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Red Rock Canyon
Millions of them, for free. Little hand jamming, little layback, all the moves to keep us honest.
If you've climbed it before, you'll probably get it. If like me you never have, well it helps to know the name before getting on. A Red Rocks classic that challenges a Gunks rat such as myself.
If it isn't obvious, I had never climbed a chimney before so why not jump on a string of 5.9's. Luckily a group passed us just before beginning the pitch and I had a chance to grab some beta, such as which side to keep your back to. It wasn't obvious to myself and later I may have messed this up.
The combination of quality climbing, exposure, aesthetics, and my overall spirits at this point in the climb, may make this my favorite pitch of the route. In truth, all the technical climbing after the Black Tower is top quality climbing.
Such a great climb! I'm not sure I really ever came across a distinct crux. Just solid climbing all the way to the end (maybe with the exception of couple lose holds and chalked x's).
6 out of 3 stars? Oh, I agree. Get on it, it's hard & challenging, fun climbing and so worth it.
This reminded me a lot of 5.9's in the Gunks.. A super fun climb though it wasn't the crack climbing I was expecting. Balancey and technical, it seemed to lack real finger & toe jams. That or I'm actually learning how to do this.
I really enjoyed this pitch. Yes, it was challenging. Yes, the beginning was a bit clumsy but by the time I was half way through the pitch, this style really began to make sense to me. A lot of work but a whole lot of fun.
If you really want to throw yourself in the deep end with crack climbing (without going to the Creek), this is the climb to do it on.
In Ben Carlson's recap of climbing 30 5.10 pitches in a day in the Gunks, he describes Doubleissima as "One of the best climbs in the universe". I'm inclined to agree, what a fantastic pitch of climbing.
Starting the Gunks season off right with another ultra classic, Cascading Crystal Kaleidoscope or coequally known as CCK. A beautiful and exposed climb, it's definitely one of the more aesthetic climbs in the Gunks.
Beautiful Exposed climbing with plenty of protection. Why not. While I'm pretty sure I ended at what seemed to be the obvious belay ledge, it looks like there were two more lines to the top (Potential third pitch). Both looked pretty hard but this pitch also felt a little easy for 10b. Still a quality line.
Back to my Roots, which means back to the Gunks!
I have been meaning to get a good video of this route for a very long time. This is probably my 3rd video of it, the first two just not meeting my expectations for capturing the magnificence of this pitch.
This pitch of climbing isn’t doesn’t just define the Gunks, it defines everything we seek out in a pitch of climbing. It may even transcend the bouldering/rope barrier, it’s just that good. There’s a reason this climb consistantly finds itself in the top 5 climbs on the front page of MountainProject
