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Intro
Freezing cold Shirley at the 10th belay on Inti Watana (5.10) on Mt. Wilson (March 2009).
We had such a good time climbing Turkeys two weeks prior – especially with my wife providing me with a TR on the crux pitches – that we found ourselves once again in the beautiful Red Rocks of Nevada on a partly sunny Thursday not-too-early-of-a-morning. Given that Shirley seemed to be eating up leading the thin sandstone edges of Red Rocks, I figured I would ride that gravy train and try and tick off a couple of routes from the list over the course of four days.
Thursday. Power Failure, 5.10-, 3P
Shirley leading pitch 2 of Power Failure (5.10-; (March 2009).
Short night of sleep was offset with a late wake up call and a long breakfast (lunch?) at Einstein’s Bagels. We thought about the seven pitch Unimpeachable Groping but upon the 2pm arrival at the base, settled on the three pitch Power Failure next door. I got the odds and Shirley dispatched the crux pitch: a short, thin crack to a slabby step right followed by easier terrain. A very nice route in a small package! Two hours later we were flipping through the guidebook over some Vietnamese noodle soup. Love that Vegas climbing experience: no need for greasy, shitty diner food after climbing! You have your pick of affordable dining options. Choices were made, alarms were set…and promptly ignored. Maybe the continuing family feud in the motel room next door that kept us up most of the night might have been to blame…
Friday. The Gobbler, 5.10-, 3P
Shirley following pitch 2 of The Gobbler on Black Velvet Wall (March 2009).
Anyway, out the door we went a brief 4 hours past the crack of dawn. “Yes – breakfast sounds good”. Getting to the crags by noon tends to narrow down your options. We remembered admiring The Gobbler a few times before from the base and so made it our goal for the day. No less than 10 cars at the Black Velvet trailhead reminded us that it was spring break season…oh well. Many parties on the classic lines – though we’d see many bail a pitch or two up after realizing just how cold things were on the shady walls and with a breeze blowing through the canyon. Shirley led the beautiful looking first pitch: a series of face traverses on good, positive rails that are mostly invisible from below (making things appear harder than the advertised 5.9). I took the second pitch whose rating is set by a single (highly height/reach-dependent) move in the chimney of sorts. Shirley did not care for this pitch (did I mention reach-dependent?) but led the third beautifully. Now that one seemed pretty damn thin for its 10a rating! I was happy to have the TR as my big clunky shoes searched for footholds while my fat stubby fingers were fishing for incuts…Great stuff!! Some of the best Mexican food (& margaritas) we’ve ever tasted finished off the day.
Saturday. Inti Watana, 5.10, 12P
Shirley leading the crux pitch (#2) of Inti Watana (5.10; (March 2009).
We asked for a room switch the night before to a non-residential wing of the Motel 6 just to be sure we’d actually wake up on time. So we’d either tick off a longer one this day or not at all on this trip. With this motivation in mind and a good nights sleep under our belts, we found ourselves in a pullout on the state highway at 4am…it’s cold and early…OK, let’s sleep for an hour in the car (you know, with “lazy!” being the theme of this climbing trip and all). Finally we were hiking by 5am armed with a single sheet of paper: our friends Eric & Lucie’s approach overlayed on a photo – dead-on accurate approach beta. Two hours later and after some 4th class scrambling up the White Rot Gully, we passed the start of Resolution Arete and were soon looking up at our route of choice from the depths of a snow choked freezer gully in the guts of Mt. Wilson: 12 pitches of beautiful climbing fully visible from the base. Since the guidebook mentioned a roof (reachy??) on pitch 9, I took the odds and Shirley led the evens. This lined her up nicely for the crux 2nd pitch of the line (5.10…or 5.10c/d per some reports) as well as the other reported 5.10 pitch at the very top. I was all set. Crux of pitch 1 was trying to keep my rock shoes dry while starting from a 20 degree snow slope. Shirley led the crux pitch with one hang to figure shit out….though I think it was just a mental hesitation due to that little voice in her head saying: “it might be 10d…DDDDDD!” After that things eased considerably. Beautiful climbing – bolted where needed, trad protected elsewhere. A direct and an exposed line to the top of the buttress. Only down side was the cold temperature – we had direct sunshine for only about 2 pitches, otherwise it was shivering time at belays. Pitch 9 roof was trivial: not reachy and with a bolt in your face. Pitch 10 was some of the best face climbing we’ve ever done – super positive and steep patina flakes (solid too!) with over a thousand feet of air below your feet. Simply AWESOME! I linked pitches 9 & 10 and Shirley linked 11 & 12 to the top. The reported 10c 12th pitch was probably no harder than 9/10a and only for two or three moves. The 9 double rope raps down the face went without a hitch and we were back in the car as the sun set. A wonderful day of climbing and our first line on Mt. Wilson.
Sunday. Diet Delight, 5.9, 4P
Shirley following pitch 2 of Diet Delight (March 2009).
The state of lazy was officially reinstated on Sunday. We decided that the boundary conditions for the day were: short approach and easy climbing. Flipping through the Hendren scripts over more Einstein bagels, Shirley pointed to Diet Delight on Windy Peak’s east face. As I recalled Dow’s SP description speaking well of this line, the decision was ratified and soon we were dragging the muffler of our economy rental to the trailhead. Shirley led the Straight Shooter-like first pitch (very aesthetic IMHO) and I led the evens. We spent an hour on top sunning ourselves trying to soak up enough rays to hold us over in the rainy Portland till the next desert outing. For something that is 3.5 pitches long, it sure has a pain-in-the-ass descent. Later that night we were home soaking in the 40F temps and relentless drizzle.
Slideshow
Power Failure
Shirley following the 5.8 pitch 1 of Power Failure on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
Shirley starting the lead of the crux pitch of Power Failure (5.10b) on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
Shirley leading the crux on pitch 2 of Power Failure (5.10-) on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
Shirley leading pitch 2 of Power Failure (5.10-) belayed by yours truly. She's almost done with the crux moves. Bridge Mountain in the background (March 2009).
Following pitch 2 of Power Failure on Ginger Buttress. This is above the route's crux (March 2009).
Leading P3 of Power Failure (5.10-) on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
Shirley at the belay atop P2 of Power Failure (5.10-) on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
Shirley topping out on the third and final pitch of Power Failure (5.10b) on Ginger Buttress (March 2009).
The Gobbler
Shirley leading the first pitch of The Gobbler..she is probably past the pitch crux. Another party is at the belay above (March 2009).
Shirley leading pitch 1 of The Gobbler (5.10-) on Black Velvet Wall (March 2009).
Following the pretty first pitch of The Gobbler - three little gems these pitches they are!! March 2009.
Leading pitch 2 of The Gobbler on Black Velvet Wall. They guys above went for Fiddler On The Roof (March 2009).
Leading pitch 2 of The Gobbler belayed by Shirley (March 2009).
Shirley following pitch 2 of The Gobbler on Black Velvet Wall (March 2009).
Shirley leading the thin and fun (esp. on TR) third pitch of The Gobbler (March 2009).
Yours truly following the beautiful third pitch of The Gobbler....in fact, all 3 pitches of this one are great (March 2009).
Inti Watana
The 12-pitch Inti Watana (5.10) route on Mt. Wilson as seen from the hike into Oak Creek Canyon (not the approach).
Shirley following pitch 1 of the beautiful Inti Watana (5.10, 12P) on Mt. Wilson (March 2009).
Shirley nearing the top of pitch 1 of Initi Watana. The snow below in the approach gully enhanced the alpine-ish ambiance (March 2009).
Shirley leading the crux pitch (#2) of Inti Watana on Mt. Wilson (10c) - the actual crux is at the shallow (& smooth) right-facing dihedral just above (March 2009).
Shirley leading the crux pitch (#2) of Inti Watana (5.10) in the bowels of Mt. Wilson belayed by yours truly. Nearly all 12 pitches of the route are visible in the photo (March 2009).
Daddy following pitch 2 of Inti Watana and happy to have a TR on his fat ass. Snow in the approach gully below provides an alpine ambiance (& freezer temps; March 2009).
Shirley following pitch 3 of Inti Watana - easy, well-bolted and more solid than it looks (March 2009).
Shirley starting up pitch 4 of Inti Watana (5.10) on Mt. Wilson. The top of the route is visible 8 pitches above (March 2009).
Yours truly following pitch 4 of Inti Watana (March 2009).
Starting the lead of pitch 5 of Inti Watana with Bridge Mountain behind my asshole (March 2009).
Shirley nearing the top of pitch 5 of Inti Watana (March 2009).
Shirley leading pitch 6 of Inti Watana (March 2009).
The view north from the top of pitch 6 of Inti Watana. Rainbow Mountain is in the foreground; Bridge Mountain is in the background (March 2009).
Shirley following pitch 7 of Inti Watana (March 2009).
There's a roof at the start of pitch 9 on Inti Watana...was going to leave a long sling for Shirley to use in case she couldn't reach the jugs but turned out not to be needed...roof is pretty easy to pull. On a side note, that Vegas water certainly bloats me!! March 2009.
Shirley following pitch #10 of Inti Watana - probably one of the funnest 5.9 faces we've ever climbed! Amazing steep patina flake pulling with the approach gully a 1000 feet below (March 2009).
Freezing cold Shirley at the 10th belay on Inti Watana (5.10) on Mt. Wilson. Rainbow Mountain (foreground) and Bridge Mountain form the backdrop (March 2009).
Shirley leading the final two pitches (11 & 12) of Inti Watana (5.10) on Mt. Wilson. Though the guidebook gives the final pitch a 10c rating (like pitch 2), that's kind of over-grading (10- likely). March 2009.
Cold Shirley at the top of Inti Watana - 12 pitches up and 10 long raps to go till Mex food time (March 2009).
Shirley hiking down after our climb of Inti Watana on Mount Wilson (March 2009).
Diet Delight
Shirley hiking in to the Diet Delight (5.9) on Windy Peak. These are the characteristic chocolate colored rocks mentioned by some guidebooks (March 2009).
Shirley starting up pitch 1 of Diet Delight route on the Windy Peak (March 2009).
Shirley leading pitch 1 of Diet Delight on Windy Peak (March 2009).
Leading pitch 2 of Diet Delight (March 2009).
Looking back at Shirley from the lead of pitch 2 of Diet Delight (5.9; March 2009).
Shirley following pitch 2 of Diet Delight (March 2009).
Shirley topping out on pitch 2 of Diet Delight (March 2009).
Shirley starting the lead of pitch 3 of Diet Delight on Windy Peak (March 2009).
Shirley leading pitch 3 of Diet Delight on east face of Windy Peak (March 2009).
Yours truly following the third pitch of Diet Delight on Windy Peak (March 2009).
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