Defying Temptation

Cindy, Calvin, and Michael all came to Red Rocks for a climbing trip. Unfortunately, it was raining every day during their trip. It took everything we had to stop ourselves from climbing in the park. Instead, we went on some hikes and climbed at Gun Club, a limestone crag in Summerlin. I managed to send Point Blank (S 5.11b) second go, along with some other routes, I don’t remember their names.

We also spent some time at Suburban Crag, another limestone crag, significantly chossier. Erik’s Arete (S 5.10a) and Ozone (S 5.10c) were particularly interesting routes with great exposure and movement, though I think Ozone should be downgraded to (S 5.10a/b) and slapped with a PG rating (since the first bolt is roughly 20 feet high, but only 5.9 climbing).

Ironically, I thought Direct TV (S 5.10a) was the hardest route out of the ones I tried at Suburban. It was pretty chill up until one of the last bolts (maybe it was the final bolt, I dont remember). There were three ways to do it from here: go left, go right, or directly up. Left and right looked pretty chill (though left had a loose X-block). Directly up was pretty damn hard. It required some pretty committing moves, and I spent much of it fully spanned out, slapping to slopers. I’m hesitant to suggest this, but I actually think the crux moves deserved 5.10c, though the rest of the route is 5.9 or easier. Maybe that averages out to 5.10a or b, I don’t know.