Climbing at Red Rocks

We arrived in Las Vegas on Tues. and went straight to Red Rocks to start climbing. (After coffee, of course!) It always takes a while to get used to the rock and things seem hard at first. We did some single pitch bolted sport routes on Ultraman wall at the first pullout. We did a 5.7 that seemed really hard for that grade. When we looked it up in the new guide book it was now a 5.9 which made us feel a little better.

The next day we decided to do a longer route - Solar Slab (5.6). The easiest way to get to the bottom of the route is Solar Gully, 4 pitches of 5.1 to 5.3.

We got a late start - leaving the car after 10am and not getting to the base of the gully till 11am. The gully was actually quite fun. Because of the time, we just did the first four pitches of Solar Slab. They were good fun. It was nice to get up high (maybe 1000 feet up) and see the views. We headed down about 3pm and got off the many rappels about 5pm, just as the last light faded. It was another beautiful warm (+21c) sunny day, although it got cool when we started down and the wind picked up and we lost the sun.

Hiking out in the dark was interesting. There was a bright full moon, but it was shining straight in our eyes so it wasn't as helpful as it could have been. After a day in tight climbing shoes my toes did not appreciate being stubbed on rocks as we stumbled around. We lost the trail at one point and spent some time wandering in the desert trying not to impale ourselves on the cactus. Luckily we found the trail again. When we reached the highway we stepped into the parking lot to find our car missing! After a moment of panic we realized we'd taken a different branch of the trail and come out in a different parking area. The car was sitting waiting for us a few hundred meters away.

Haven't take many photos yet. Here are a few.

2011-01 Red Rocks 1