| Future Games Rock Mountain/Rock |
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Geography Parents Loading... Mountains & Rocks
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| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 34.01161°N / 116.0532°W County: Riverside Activities: Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing, Toprope Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Elevation: 4243 ft / 1293 m | Page By: Marcsoltan Created/Edited: May 18, 2009 / May 26, 2009 Object ID: 514528 Hits: 1252 Loading... Page Score: 90.61% - 38 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview
Joshua Tree National Park embodies thousands of rock formations. Of these thousands, only a few hundred stand out and are easily approachable. Within those few hundred, there are only a few dozen formations that become destinations of choice. Future Games Rock wins the status as one of my favorites.
I hate climbing in the sun, unless it’s very cold. Future Games Rock is north facing, and stays in the shade all day. I don’t favor formations that are too close to the roads, campgrounds or parking lots. This rock is about a mile walk weaving through giant boulders and rock formations; therefore, it does not get any none climber visitors. It offers cracks in the 5.8-5.9 range for easy days and 10b-11a cracks for more ambitious days. You can easily get to the top to set up a top rope on any of the routes. And at last but not least, it has climbs in the 12b-13b range. If you are lucky you may run into a climber who can do climbs like that. It’s an experience watching a person on a 13b slab.
A personal note: on my first visit to Future Games Rock in 1994, that exact thing happened to me. I watched the SPer Kris Solem red point the second ascent of Games Without Frontiers, 13a/b That was more than just a treat. It was a learning process. No matter how much experience a climber may have, there is a lot more he/she can learn from an outstanding climber, as I did that day. Kris is tenacious, well organized, equipement savy and much more. For him climbing can be a science.
Routes of Future Games Rock
This steep face offers a variety of climbs from moderate cracks to extreme face routes. If you are a moderate climber, you can try one of the best, and defintely my favorite, 5.9s in the entire Joshua Tree National Park.It’s called “ Invisibility Lessons, 5.9.” This beautiful crack starts in a right facing dihedral on the right side of the rock and follows a crack to a small roof roughly a third of the way up. Turn this roof/corner on the left and climb a sustained, but easy-to-manage crack up and left to about half way up the rock. By now you are past the crux, and the rest of the climb continues up the same, but much easier, crack to the top.
If you are looking for a face climb in the 5.10 range, you can try “Disappearing Act, 10c” put up by my friend Herb Laeger. This is the face just to the right of “Invisibility Lessons.” Typical to Herb, this climb is a bit “runout” and protected by four bolts.
There is another fine climb that was brought to my attention by Kris Solem: "Invisible Touch, 10b/c, ...is another excellent climb there done by Herb Laeger. Climb Invisibility lessons 'till just through the crux. Here one can traverse left on thin face holds about 10 feet and then follow thin cracks and seams straight up to the top. Tiny to medium stoppers and tcu's. Double rope technique recommended."
| A | Exploding Brown Nodules, 11c |
| B | Orno-Necro 11c, gear, small to 2.5 inches |
| C | Theraputic Tyranny, 11a , gear, small to 4 inches |
| D | The Bendix Claws, 11a, gear, small to 4 inches, one bolt |
| E | Hang'em High, 12b, gear, thin to 2 inches, 3 bolts and fixed pin | | F | Continuum, 5.8, standard rack, gear up to 3 inches | | G | Games Without Frontiers, 13a/b, gear, very thin to thin to small, need to be very creative, 3 bolts | | H | Invisibility Lessons, 5.9, gear, Standard rack up to 2.5 inches | | I | Disappearing Act, 10c, Gear, thin to small, four bolts |
Continuum |
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Invisibility Lessons |
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Games Without Frontiers |
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Disappearing Act is the face to the right of H |
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Camping and Noise considerations
There are nine campgrounds in Joshua Tree National Park. At the entrance to the park you are always asked if you would care to have a map and a brochure. The brochure will have plenty of information on the campgrounds and the map will guide you to many of the pleasant hikes throughout the park. You may even get the latest information as to availability of campsites. During the peak season (mid winter through spring) finding a campsite may become a major task. It is highly recommended to use the following link to get more information in advance.
Joshua Tree Camping
Noise considerations,
When you are camping with friends and sitting around the fire, it is easy to forget that there are other people trying to sleep in the nearby campsites. It is important to put yourself in their shoes. Keep the noise and music to a minimum and certainly not too much past 10 p.m. Your neighbors will smile at you in the morning instead of giving you dirty looks.
Environmental ConsiderationsPlease tread lightly. The Access Fund has gone to great lengths posting trail marker for approaches to many of the more popular crags. Do your best to stay on these trails, and where you are forced to use a different path, choose the ones that rain can mend in time. Drainages make for good trails where there are no established trails.
Avoid stepping on native and fragile plants, and do not feed the coyotes. Coyotes are very much used to people and often hang around picnic areas and camp grounds in hopes of getting a hand out. It’s better to let them live their natural life.
How to get there  Frigid Tower as seen from the trail to Future Games Rock.  Frigid Tower as seen from the Future Games Rock.
Images
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U.S. National Parks
