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tslater
Feb 17, 2006, 7:51 PM
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A 2,000 dome? Has anyone ever climbed here? Is it worth checking out? I have a buddy who lives nearby. Just curious about the quality or the rock, routes, and protection.
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caughtinside
Feb 17, 2006, 8:01 PM
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Tom,
I drove up there in a rainstorm 6 weeks ago. Hiked around a bit.
Yup, it's a huge dome, Tuolumne style. Right above the Feather river, very pretty country. Supposedly, there are topo/directions (of poor quality?) in the discontinued Rock CLimbs of Northwest California (or something like that)
Word is, is that its' mostly bold face climbing, spaced bolts. I hear there are a handful of what you might call 'modern' routes, with reasonable pro.
It's at low elevation as well, 90 miles/2hours from Sacramento.
I'm still trying to get more beta, I'd like to do some of the climbs there.
Cheers,
Dave
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jon06
Feb 24, 2006, 4:38 AM
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whats up dave?
Lets get out and check the place out one of these upcoming weekends.
later,
Jonathan
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locs
Mar 25, 2006, 12:11 AM
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Whats up!
I go to school at Chico state and bald rock is only about an hour drive from chico. I have spent a lot of time there bouldering, there are a few bolted climbs that are no more than 9's and one giant boulder split down the center with bolts at the top, youll definitely see it, a rough overhanging start, the crack is a tiny finger crack at the beginning, widening out to about 2".
It is a ruthless climb, but the dome is beautifu and fun to camp on, there are boulders strewn all over the area with tons of potential, ut bring your hand balm cause this granite is sharp as hell, J-tree style!
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dingus
Mar 25, 2006, 12:39 AM
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In reply to: a rough overhanging start, the crack is a tiny finger crack at the beginning, widening out to about 2". It is a ruthless climb,
Its a 'must do' till you try it, then it quickly devolves into a 'can't do' or it did for me.
The poster is talking about Bald Dome Rock however, a few miles up the road.
DMT
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shnobe
Mar 25, 2006, 2:52 AM
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I live a few hours from Bald Rock its cool, the boulders are sweet, but some of them are a little flaky I guess because the lack of use… I think it could have some potential. The dome is really cool and worth a climb. I wouldn’t make a week long trip to Bald Rock but its worth checking out. If you’re heading to Bald Rock you should also heck out Grizzly Dome on highway 70 that is super cool. As far as info/beta forget it… we have some pretty sweet climbing up here in Northern California but no guide books or beta its always kind of a crap shoot when you start a route around here. Just my $.02
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tslater
Mar 25, 2006, 3:05 AM
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yeah, I guess there was going to be a guide, or there was for like a week, then it got pulled? Too bad. I hope they fix whatever the deal was and get it back out there. I like exploring new places.
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mrtropy
Mar 28, 2006, 5:28 AM
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There was a guide book a couple of years ago. I got it before it was pulled. I never got a chance to use it and I can not find it now. Covered a huge chunk of Northern California. With Lots of different areas. Falcon Press put it out and there was a threat of a lawsuit over IP or something. Jeff
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tslater
Mar 28, 2006, 4:15 PM
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bummer you can't find it! Yeah, I'd love to buy one of those. I don't see why the author, or Falcon, can't just fix the problem and then re-issue it.
What's IP?
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wyoclimber3
Apr 20, 2006, 1:25 AM
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check your local library. i know that the library in truckee has a copy of the northwest california falcon guide. i've looked through the section on bald rock dome and it looks pretty sweet. a couple of moderate, reasonably well protected routes mixed in with some possible scarefests. i'm trying to get out there soon; i'll post some beta if its any good.
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stonewalker
Sep 11, 2006, 3:47 AM
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I saw a large rock formation from the trail to feather falls. The posted sighns on the trail called the rock Bald Rock Dome. It looked huge and of high quality. Is this the formation that is 2000 ft. If so, anybody wanna give it a go.
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dingus
Sep 11, 2006, 12:35 PM
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There are a bunch of routes on it, aye, Bald Dome Rock. Climbed it again last June, it was HOT. Just now coming back into the season. Go for it!
Just know, without beta? Your chances of even getting to the base of the routes on your first attempt are slim at best.
Cheers
DMT
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pbernard
Sep 12, 2007, 3:09 PM
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In reply to: Hey Slate! I'm your buddy who lives near Bald Rock I hope! Anyway, we finally got out to it this past week and it is REALLY amazing. So cool that something like that is so unclimbed and unknown. It isn't without it's issues though. I got a copy of that Falcon guide. It's called Rock climbing in Northwest CA by Steven Mackay. I found a used copy on Amazon, but I haven't seen one again since I bought it. So Bald Rock, first of all, there is an area called Big Bald Rock that is by the picnic area. Tons of amazing boulders and smaller formations (20-30 feet). Great rock, fun stuff, but short. Then there is BALD ROCK DOME. This is the biggy. First off, we totally underestimated the approach. Arrived about 10 a.m. and weren't really prepared for the 2-3 hour brutal approach. I guess there are two approaches. The one we took was the lower approach that followed a trail so we thought it would be better. THe bad part was that it dropped you WAAAY down below the dome. We dropped about 1000 to 1500 feet almost to the bottom of the huge canyon and when we got to the cut off, we had to climb that 1000 to 1500 feet back up to the base. BAD IDEA. Not to mention that the "Stairmaster Slab" as it is called in the book is 3-4th class. Although we didn't climb it, the dome is BEAUTIFUL from afar. Next time we'll take the "upper approach" even though it involves "much manzanita whacking." Hopefully I'll have more to post then. Paul paul@pondering.org |
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tlovoi
Nov 1, 2007, 4:50 AM
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ChicoClimbingMachine
Jun 30, 2008, 8:01 AM
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If anyone wants to go climbing here im way down to join. Hit me up, im looking for a climbing partner in nor cal
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jthoen
Jul 15, 2008, 3:25 AM
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Greetings,
I rode an old Brit. dirt bike with a crazy friend via a dirt road where at a bend was (this was before most of you were born?) a huge log, just past some rustic homes. We broke the clutch handle off on a bush and I had to jump onto the packs behind Timmy and soon arrived near the top shoulder of the dome. We dropped to an obvious approach to what we called "For 5.9 Climbers Only". This seemed like a good idea as most pitches had one or two bolts, as belays had maybe one. It was 8+ pitches long. There were also some classic routes along the shoulder, if requested I could dig up old topos for U. SEEEEEYAAA.[reply][crazy]
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WishfulSinful
Jan 16, 2011, 10:48 PM
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The dome is actually up the road from the picnic area and more like 2000 ft
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pbernard
Jan 31, 2011, 11:40 PM
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Registered: Jul 27, 2005
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So wishsin... did you get up on it?
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rockvoyager
Feb 1, 2011, 1:08 AM
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It's not 2000 ft. The upper part is very low angle slab. The routes are generally old school and you had better really like run-out 5.9 / 5.10. Fall potential of 75 feet or more is not uncommon. There are some "modern" routes but not many. Some anchors are bolted, many aren't.
I happen to have the old original guide done by Robert Stahl. There are at least 20 routes documented, probably more now.
Be careful, an old guy would sometimes show up with a shotgun and tell you to get off his property. Pretty scary. I went to the county and checked out the property lines. Bald rock dome is on federal land but the access from above is private land. The access from the river isn't but it's quit a slog up to the base of the dome.
I tried to get the access fund interested but no dice. Which has pretty much been our experience with them.
One of the original route setters is still in Chico though he's not climbing much. He has been trying to get me out to document all the old routes. I've been reluctant because I have other climbing projects but if someone else gets interested I'll put you in touch.
The best part of Bald Rock dome isn't the dome it's what's just right when facing the dome. There is a huge circular wall maybe 800 ft high we named "The Cirque". It starts out low angle slab and ends up overhanging. We rap bolted a couple of pitches to check it out but it's just begging for someone to take the initiative.
I suggest you don't try bolting climbs on the dome. unless you have a clear understanding of the old routes. Ron will chop bolts that affect any of the original climbs.
Brad
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WishfulSinful
Feb 1, 2011, 3:24 AM
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i happen to live 5 minutes away and have been going there for years and there is a much better way to get there than where the guy with the gun is
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seeseeger
Aug 18, 2011, 7:52 PM
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I was fortunate to have someone take me out to Bald Rock Dome....not to be mistaken for the more easily accessible Bald Rock Picnic Area. I have climbed the same route, "right of the grove (or groove?)" about 12 times. It was rebolted about 10 years ago and has mixed trad/sport with good protection the whole way (excpept the last pitch that is pretty much a walk off anyway). You could use a large cam, but can get by without medim to small pro.
Driving - Bald rock rd intersects Zinc road twice. At the second intersection go down zinc road...maybe a mile or so. There is a not so obvious turn out on the right (good sized incense cedar) that is the best access point. If you keep going down you will get to the curtain falls trailhead....just before the rd peters out.
From the pull out head east/left side of rd down an overgrown trail...its pretty wide in the beginning and narrows fairly quickly. Within a half a mile the trial heads up steeply to the ridge above the dome. From there you can head leftish down the long gully to the bottom of the exposed granite. This is the most dangerous part of the day...be careful.
The route starts just above a manzanita bush. When looking at the dome from afar it is just right of the central depression. You actually climb up about 40 ft (a little tricky) to the start of the climb...look for some bolts.
Pitch 1: 3 bolts, then a small crack to right then directly up using some bigger gear...fun pumpy but easy moves...lay back. 2 more bolts to a bolted anchor.
Pitch 2: all bolts to another bolted anchor....start a little to the left and then straight up.
Pitch 3: all bolts to trad anchor at a good sized manzanita.
Pitch 4: easy trad (5.5/5.6?) to bolted anchor...a little tricky last move or two.
Pitch 5: bolted all the way with a fun dike towards the top...probably the toughest pitch.
Pitch 6: 1 bolt/5.1 to bolted anchor.
If you can find it you will probaly have an epic day...fnatastic river views. Add the feather falls or curtain falls hikes if you can.
I would not recommend leaving your car unattended overnight....break ins are frequent at the picnic area. Its too bad, because camping on bald rock picnic area is really nice, I wouldn't do it with the meth heads in the area.
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seeseeger
Aug 18, 2011, 8:05 PM
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typo - "with medium to smaller pro"
I think the toughest moves are 5.9ish.
I might have a copy of an out of print guide...let me know if you would like me to dig it out.
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