches probably have the most runouts. The rack we took was .1-.75, stoppers, tricams, micro stoppers and 00,0,1 c3. and it was great. We rapped this with a single 80m rope. Oct 15, 2020

[Hide Comment] I found the 5.7 friction move just before the first bolt the most frightening. The rest of the runouts paled in comparison. The pro was decent except on the 5.9 pitches. Mar 31, 2022