Avg: 3.1 from 112
votes
Access Issue: Red Rock RAIN AND WET ROCK: The sandstone is fragile and is very easily damaged when wet.
Details
A surprisingly good route tucked away on Jackrabbit Buttress on the way to the Brownstone wall. Pitch 1 has fun interesting stemming and chimneying through a cool cave system. Pitch 2 has a sustained steep handcrack on good rock. 3 and 4 ease off with fun climbing on good rock.
Bushwack your way into the alcove and scramble up some third class to rope up. We didn't have a middle mark on the rope, so pitch lengths may be off a bit.
P1 - Stem and chimney up some very featured rock, eventually the rock smooths out before the base of a slightly left-slanting rib. Continue up the rib into a cave system. Very fun stemming and chimneying up working slightly left to gain the top of the huge chockstone. Build your anchor at a small T-shaped crack about ankle height on the east wall on top of the chockstone. 5.7+ 110 feet. (lots of variations on this pitch that could go harder or easier)
P2 - Step off the chockstone out and right over the void (spicy) to a couple of face moves to gain a nice, steep hand crack on the right. Jam your way up the crack, watching for an occasional jug on the right wall. Continue up past a white flake on the left side of the crack and belay just above. 5.9 120 feet.
P3 - Continue up the handcrack as the angle eases and the crack trends left. Belay just before the crack peters out, standing on a small varnished ledge with the crack at your chest. Great anchor, it takes anything from .4 to a #3. 5.7 175 feet.
P4 - The crack is ending, so angle a bit right then head up. The rock and pro are much better than it looks. 5.4 190 feet.
Unrope and walk off heading towards Brownstone wall.
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Las Vegas, NV
Pitch two felt 5.8+/5.9 to me. Hoping not to sandbag people with the rating but also not trying to make ourselves feel good by overrating it. Mar 25, 2013
We used this climb to approach The Minerva: on p3 of Saddle Up, easily angle left instead of right to get into The Minerva's huge alcove. Apr 22, 2014
Colorado Springs, CO
SLC, UT
We linked pitches 2 and 3 with a 70m rope and were able to get to a really nice belay ledge with 5 feet of extra rope, see the picture for the belay ledge. I'd highly recommend this, as it made for an awesome mega-pitch of steep hands to lower angle hands. If you want a lighter rack, doubles 0.4-0.75 would still be comfy, I didn't use my second #1 or #2 on the link up, and still had the #3 for the belay. If you don't want to link the pitches, I think a single rack would suffice, the crack size varies a lot and you can fit in a surprising amount of small nuts and cams if you keep an eye out for the placements.
From here we simul-climbed the last pitch of 5.4 to get to the base of Armatron. We climbed this and Armatron in about 4.5 hours, swapping leads and linking more pitches of Armatron, and hiked back to the base of Saddle Up from the top of Armatron in about 45 minutes. Great day, highly recommend combining with Armatron for a full value day and nearly 1300 feet of quality cracks and face climbing. Rack recommendations for Saddle Up & Armatron would be singles to #4, doubles 0.4-0.75, nuts, and 10 runners. Have the follower take the #0.75-#4 on Armatron. Nov 14, 2016
Seattle, WA
Las Vegas, NV
Albany, NY
The combined P2-3 is really long and can take a lot of gear. If you like to place a lot of gear bring double BD .3 through 4 with a full set of nuts and dont forget to save pieces for the anchor BD .75 to 3 work well and some smaller pieces just a little above those.
This route is a great way to the middle and right side of Brownstone, but it would be quite a hike to get over to Black Dagger on the left side. Oct 8, 2018
Upland
Sandy, UT
Kansas City, MO
Kansas City, MO
Las Vegas, NV
Once past that it mellows out. I had no problem with the step across the chockstone to start the second pitch, but the moves are a bit thin so keep that in mind. My partner had more issues and thought it was a bit scary. There are some solid moves you have to do and it is committing for both the leader and follower. After that, pitch 2 climbs beautifully and is sustained 5.7 with some a few 5.9 cruxes that are well-protected. There are great stances for gear and great rests all over. Save your #3 or #4 cam for the end. I didn't bring the 4 thinking it wouldn't be needed then burned my 3 early and just managed to get a pretty tipped out #2 in for the finish on the flake.
We brought the recommended rack with doubles from 0.2 to 2 and a single 3, 4, & 5. The 5 was definitely not necessary for us as a 4 would work in the same spot on the first pitch and we never used the second 0.2 at all. Aside from that the rack was perfect. Dec 6, 2020
Las Vegas
We used a #5 cam twice on this route and a #4 several times - so they are worth it (perhaps not necessary) if you are willing to bring them.
After roughly 150 feet on pitch 3 we traversed right on a 4th-class ledge system to the anchors above Smooth Operator and rappeled to the ground from there. The traverse is about 80 feet. There are several ledge systems that lead off right but one in particular is continuous and class 4 with just good enough rock quality that takes you to just below the anchors. A 70-meter rope will get you down in 4 rappels. A pair of 60-meter ropes will get you down in two rappels. Apr 2, 2021
Anchorage, AK
We linked P2+3 and rope drag is fine (don't confused rope weight from 70m hanging on you with drag) if you put slings on the first 5 or so pieces you can clip straight to cams rest of the way up. Also, if you want to link P2+3 either bring a huge rack or be prepared to climb above well above your gear. We brought doubles from .3 to #2, single .2, .2/.3, #3 (15 cams), and a set of HB offsets. I used all but one cam (incl. 2x pieces in each anchor) and placed 3 nuts. I was putting ~15 ft. between pieces on the 5.9 and 30 ft on the 5.7. Feb 14, 2022
Las Vegas, NV