SkiSickness

After two weeks in a row of failing on big routes I was feeling the need to send. But not just to send for the sake of sending, but to send something sick. I only had one day off, so originally we had planned a big link up at Tahquitz, but a giant wildfire had the San Jacinto Mountains pretty much on evac, so I mulled over our options...a big, difficult route, doable in a day from San Diego. Too hot for the Valley, too much approach for the High Sierra...ahhh...the Rainbow Wall in Red Rocks became the perfect choice.
Nevermind a forecast for 100 degree temps and thunderstorms, when I was finally off work Saturday evening we were headed towards Vegas.

En route we drove through a gnarly thunderstorm with lightning flashing through the rain squalls...pretty much something right out of a hollywood movie. When we finally rolled into our secret Red Rocks roadside bivy shortly after midnight, I was sort of doubtful of our chances for climbing in the morning because of the weather, nonetheless, after setting up our air mattress in the back of Trish's car, I set the alarm for 4:30am just in case...

After a couple measley hours of sleep the alarm was buzzing in our ears, and we quickly packed up and drove to where the Red Rocks loop road exits. We brewed hot coffee and made oatmeal and then set off on bicycles to the Oak Creek trailhead, and were hiking towards Juniper Canyon shortly before dawn.

Trish, wondering just what she's signed herself up for this time


The approach is pretty mellow, up a nice desert canyon and up into some endless slabs to the base of the wall...about 2 hours from the car




Trish up the fixed line on the steep slabs


endless sandstone slabs


finally, geared up and ready to go




we took the 11c variation to the first two pitches


trish following some super fun moves


then I linked the next two pitches into one long ass 11d featuring some laybacking, techy face and balancy but powerful movement
Trish busting some moves


The next pitch went up the corner and then around the roof...way fun 11b


Trish about to get her roof game on


Then I linked the two 5.10 corner pitches together...the pitches on the Rainbow wall are all short so linking is the way to go...why climb a short 80' corner, when you can climb a 160' corner?


then you wander around on some ledges, chimneys and slabs for a while


then traverse over this way


and eventually you are deposited below this...a steep, devious 11d corner


at the jug


Trish following




after which, you get this...an even steeper, thinner 12a corner....so good!


Trish sorting out the powerful sequences


and then, just in case you thought it was over, you get a sweet 11b roof to top it off




Trish topping out


Vegas from the top


obligatory summit shot...damn it feels good to send!


glad to be done rapping


before long we were hustling down the canyon to beat the oncoming darkness, and to refuell with serious amounts of caffeine for the long drive home

Oh and two big thumbs up to our new Sterling Nano 9.2 70m rope...prob the best rope I've had
word

cool! how were the temps? it seems like heat is never quite as bad on sandstone.

Are you sure there aren't some pictures of you guys looking slightly worked or overwhelmed? You're making it look too easy.

We were really hot on the first couple of pitches, but as we got higher there was a nice breeze. When we got to the big ledges it started to rain a bit and that cooled things off nicely. We actually waited out the rain showers on the ledge for a good 20 or 30 minutes until it finally stopped. Temp was nice after that. Had a bit more rain up on the first red dihedral pitch but its steep up there so didn't matter.
Hiking out it was f'ing hot and humid! Felt like I was in the jungle in Indonesia, just sweating my balls off.
The drive home was by far the crux...wish I had a pic when we finally pulled into our parking spot at home...so beat

Your new car has been getting plenty of miles these last three weekends!

Congrats on the send. It seems like you've been talking about Rainbow Wall for a long time.

I had the same reaction as Don Juan. You make it look way too easy.

Just spent a week in RR and got some glimpses of this route. Incredible Ross. Beautiful send, beautiful style.

Sweet! Yeah we really like climbing in Red Rocks! Rainbow Wall is an amazing route...the climbing is so good! Definitely one of my top 5 favorite climbs.
Did you enjoy your trip? What all did you climb while you were there?
cheers

Red Rocks blew my mind, even though we didn't climb anything noteworthy. Birdland and Lotta balls were probably the highlight. Just looking around at all the long, spectacular routes made my mouth water. The bluebird days were nice too, especially given Seattle's current and recent weather. I think I'm over autumns in Seattle.