SUMMARY HAIKU
Long walk to great climbs
Or do after Olive Oil
Super neat sandstone
Long walk to great climbs
Or do after Olive Oil
Super neat sandstone
On the walk-off from Olive Oil you are going to pass a beautiful, dark, vertical wall. On it you will see two cracks beckoning you to "Climb me... climb me..." But, you feel your aching muscles and rumbling tummy and see the steep scramble down and long walk back to the car.
"They probably aren't that good anyway," you tell yourself in an attempt to justify walking past. But, a nagging feeling sits in the back of your mind and you wonder... "Should I?"
Well, we can't tell you if you should, but we can tell you that these are two really superb climbs on awesome rock. It is a different kind of sandstone compared to anywhere else we have encountered in Red Rock - almost like quartzite.
You may wonder if the dark petina is slick - it's not. It's sublime. And, if you are too tired to lead, guess what, you can top rope... Simply reverse the walk-off we show you in the photo below (protection is recommended for safety's sake, but it's a super easy traverse to a large ledge at the top of both climbs.) If you want to lead, we share some beta below.
Of course another option is to do these climbs on their own, in a day dedicated to mostly hiking and scrambling, with some cool climbs tossed in between.
"They probably aren't that good anyway," you tell yourself in an attempt to justify walking past. But, a nagging feeling sits in the back of your mind and you wonder... "Should I?"
Well, we can't tell you if you should, but we can tell you that these are two really superb climbs on awesome rock. It is a different kind of sandstone compared to anywhere else we have encountered in Red Rock - almost like quartzite.
You may wonder if the dark petina is slick - it's not. It's sublime. And, if you are too tired to lead, guess what, you can top rope... Simply reverse the walk-off we show you in the photo below (protection is recommended for safety's sake, but it's a super easy traverse to a large ledge at the top of both climbs.) If you want to lead, we share some beta below.
Of course another option is to do these climbs on their own, in a day dedicated to mostly hiking and scrambling, with some cool climbs tossed in between.
Canola Crack - Right
Climb: Canola Crack - R (Trad) (60')
Wall: Rose Tower
Suitable for a Beginning Lead Trad Climber? Although the climbing would likely be fine for a newer lead climber, we'd recommend being proficient at placing gear - there's lots of possibilities for mistakes.
Conclusion WTF? What the FABULOUS!
Wall: Rose Tower
Suitable for a Beginning Lead Trad Climber? Although the climbing would likely be fine for a newer lead climber, we'd recommend being proficient at placing gear - there's lots of possibilities for mistakes.
Conclusion WTF? What the FABULOUS!
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A sweet, sweet, sweet crack on incredible rock.
The main thing to really be aware of is that the crack is irregular and placing protection can be finicky and not all spots along the crack are suitable for pro (grab good spots when you can.) Save two micro cams for the anchor (way in the back of the ledge). Rick paired the two cams with a small tree for the third point. |
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Canola Crack - Left
Climb: Canola Crack - L (Trad) (100')
Wall: Rose Tower
Suitable for a Beginning Lead Trad Climber? possibilities for mistakes.
Conclusion WTF? What the FOLIAGE (But FUN!)!
Wall: Rose Tower
Suitable for a Beginning Lead Trad Climber? possibilities for mistakes.
Conclusion WTF? What the FOLIAGE (But FUN!)!
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We loved this climb too! It has some interesting variability and is also on this superior rock. We call it What the FOLIAGE because there are several plants that add to the challenge of the climb when trying to avoid them.
This crack gets quite wide so you will need some large gear to lead it. Bring two #4s and maybe even a #5 (we didn't have a #5 but there is a spot that looks like it would take it and would be helpful to protect.) Even though the crack gets wide, it is still face climbing (i.e. you don't have to do off width climbing.) Set up an anchor at the large tree up top and consider backing it up with gear in cracks at the back wall (using extra long slings.) |
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Walk-off and Toprope
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To get down from these climbs walk off to the right. There is a small ledge/traverse that is easy, but narrow, with enough of a fall to cause significant damage. For the walk-off we decided to do an alpine-style short-rope simul-climb with a few pieces of gear between us.
If you don't want to lead these climbs, back-track this traverse to the large ledge and set up gear as described in each of the climbs above. Both climbs require gear set up in cracks on the far back wall, so you will need long slings to accommodate. |
Climb Stats to Date
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DATE OF CLIMB: October 18, 2020
WALLS HIT: 1 NUMBER OF 5.7 CLIMBS TODAY: 2 NUMBER OF 5.7 PITCHES TODAY: 2 NUMBER OF FALLS: 0 NUMBER OF TAKES: 0 5.7 VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 160' DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0 TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 143 TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 189 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 16,535' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 95 (out of 237) VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: 34,132' DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 5 |
FALLS SO FAR:
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