There has been a long battle about a proposed development close to Red Rock Canyon, a stunning climbing and state recreation area not far from Las Vegas. The region is as characteristic of the southwest as a landscape can be and draws rock climbers from around the world to its trad, sport and big wall routes. Read the rest of this entry »

Lindsay Fixmer, one of our guides, just returned from a personal climbing trip to Red Rock Canyon, NV. Here is her trip report!

I start all my trips, as I started this past excursion, with a tick list: the ‘must-do’s’ in line with my immediate goals keeping in consideration that the conditions are right: weather, mental and physical preparedness, partner’s agenda, etc.
Since my climbing partner, Karsten, and I are both in ‘training’ mode for AMGA courses and exams and with guiding at the forefront of our minds, our goals and focus reflect these intentions and drive.  We both set out to do as many long routes as our bodies could handle on the trip.  This means all-day routes involving tricky route finding and well over one hour skirts to and from the route: walk-offs, 4th and 5th class approaches, and looking at these from a guiding perspective: risk management and client care.

We found ourselves wearing down the Oak Creek, Pine Creek, and Black Velvet Canyon paths regularly with classic lines such as Nightcrawler to Hourglass Diversion, Community Pillar, Triassic Sands, Hot Fudge Thursday, and being blown off the descent of Black Orpheus with 60 to 70mph winds.  This trip proved to be one of the windiest and coldest Red Rock trips I’ve ever been on: one day Karsten and I (as well as the party above us) were literally blown off Levitation 29.  I will say this: it was probably excellent training for me to have to deal with frozen hands and feet: overcoming uncomfortable (to a certain extent), can only strengthen oneself.

What I really love about longer climbing trips (over 1 week) is the learning process one goes through: and it’s different on each trip because the set-up varies.  Whether in a new area, on new routes, with a different climbing partner, how physically and mentally fit you are, adverse weather conditions… all these factors add in to the equation of what you accomplish and learn in that time.  And the more trips you take, the different areas you see and climb at, and covering vast terrains, you hone your route finding skills, better adapt to changes, better prepare your day’s schedule, strengthen your climbing on-sighting ability, and improve your knowledge and efficiency in a difficult, demanding setting (which I think is imperative with regards to guiding).

The return from the trip is always the hardest part; especially when your climbing partner gets to stay!  Alas, all good things must come to end … right?  Or do they really need to?  I say, no.  This reasoning is why I’ll be back in Vegas at the end of March to get in four more long days of excellent climbing on the bullet sandstone (and not so bullet, depending on what route you choose) of Red Rocks.  Good thing flights to Vegas are cheap!  Forget the gambling, it’s time to rope up again.

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One of the biggest problems that new trad climbers face is being overburdened with gear on long multipitch climbs. Standing at the base of a climb, it can be so tempting to say, “Well…I might need that cam, and this hex, those 3 sets of nuts, 15 quickdraws…”, well you get the picture. I know that I personally ran into those problems all the time. One of my first long multipitch routes was Solar Slab in Red Rock Canyon NV. (Here’s someone’s trip report: Solar Slab.) I equated many pitches with lots of gear. I carried 2 full sets of cams, 2 full sets of nuts, a full set of hexes, 10 non locking carabiners, 10 locking carabiners, a nut tool, 12 quickdraws, slings in mass quantities, a chalk bag, and filled my pockets with food. Needless to say, I got burnt out and didn’t top out!

Many years later, I have learned from these mistakes and have learned how to streamline the process of choosing the right gear for the right climb. Over the next few weeks, I will post some thoughts and tips on these things.

• Read the route description and topos thoroughly. Often you can read about features such as “Hand Cracks”, “Off-Widths”, “Chimneys”, and “Thin Seams”. You can learn about directions, such as “Traverse”, “Pull the roof”, or “Hanging Belay”. Tips like these can help you learn what gear to bring. If a climb says that it is a hand crack, followed by a 25 foot traverse to the right, before a hanging belay on bolts, chances are you will not need small cams for that pitch…since it is a handcrack. You also most likely won’t need small stoppers, so just bring larger stoppers. You may need to double up on medium to large cams, and leave the smaller ones behind. You will need some slings to extend your pieces for the traverse. And you will need a cordellete or slings for the hanging belay, with 3 non locking carabiners and 2 locking carabiners. Your partner can bring up the gear that you didn’t carry, in case it will be needed for the next pitch. Hopefully you catch my drift. Study the route.