Red Rocks

Non-red rocks at red rocks.

Hey, there really are red rocks at Red Rocks!

So, this park is amazingly beautiful in a desert sort of way. And the rock is incredible for climbing. Lots of stickiness, lots of neat formations, edges that don't break off (for the most part), etc. Sport climbing (up to the classic 17 pitch Epinephrine) and trad climbing (um, not sure there's a huge entire trad climb - Levitation 29?).

A short aside - when you do a first ascent, you get to name the climb. And as in the past it was a male-dominated sport, the climb names are oriented to please the male gender. So, day 1 we climbed on Panty Wall, on climbs with names like Thong, Cover My Buttress, Silk Panties, Panty Raid, etc.

Day 2, my husband and I were the only smart ones, and went to Icebox Canyon - where it's generally 15 degrees colder than any other area. But the temperature was supposed to be 90, so that was fine with us. And everyone else got attacked by the wind, but we were fine. Yay! My husband did a 5.8 to warm up, and on the way down we looked at the 5.9 next door. I decided to do it, despite how scary it looked. Sensuous Mortician was the name, and it was an excellent climb, though quite the challenge in spots. Run-out areas, and hard to find gear made it quite interesting. And then a little roofie at the end! But I did it, and was very proud. Actually, one friend who tends to scoff at what others do looked quite impressed that I had done it, so that was nice (not that I did it for that, but it was a nice bonus). My husband and I tend to climb slowly so that was it for the day.

Black Corridor Sideways (too lazy to rotate)


Day 3, winds were forecast for up to 50 mph gusts, so we went to the Black Corridor. Kind of feels like a gym - bolted, 15 feet between the wals, lots of people. Unfortunately the wind frequently blew down the corridor, so we had quite a bit of sand in our face, and it was a tad chilly. It calmed down, but unfortunately I got a migrane, so we had to leave. Too bad...

Day 4, two days later, we went to go do a 3 pitch finger crack, which my husband loves, which was down a 2 mile dirt road (in a crappy rental car), then a 45 minute hike uphill. He decided not to do it, which ultimately is a good decision, but I was pissed because he had been making noises about potentially not doing it before we went down the dirt road. Oh well. We found a one pitch climb which he did, and that ended the day/trip.

We HAVE to go back.

Close up of red rocks