Ascent Notes for: Alley Cat - 5.10b Average Rating : 4.00/5

Short approach. Cold, long, and sustained face climbing. The route is rated G but there's a point or two at the bottom where you don't want to fall because of the ledges you can hit on your way down (a friend of my suffered a head injury that way). A great route when it's too hot out to climb anything else, because of how shaded the route and the canyon are (which makes it a poor winter route). The route starts off easy (except for a few spots) and gets increasingly harder as the jugs start turning into crimper and tiny finger-jams. I felt that the last few meters of climbing until you clip the anchors was the crux (you could get pretty pumped if you don't climb efficiently through the good holds). If you climb from the ground-up, clipping the anchors is really dicey. You just have to find something to grab (I used a two-finger lock) and hold your balance. A few longer quickdraws or runners help the rope off of the rock and running straight. All the hardware looks bomber and a 60 m rope easily made the rappel. A great climb overall. I would definitely recommend it. I got a hang dog accent from falling when trying to clip the anchors, so I'll have to go back for the redpoint.

Another cool Sedona sport climb, the loose part at the bottom reminds you your in Sedona. I really enjoyed the exceptional length of this climb compared to others in the area. I remember it being very cold when I redpointed this climb, it gets a lot of shade so don't go in December.