Red Rocks offers some very nice moderate multi pitch routes. We spent 4 days during Thanks Giving 2009 and had an awesome time.

Day 1. Cat in the Hat. We were not early and efficient enough. We reached our cut off time (2:30pm) and rapped from pitch 4.

Day 2. Geronimo. We wasted two hours finding the approach route and rapped from the top of 2nd pitch. Very nice pitches though. The party rappelling before us had their ropes stuck twice. We untangled for them. The second time was so bad that I had to use my body weight to get it off multiple places. I also saw more than one cut rope in the crack. So I recommend doing 2 single rope rappels instead of 1 double rope rappel from the top of P2. Some people choose to rappel to the base of P2 and rappel again from there to the ground. That poses a big risk of rope getting stuck too.

Day 3. We climbed Johny Vegas and connected with Going Nuts, then did 7 rappels down to the base. We are quite efficient by now. We took the gully route for rappeling for a couple reasons: we want to scout the route in case we want to do Solar Slab later and it’s all single rope rappels. The gully is a little dirty, be careful with kicking off rocks.

Day 4. We went back to Cat in the Hat. Started around 8 and finished before 2:30. Surprisingly we were the only party that day. A little beta on the route: you can link the first two pitches to save time. Rope drag is not a problem. Pitch 3 is quite low angle. Tian and I spent 17 minutes from “climbing” command to “climbing” command. Pitch 4 is probably the crux of the route. Pitch 5 is very short, probably not even 50 feet as the topo says. The crux of pitch 6 is below the bolt, place a bomber pro before reaching the friction slab to avoid runout if you are not comfortable with friction. On the rappel side, pitch 4 is a bit tricky with regard to rope entanglement. Be very careful. pitch 2 can be rapped with a single rope (60m), barely though.

After breakfast at McDonalds, we drove to Icicle Butress. Temperature is in the mid 40s but there is sunshine. I led pitch 1, 3, and 4. Yinan led pitch 2. There is some serious rope drag on pitch 4. I used 4 double slings and I wish I had more. It’s almost impossible to hear your belayer on any of the pitches except the 2nd one. Very fun and moderate route and perfect weather. We had the whole route to ourselves. We got back to the car at 2pm and had lunch/dinner at South.

Day 1:

• Cinnomon slab 5.6 lead. First pitch is really fun although it feels more like 5.7 to me. Second pitch is pretty easy.
• Spiderman 5.7 lead. No wonder it’s a 4-star route. The lie back is definitely the crux. The roof is not as hard as it looks.

Day 2:

• Moscow 5.6 lead. A very pleasant route. We did it in 2 pitches with the second being a very long one (about 180 ft). The off width crack about 2/3 through the second pitch is a bit awkward for me. A couple big cams (3-4″) recommended to avoid runout. Communication is a problem especially the second pitch.
• Rabbit stew 5.7 lead. A fine sustained finger crack with plenty of features for feet on the diehedral.
• Lycopodophyta 5.7 TR.

Did every route on Write off rock

We spent a Sunday cragging at Royal Columns practicing crack climbing. We did 5 routes in total.

• Rough Boys 5.5
• Rap Route 5.5
• Level Head 5.6
• Wild Child 5.7
• Slacker 5.4

• The Dog Ate My Topo 5.7, Chen Liang led, Yinan and me followed. Very nice bolted friction slab.
• The Scene is clean 5.8, I led, Chen Liang and Yinan followed. A very delicate friction, very much sustained 5.8 though some guide books rate it 5.9.
• Loaves of Fun 5.8, I led, Chen Liang and Yinan followed. It was a bit tricky to locate this route. The description in Weekend Rock Washington is not quite accurate. Its base is not exactly at the big boulder but rather 15 feet left of it. The rappel is also not quite 200 feet unless you are willing to jump the last 4 or 5 feet.

Day 1. Misc routes at Brogan Spire complex. We began with Cave Route. The guide book by Alan Watts is quite out-dated. The first pitch is now bolted. There are at least 2-3 boltes routes to the left as well. I lead an overhand left to the standard route to the bench on the top of the first pitch. Second pitch begins by passing through the big cave and then up the gully. By the time we got to the base of the third pitch, the clouds are rolling in and I decided to bail. We rapped down to the bench and it was shining again.

We then climbed a route on the south slab to the top of Opossum. It’s a two bolted mid class 5 pitches, not in the book. From the top of Opposum, we traversed to The Tail and rapped down the the saddle between The Tail and Brogon Spire, which is the base of the 3rd pitch of Cave Route. We redid that pitch to finish Cave Route. It is pretty much a solo with some reasonable exposure.

We then TRed a couple overhang routes from the base to finish off the first day.

Day 2. We started by doing Sky Chimney. The first pitch begins with a somewhat awkward chimney followed by a steep face. The whole pitch is bolted. I led the second pitch which is a short and fun lie back pitch. On the top is a “belay hole” as describe in the guide book. It’s quite awkward to set a belay anchor and find a comfortable belay position. I wish there were bolts here. The third pitch begins with a very exposed step out of the hole and climbing up the crack. The lie back is a bit longer and more consistent than the 2nd pitch. Once you are on a ledge with scree, step to the left looking for webbings around a chockstone. Climb up the chimney right to the chock stone to finish the pitch. Walk to the top to find a bolted rap station. Do a double rope free hang rappel to get to the top of first pitch. Another single rope rappel brings you to the base.

After lunch and some rest, we split the party. Yinan and I headed over to Red Wall to climb Super Slab. We arrived around 4pm which is a perfect time for this route. The east facing slab is now in shade. There is a pair in front of us at the base of the 3rd pitch when we started. The first pitch is more tiring than I remembered, it didn’t quite flow. The second pitch is a mental challenge as usual. When we are at the base of the 3rd pitch, the pair in front of us are already at the top. They are nice enough to wait up for us before rappeling though. The 3rd pitch is very smooth and effortless. I waited for the other party to rap off before bringing in Yinan. Two rappels bring us to the base at 7pm. I have confirmed that the second rappel could be done with a 60 meter rope provided it’s evenly placed.

Day 3. Misc routes at Student Wall. Spring Break, Flunked Out, Cram Session, and Fist Fight. All are very stiff for their grades.

On June 27 - 29, Tian and I climbed Mt Jefferson via Jeff Park Glacier route. This is the hardest climb we have done so far and a very memorable one. Here is a brief account of the climb. Mount Jefferson is the second highest mountain in Oregon. However it can be rarely seen from Willamette Valley and it has mostly kept its anonymity even to avid climbers. We were not able to find many trip reports. It is a quite remote mountain. There is no road to its base. Its mysteriousness however doesn’t conceal any bit of its beauty.

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