red rock canyon - drifting
I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of weeks in Red Rock, Nevada this spring. I spent my time sampling a variety of multi-pitch climbing that the canyons offer! I was looking to get some more experience with sandstone gear climbing and my mind was set on onsighting as much as possible. In this post, I’ll give a report of routes we explored, gear we used (my shoe selection for some gear routes may surprise you…) and a pitch-by-pitch route breakdown of one of the finest sandstone routes I’ve done in the United States!
Our Father, 5.10+R, onsight
I spotted this crack during our day on an adjacent route.
‘What is that?!?” I remember saying… I gotta touch it!
Pictured is the third pitch of Our Father. #2 jams lead into a 0.5/0.4 crack full of locks and laybacks.
You find some more face features near the top (pictured here). and one last bomber finger lock!
When I arrived in Las Vegas on in late March, I was planning to spend two weeks in the area. And I had about two months’ worth of route recommendations from friends... How to chose….!
Not to mention the plethora of limestone cragging, sandstone cragging, and bouldering nearby…
But! We wanted to focus on onsighting a large variety of multi-pitch climbs! And so, we got started knowing there was no way we could touch everything in such a short period of time, but we were going to be grateful for all of the routes that we could get our hands on!
Below is the complete list of multi-pitch routes climbed:
Night Crawler, 5.10+, 4 pitches, gear + bolts – onsight
Chocolate Flakes, 5.10+, 4 pitches, gear – onsight
Fiddler on the Roof, 5.10+R, 7 pitches gear + bolts – one fall on P4
Our Father, 5.10+R, 3 pitches, gear + bolts – onsight
The Delicate Sound of Thunder, 5.11b/c PG13, gear + bolts – onsight
Drifting, 5.11c PG13, 5 pitches, gear + bolts – onsight
While many of the routes are memorable and worth writing about, Drifting stands out in my mind as deserving the most typing-time 😊 Take note to skip over this section if you want to avoid gathering any information that may affect your onsight attempt!
Approach for Drifting - lots of boulder hopping in the wash!
Admiring the spring blooms and sandstone rocks
Drifting – 5 pitches, 5.11c PG13, gear + bolts – Team Onsight
Of all the routes we did, drifting takes the proverbial cake for being the most stellar. Five pitches of five-star 5.11 climbing ranging from 5.11a to 5.11c. It sits back in Pine Creek Canyon on the Jet Stream wall.
Gear: 80m Trango agility rope, Tenaya iati, 6 phases draws, 6 alpine phase draws, double rack to 0.75 (more small pieces will be great), halo helmet, Trango vergo + aries, 4 superfly screwlocks, double sling for anchors + improving efficiency during transitions
The approach: Enter Pine Creek Canyon and boulder hop through the wash for quite awhile. Well-cairned and easy to follow. You can approach two ways, but I recommend the way we took (same as the approach for Adventure Punks and the Challenger Wall). You gain a slab and follow ledges and slab that is also well-cairned slightly “down-canyon” to reach the bottom of the route. I was recovering from a spained ankle this day and this approach took about one hour and 45 minutes. A healthy ankle would get you there in about 80-90 minutes.
Pitch 1 (Karly lead): The crux pitch. Solid 5.11c. This pitch demanded technique, route-reading, and finger strength. A potential rough start since you don’t get to warm up your fingers before pulling on 12mm edges. I was very, very happy to have the Iati’s on my feet for this amount of technical, down sloping, tiny feet. Adding runners to some of the bolts was helpful because the route veers right after your pull through the hardest moves. 8 bolts – no gear needed.
Pitch 2 (Nate lead): 5.11c. Excellent-what-dreams-are-made-of laybacking awaited us right off the belay. 3 bolts protected the flake section (a possible RP could be used as supplemental gear here, but it is not necessary and will likely take a fair bit of energy to place a mediocre piece, I recommend skipping it). Once you leave the flake, the rest of the pitch was protected with smaller gear and RPs through face climbing that veers left towards the next anchor. Both Nate and I felt this was a soft 5.11c. This is certainly the longest pitch (+ excellent climbing).
Pitch 3 (Karly lead): 5.11b. This pitch and the fourth pitch were my favorite. Clip a bolt off the belay and move into a left-facing corner and arete feature. The movement through the corner/arete to the face was super engaging – exactly what I look for in onsight climbing! Beautiful rock and not-what-I expected moves got me to a face. This eventually turned into a nice hand crack that protected well and took us to the next belay.
Pitch 4 (Nate lead): 5.11a. This was the most stylistically “trady” of all the pitches on the route. And, I thought it was one of the best! You step into an in-your-face overhanging, left leaning corner that eats great gear for breakfast. Using a fun combination of stemming and finger locks, you make to the top of the feature, got another good placement before making a committing move out of the overhanging corner to a jug on the face. Exposed, beautiful climbing. Plus, a cool transition from tan sandstone to medium-red sandstone. One of those pitches that you get to the anchors saying “Damn, climbing is freakin’ fun!”
Pitch 5 (Karly lead): 5.11c. Turn on your tech-game one more time! Mostly bolted with a supplemental 0.1 and RP placement, this pitch climbs the immaculate dark-red sandstone and that famous Red Rock patina. Take it to the chains!
The descent: The rappels are quite easy. I do recommend an 80m rope. Looks like you can do it with a 70m, but you would need to be very, very careful. I usually sit solidly in the camp of “I’m happy to carry an extra 10m of rope to keep the climbing the exciting part, not the descent”. So, we took an 80m (more information on the gear below).
All of the raps (except one) were straight forward. Rapping to the anchors you climbed from. Rap 4 lands you at a dedicated rap station that you didn’t climb from. From this rap station you can get to the ground.
Overall impression: Nate and I were happy to climb this one in true team-onsight style quickly and smoothly. It was an amazing day with a great friend. One that brought us closer and that I will remember for a long time. The climbing did not disappoint and I would 100% recommend this route to anyone headed to Red Rock.
Nothing like a team onsight!
One last thing: Be sure to have a plan to pack out your shit. These canyons are used by a wide-variety of recreationalists. As climbers, we want to make our mark by … not making a mark! Lead by example y’all!
My face when you pack out your shit!
These canyons are used by a wide-variety of recreationalists. As climbers, we want to make our mark by … not making a mark! Lead by example y’all!
Gear Selection + Review
1. Rope – 80m Agility. Using an 80m rope for this climb will keep the rappels safe and easy. The agility ropes that Trango came out with this year are some of my very favorite. They hit the happy-medium of durable, easy to feed, flexible… but not TOO flexible. I have been using the different versions of this rope for all of my climbing this year.
2. Shoes – Trad climbing in Iati’s!?! Who knew! After a few multi-pitch days in the Masai’s, I realized how much of the gear climbing in Red Rock is actually still face climbing. So, I switched to the more aggressive shoe for drifting and was really happy to have the amount of precision with my feet that I needed to feel comfortable onsighting Drifting. A good lesson in grabbing the shoe the route requires, not just the shoe that “goes with” gear climbing. Iati’s FTW! No foothold too small!
3. Helmet – Trango Halo. Simple, easy, breathable. Forgot I was wearing it. Done.
4. Draws – Phase and Alpine Phase draws. These are the best choice for multi-pitch. Very light-weight and simple. When you are approaching for more than 60 minutes, you’ll be glad you left those shiny-project draws at home.
5. Belay – Trango Vergo and Aries. I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again – no autolocking belay device feeds rope as easily as the Vergo. I’ve been using it since it came out and really appreciate how quickly I can get rope out and take rope in.
6. Anchors – We used a pretied double-length sling to make our transitions at the anchors more efficient. Superfly screw locks made this quick and easy. We were movin’ and groovin’ up there – having a great time!
7. Harness – Trango Horizon Harness – hefty enough gear loops for a lot of gear options, a ration pack, and a windbreaker.
Have a Red Rock trip happening in your future? I hope this was helpful for your gear and route planning! If you get on drifting, I know you’ll have a good time 😊
Cheers,
Karly
