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Climb: Ruta de Roja (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 200' - MP says 180" and Handren says 160", we had about 20 feet of rope left so we say 200')
Wall: Coco Crag
Gear: 70m rope, pro to 5" (the 5" was used in the anchor)
Good Lead for a New Trad Climber? There is one tricky section that may not be beginner friendly, low 5th class, almost 4th class runout at the end.
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY-FUN!
Wall: Coco Crag
Gear: 70m rope, pro to 5" (the 5" was used in the anchor)
Good Lead for a New Trad Climber? There is one tricky section that may not be beginner friendly, low 5th class, almost 4th class runout at the end.
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY-FUN!
This is actually a pretty cool climb with some interesting variety and good rock. Rick lead it and the leader chooses the WTF-rating. He vacillated between calling it feisty and fun, so he called it feisty-fun. Although most of the climb is pretty easy and straightforward, there is one section that feels a bit spicy on lead that needs to be acknowledged (the photo of Rick is the start of that tricky point).
There is a transition point at the start of the traverse to gain the main crack. Rick protected it with a micro cam and decided to pull up and over the lip (instead of going down and around). The lip itself has good holds, above it, not so much. So, you are pulling yourself up and over onto sloping terrain with very little to hold onto. It feels committing (well, it is). But once you are there, with another move the crack is ready to take a piece of pro.
The crack above the traverse is a blast and you just want it to keep going. The rest of the terrain keeps getting easier. Go between the two big pillars to finish up (if you want to end with a "bang" or a "squish" there's a squeeze chimney you could try to force yourself into, otherwise, its low-5th class (maybe even 4th class) runout to the top where you can set up a belay. Rick used the 5" in the chimney and a tipped out 4" and placed our other 4" as his last piece before the runout.)
Mountain Project comments say you can rappel off the upper anchors of the 5.8. We saw two bolts where the hangars had been removed, so we are assuming those are the upper anchors? Anyway, no good.
As you top out on the climb, continue beck and then right for the walk off. Left looks like a temping gully, but it dead ends in a big down-climb. A Mountain Project comment also suggests going down one of the adjacent gullies to the pillar, both gullies also end in a drop-off requiring 5th class down-climbing. It's really pretty quick and easy to just walk past the two small gullies to easy-looking terrain, then turn right back towards the crag, continuing to follow stair-step-like sandstone back down.
There is a transition point at the start of the traverse to gain the main crack. Rick protected it with a micro cam and decided to pull up and over the lip (instead of going down and around). The lip itself has good holds, above it, not so much. So, you are pulling yourself up and over onto sloping terrain with very little to hold onto. It feels committing (well, it is). But once you are there, with another move the crack is ready to take a piece of pro.
The crack above the traverse is a blast and you just want it to keep going. The rest of the terrain keeps getting easier. Go between the two big pillars to finish up (if you want to end with a "bang" or a "squish" there's a squeeze chimney you could try to force yourself into, otherwise, its low-5th class (maybe even 4th class) runout to the top where you can set up a belay. Rick used the 5" in the chimney and a tipped out 4" and placed our other 4" as his last piece before the runout.)
Mountain Project comments say you can rappel off the upper anchors of the 5.8. We saw two bolts where the hangars had been removed, so we are assuming those are the upper anchors? Anyway, no good.
As you top out on the climb, continue beck and then right for the walk off. Left looks like a temping gully, but it dead ends in a big down-climb. A Mountain Project comment also suggests going down one of the adjacent gullies to the pillar, both gullies also end in a drop-off requiring 5th class down-climbing. It's really pretty quick and easy to just walk past the two small gullies to easy-looking terrain, then turn right back towards the crag, continuing to follow stair-step-like sandstone back down.
Rick at the "feisty" section of this climb. This is where the traverse begins. He was able to place a micro-cam in a horizontal crack to the right to protect the insecure move. Rick went up and over the lip where he is currently standing (instead of around the front - which he scoped out and didn't look that great.)
Climb Stats to Date
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DATE OF CLIMB: September 5, 2020
WALLS HIT: 1 NUMBER OF CLIMBS TODAY: 1 NUMBER OF PITCHES TODAY: 1 NUMBER OF FALLS: 0 NUMBER OF TAKES: 0 VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 180 DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0 START & END TIMES:
TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 130 TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 172 TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 15,010' NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 108 (out of 237) VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: 35,737' DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 4 |
FALLS SO FAR: 0
TAKES ON LEAD SO FAR:
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