Climbing Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

November 12, 2009
Our 3rd day of climbing. Today, we're at "Cut Your Teeth" way up a canyon in Red Springs -- light rain last night and the sandstone is a bit crumbly. We're not sure if its just the route we're on or if its the result of last night's rain.

We're just practicing trad skills on easy routes. The weather reports are mixed: local reports say more rain, but NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) reports cooler temperatures and wind is coming. Rangers and local climbers say the rock is fine. We we're hoping for heat and sun after leaving rain drenched Vancouver Island -- the huge low pressure systems affecting the BC Coast are making their presence known here too. And, when it rains down here the rock is much less reliable (two thirds as strong) -- its both a safety and ethical issue -- in terms of damaging the rock.

Yesterday, we were at "Black Corridor" -- a popular sport climbing area. We we were on 5.9-10b routes -- I wish we could could say 5.12. Lots of other climbers are near by from all over the USA, Canada, and other countries. Best part was the 10b lead by Robin -- the route required some fun technical moves.

Red Rock Canyon is for the most part a 25 kilometer stretch of Aztec sandstone cliffs that towaer as high as 3000 feet. The area is the result of massive folding and faulting that occured over 135 milllion years ago. Within the area lay an enormous variety of climbs from short crags to 2000 foot big walls.

We met up with Matt and Laura in Black Corridor. Matt and I worked together kayak guiding 10 yeas ago along coastal Vancouver Island, he now lives in the Yukon with Laura -- visiting Red Rocks for a bit of sun and warmth.

Our first day of climbing was spent doing sport at "Magic Bus," along "Second Pullout." Lots of beautiful hiking on the way -- lots of wonderful scrambling amongst huge boulders and steep craggy areas also. These crags were overlooked in the early days of Red Rocks as the focus was on the bigger walls, but now the area is almost completely developed.

Red Rocks is the 4th most popular climbing area in the USA. Lots of tourists come by for a hike -- people looking for a bit of nature outside of Las Vegas. They basically drive along a great road ring that circles Red Rock Canyon and pull over along the various cragging areas. Some people just pull over to look out at the big beautiful red and tanned rocks -- where they can catch glimpses of climbers and scrambles alike.

...Robin is about to start a trad climb so I am off to belay now...

...that was a fun climb with lots of exposure -- we can see the city of Las Vegas -- an oasis of light with the Luxor's white beam shooting high into the night sky -- the sun light is barely present, but we still have a few more climbs in us. We'll be hiking out in the dark but the extra climbs will be worth it.