Page Type:
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Route |
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Route Type:
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technical rock |
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Time Required:
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Less than two hours |
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Difficulty:
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5.9 |
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Approach
From the west side of the park drive toward Jumbo Rocks campground. On the left hand side of the road just before the campground there is a dirt turnoff. Park here. Walk away from the road toward a large rock formation slightly to your right. A vertical dike splits the middle of the formation. Contour around the pile to the right. Here's where it gets fun.
You're looking for Conan's Corridor, a slot canyon that leads to the climb but which you can't see for a while. There are different ways to get to the corridor. I scrambled up some rocks to a wide pass/canyon between two rock piles on the far right. Ten minutes of faint trails, boulder hoping and bushwhacking led to the corridor.
Finding the corridor is the crux. It runs perpendicular to Park Blvd. If you're having a hard time finding it, climb high on rocks to the east of the parking area and try to sight the slot canyon from above.
The corridor is long, narrow and a bit of a tight squeeze. It opens into a wider canyon, the left side of which is Corridor Face. Scramble about half way up the canyon until you see Colorado Crack.
Route Description
Colorado Crack starts below some boulders, just in front of a flattened tree (whether someone was belaying from here or the tree served as a crash pad, I don't know). The crack angles up to the right for about ten feet before going vertical to the top. About half way up the crack is surrounded by a bunch of pockets that make easy to ID. The climbing is easy but runout until you get to the vertical section. From there up it eats up pro. There are usually good jams or holds or both all the way up. A couple of stout footless moves will test your jamming skill. While the crack is clean, the surrounding rock is pretty rough and wearing shorts I trashed my knees. You can build an anchor in a medium-wide crack above the rap bolts. A single 60m rope will get you down. A fun route. Gem, 5.8, is up canyon to the right. Spiderman, 5.10a, is to the left.
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Essential Gear
I used a basic rack of Friends (00 to 4) and a few nuts.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
ClimbandBike - Dec 5, 2008 12:57 pm - Voted 10/10
Rap BoltsAs of Nov 29-2008 only one rap ring was intact at the top.