SUMMARY HAIKU

Climbs longer than marked
More runout, rope drag for Stef
Rick nailed scary start

Frigid Air Buttress

DATE OF CLIMBS: September 27, 2019
​WALLS HIT: 2 (Sunnyside & Frigid Air Buttress)
NUMBER OF CLIMBS: 4 
NUMBER OF PITCHES: 4
​NUMBER OF FALLS: 0
NUMBER OF TAKES: 0
VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 445
TOTAL VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 3,085
NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 206
VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: ~47,077
DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED: 0
​DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 3

START & END TIMES:

• Arrived Parking Lot -  8:45 a.m. (We decided to sleep in then hit rush hour traffic through Vegas...bummer...this messed with our timing.)
• Arrived at Sunnyside wall -  9:30 a.m.
• Back at the car -  4:45 p.m. (Had to leave to meet a friend at 6 p.m. on the other side of town, so we did not get to complete Tiki Wall, so we will need to return to do the last 5.7 in Icebox. We did Hop Route on Necromancer in the Spring and will do an entry on that one soon). 

Climb-On Maps excerpt showing what we planned to do and what we ended up doing. Tukus Crack on Tiki Wall is now a lone straggler at Ice Box that we need to complete. We did Necromancer in Spring 2019. Map is copyrighted, please obtain permission for use.

The Routes
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Sunnyside Wall

Rick leading Shady Ladies.

​Climb: Shady Ladies (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 100')
Wall: Sunnyside
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!

• This is a fun, interesting climb with diverse moves. It protects pretty well.
• It's unclear whether this climb is supposed to go the right or the left of the white(ish) bulgy section of rock. (Handren's photo shows it going up the middle of the white bulgy overhag, which I doubt is a 5.7...) Whether you go right or left they meet up at the same place.
  • Rick went right and there were a couple of tricky protection placements. From the ground, left looked pretty protectable - but since we didn't climb on the left side, we can't say for certain.  
• The anchor for this climb is far to the left of the climb - getting lowered is not really a good option (and if you are using a 60m it would NOT be long enough). It's best to bring up the second and then rappel down

Unprotectable start for Van Allen Belt. Stem up and transition right. You can avoid this with the alternative start (see photo below).

Juggy and protectable alternate start for Van Allen Belt (located to the right).

​Climb: Van Allen Belt (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 90')
Wall: Sunnyside
Conclusion WTF? What the FUN!

• This climb shares the same anchor as Shady Ladies, so you could toprope this climb if you rappel down the correct location (which can be challenging to determine from above, as there are lots of big angular rocks jutting out.) Note that a 60m barely makes it to the ground here.
  
  • There are lots of edges a toprope would go across so it's not advisable to do this repeatedly as a TR. It would be bad for the rope and bad for the rock. 
• The start of this climb consists of unprotectable featureless stemming with tricky transition out of the stem (again, unprotected). We posted a photo of an alternative start that is juggy and protectable. 
  
  • ​The rest of the climb protects pretty well, but you'll need longer slings because it goes around several corners. 
    
• This climb is quite different from Shady Lady, but still very fun and interesting. 

Frigid Air Buttress (aka Smears for Fears Wall)
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Rick nails the unprotectable scary 5.9 start.

Lebanese NoNo

​Climb: Lebanese NoNo (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitches - 115' - MP says 80' this is incorrect!)
Wall: Frigid Air Buttress/Smears for Fears
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY!

• This climb can only be found in Mountain Project (not in the Handren guidebook).
• The climb is ~115 feet NOT the 80' listed! 
  • It's best to bring up the second and rappel. 
• The first ~20 feet of this climb is unprotectable and probably more like a 5.9. A taller person has the advantage with the start - being able to place the first piece of protection and reach the first juggy hold at the top of that 5.9ish section. 
• Rather than going straight up after the tricky start, Rick decided to go left and follow the corner to keep things interesting. 
  • If you do this put in long slings because the climb veers right. 
• We liked this climb. It was interesting and diverse - especially following the corner (which probably adds a bit more spice...)

Stef at the top of Blue Bunny.

Climb: Blue Bunny (Trad) (5.7)(1 pitch - 140' - 2 ropes needed to rappel!)
Wall: Frigid Air Buttress
Conclusion WTF? What the FEISTY!

• This is a long and serious mixed climb with moderate run-out and rope drag from climb-length and zig-zagging). 
  • You will need very long slings to accommodate the zig zag. Stef lead this and had to down climb twice to further extend already long slings.
  • You need two ropes to rappel. 
• Handren shows this climb starting in a different location than Mountain Project (MP). Stef used the MP start which is in line with the first bolt, which is about 40-50 feet up. You can see the bolt from the ground.
  
  • Handren shows the climb starting in a left-facing corner about 10-15 feet to the left of the start we used, then going up onto the face towards the bolts. I would be concerned with significant rope drag with this line (rope drag is bad enough as it is with the zig-zag bolt placement).

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​List of WTF 5.7 Tour: Red Rock Canyon Climbs By Area & Alphabetical