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Jorge Urioste, Joanne Urioste, and Joe Herbst (1978)
Rock
G
13
Standard rack to #4 Camalot.
1600
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Description:
Called a grade V, Epi (5.9) is usually done in a long day. You can find topo and adequate pitch description in Swain's Red Rocks Select. (supertopo has very accurate topos as well) Swain describes the route in 18 pitches but with a 60m rope, a competent team can do it it 10-12 pitches. The most famous element of the climb is the 300 feet of 5.9 chimney. All belays as per the Supertopo plus a couple others are bolted. The belay after the roof is not bolted (one bolt is there for pro/redirect)- This belay takes medium cams and/or smallish stoppers and cams, but takes a minute to find it. Enjoy this one, it's listed as a North American Classic for a reason!
Submitted by: vegastradguy on 2008-12-01
Views: 6351
Route ID: 14093
Ascent Note:
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5.9 |
| Safety Rating | R |
| Exposure |  |
| Rock Quality |  |
| Scenery | |
| Fun Factor | |
Onsight ascent by:
Benchmark Grade IV
Awesome route. The chimneys are definately a trip and the 5th pitch chimney was definately the crux for me. Stayed deep in for the gear and had to do some bouldery overhanging moves that felt harder than 5.9. We combined several pitches and used alternative belays that broke down like this. Combine pitches 1 & 2. Do regular pitches to the top of the Black Tower, avoiding the old intermediate belay in pitch 5. At the top of the Black Tower run the pitch longer to the top of the Elephants Trunk so you can combine pitches 8 & 9 without ropedrage (stellar pitches by the way). Break the rest of it up like normal for a climb of only 10 pitches with a bunch of simul-climbing at the end. We got up and down to the col between Whiskey Peak and Black Velvet before we needed headlamps. I can see how people get confused in the dark but if you've got good vision and can't figure this out in the daylight then you need some work on your routefinding skills. The descent is the hardest part of the day by far. We got done at about 6 after starting at 6:30 and didn't get back to the car till almost 9.
Added: 2010-04-13
