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Climb: Birdland
Conclusion WTF? What the FABULOUS!
Conclusion WTF? What the FABULOUS!
Does Birdland live up to the hype? Yeah. We'd say so. We loved the climb. What's so awesome about it?
Are there any negatives? Sure...
General Tips
- Variety - each pitch has it's own distinct personality
- Great rock - with the exception of some poor quality rock on the traverse on pitch 3, the rock is solid for Red Rock standards (we did not climb pitch 6 - which I explain why below - so can't comment on the quality of rock there)
- Nice belay ledges - except at the top of pitch 5 (and less so for pitch 4)
Are there any negatives? Sure...
- Crowds - being a classic, it's a popular route. We climbed it on a Friday in March (nearing peak spring climbing season). We were the first people on the route, by the time we reached the top there were three additional parties.
- Rappelling a busy route can be a pain, but it's not too horrible - so long as the traffic jam doesn't converge at the top of pitch 5. Most of the rap stations are shared with the belay stations, with one exception (the pitch 3 station - there is a set of bolts straight below rapping down from pitch 4, you don't have to traverse over to the pitch 3 belay station). The pitch 2 station also has two sets of bolts (tips and details are provided below, the topo above also shows the rappels.)
- Unfortunately not all of the belay stations have chains (just the bolts and a quick link or a rap ring) so sharing anchors with multiple parties has the potential for cluster fuckage.
General Tips
- This is best climbed with a single 70m. The climb wanders and combining pitches is not really an option.
- 60's are too short for the rappels and skipping rappels with two 60s is not really an option either. If you are using two 60s you will need to tie the ropes together, but still rappel each pitch.
- After you've belayed your second up pitch 2, move off the anchors and belay for pitch three closer to the wall. The ledge is HUGE, there is no danger of falling while being off belay (given that you stay away from the edge, of course...). This clears the anchors for other to use, plus gets you closer to your climber for pitch 3.
- This climb is rated a 5.7+ and there are a few manageble, somewhat spicy + moves (it's not a 5.7 fucked).
Pitch 1
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Easy, juggy, and well-protected fun on this pitch.
There are two cracks that can be used. The one on the right is much wider. We climbed the left crack. This pitch ends at the tree you see at the top of the photo. There is a decent sized ledge here. |
Yes, pitch 1 is as juggy and cruiser as it looks!
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Pitch 2
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Pitch 2 will wake you up after the cruiser jug-haul of pitch 1. The crack get's wide (I -- Stef-- placed both #4s and probably could've placed a #5 if I had it) and requires some funky, off-widthy types of moves. It's a pitch that requires thinking. It's all there, but it's not a gimmie. It sure is fun though!
The anchors at the top of this pitch are located off to the right side on a side wall. There are two sets of anchors, presumably so one party can belay up the second, while still allowing another party to rappel down (or I suppose two parties can belay the second - one on each anchor.) |
Stef blending into the rock as she leads pitch 2 - a pitch with personality for sure!
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This is a HUGE ledge where you can comfortably cruise around off-belay. When belaying for the second pitch, you can move off the bolted anchors (there is no risk of falling as you move towards the back wall away from the edge.) This does two things, it opens the anchors for other parties, and it gets you closer to the wall to belay the leader for pitch 2 (which is safer.)
Pitch 3
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This is the traverse pitch - which may be the headiest part of the climb. What makes this traverse heady is a little bit of slick rock for the feet and some super-hollow, uninspiring flakes for some undercling holds.
There is a bolt part way across the traverse. It's also a little tricky moving off the traverse up to the "crack" where there are creative placements for protection. |
Rick leading pitch 3 - the traverse pitch. The traverse begins at the top of this ramp.
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Pitch 4
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Although pitch 4 is listed as a 5.6, it's a hair harder than pitch 1 and finding protection is a bit of a treasure hunt (there are some ~15' runouts.
Angle your way up right across the face until you encounter the next set of anchors about 20-30 feet below the small roof. The belay are on a much smaller ledge (getting crowded if there is more than one party.) These belay anchors are to the left of the climb (the climb angles up right). On the descent, when you rappel down from the top of this pitch, you can hit a set of anchors that are more in line with the anchors from which you are rappelling. This is handy because it avoids the likely crowded belay ledge. These alternate anchors are also reasonably aligned with the next set of anchors on the big ledge atop pitch 2 (you will have to angle climbers left a little as you rappel.) |
Stef leading pitch 4 of Birdland.
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Pitch 5
Rick leading Pitch 5 - the "finger crack" pitch. Angle up and to the left of the roof.
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Stef popping up over the small lip, transitioning from the featured face to the "finger crack" finale.
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Pitch 5 is the "infamous" "finger crack pitch." Navigate some featured face with occasional and random pro where you can find it. Angle up towards the left side of the roof. Above the roof is the dark petina'd "finger crack" finale of the climb. I put "finger crack" in quotes because the crack is quite small in parts and it opens and closes, making it difficult to actually place pro or your fingers in the crack. The face has decent holds until the last ~10 feet, which forces you a bit more into the crack. The crux of this pitch is this last 10 or so feet.
The anchors are basically a hanging belay and they don't have chains thereby limiting the number of people at this station. Be prepared to move quickly and efficiently to transition into rappel mode if there are parties hot on your tail. Or if you are climbing up, you may need to communicate with anyone already at the anchor before getting into those committing moves at the top of this pitch! You will want to have ready access to the anchor as you finish out the crack.
The anchors are basically a hanging belay and they don't have chains thereby limiting the number of people at this station. Be prepared to move quickly and efficiently to transition into rappel mode if there are parties hot on your tail. Or if you are climbing up, you may need to communicate with anyone already at the anchor before getting into those committing moves at the top of this pitch! You will want to have ready access to the anchor as you finish out the crack.
Pitch 6
There is one more pitch to this climb, that apparently most people avoid. I've read disparaging accounts of this pitch, and others that say it wasn't too terrible. We thought it looked kind of interesting, but decided not to do it. The reason? We didn't want to risk ruining a perfectly fabulous climb :-). On this tour we have been on some truly shitty climbs (we encountered several in a row before we hit Birdland) and we just wanted some pure, unadulterated climbing goodness.
The Descent
Rappel the route with a 70m (a 60 won't cut it and double 60s are overkill because, you still wont have the length to combine raps since every pitch is nearly 35 meters) - you will basically be doing single raps with double ropes. You could combine rappels with double 70s.)
You will be rappelling using all of the belay anchors except one. As mentioned in the Pitch 4 description above, the rappel from station 4 (to 3) will go down to a separate set of anchors more in line with station 4. Then from 3 to 2, you will angle slightly climbers-left to reach the huge belay ledge above pitch 2.
You will be rappelling using all of the belay anchors except one. As mentioned in the Pitch 4 description above, the rappel from station 4 (to 3) will go down to a separate set of anchors more in line with station 4. Then from 3 to 2, you will angle slightly climbers-left to reach the huge belay ledge above pitch 2.
Status of Tour to Date
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DATE OF CLIMB: February 28, 2020
WALLS HIT: 1 (Spectrum) NUMBER OF CLIMBS HIT: 1 NUMBER OF PITCHES: 5 VERTICAL 5.7 FEET CLIMBED HERE: 560' NUMBER OF FALLS: 0 TAKES HERE: 0 DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED: 0 |
TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 96
TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 125 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 10,170' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 141 (out of 237 - although we may redo Pre-Skool) VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: ~40,127 FALLS SO FAR: 0 TAKES ON LEAD SO FAR:
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