Woah! This is another new route at Rifle. That makes, let me see ..., 3 this year! The Silver Surfer climbs the long gray streak on the left side of the Hawaiian-Two-Foot Wall (between the Skull Cave and Lower Tier). The Hawaiian Two-Foot Wall gets the bests afternoon sun exposure in Rifle in the winter (12:30 p.m. till 4 p.m.). We climbed this route in t-shirts in December.

The Silver Surfer is a sustained Rifle "slab", reminiscent of Ivory Tower but with harder cruxes (one at the start, one at the top) and more sustained. The route is still a little crisp and dusty, but the rock and position are outstanding. I'll stick my neck out (OK, it's my route!) and say that with traffic it will become a classic.

What else? Take 15 quickdraws. Ha, I told you it was long.

The Silver Surfer

East Winds Change

Surf Boy

Hawaiian Two-Foot (aka "Hawaiian Tufa")

Hawaii Five-0

This is the left of the two face/slab routes on the big, sunny wall between the the Lower Tier and the Skull Cave. The wall faces slightly downcanyon and bakes in full sun from about noon onward, so get here early!

From the parking, scramble up and left through loose scree to a ledge system at the base of the wall. You can either station yourself on a lower ledge (plenty wide, but no anchors), or have your belayer scramble up with you to a higher, smaller ledge with a one-bolt anchor. In either case, you'll need a 60-meter rope to get back to these ledges, and it's probably a good idea to tie a knot in the end of the rope so you don't end up in the scree field 25 feet below.

This is a relatively new route that's seen little traffic, so expect some crispy-crunchy little foot jibs. Work up the left side of the concave face on increasingly steep, but not especially difficult climbing. At about 3/4 height the route hits a grey bowl: a series of funky moves crossing the bowl and gaining a grey streak take you to jugs and the anchors. Thin and sequential, this is a nice antidote to your typical Rifle jug-hauling and has kick-ass views of the Canyon.

Surf Boy has sustained, 5.11+ face climbing up the right side of the Hawaiian Two-Foot Wall with a sequential crux.

Yikes, a 13a slab climb! When you lower off the anchors, you're a full three feet out from the wall -- sick!

This is actually a very good route despite the thin, vertical nature of the climbing (the crux transpires on slightly overhanging rock). This is the right of the two long, bolted face climbs on the sunny wall just downcanyon from the Skull Cave and has an engaging, sustained 25 feet of climbing high on the wall in a wild position.

Scramble up to the ledge system above the scree field, up and left of the parking area. You can either belay on a lower, bigger ledge (no anchor) or scramble up higher and belay off the first bolt. Lots of 5.10-5.11 face climbing gains a good stance below the bulging crux panel. While there are lots of options through here, I found the best set of holds is actually slightly right of the bolt line, not out left by the remnants of someone's sucker chalk. Dial in this section, punch through on small, but positive holds, and savor the quality headwall climbing that leads to the anchors.

This is a good cold-day route, as many of the difficulties come in the form of making your feet stick in little dishes.

Link up of

Hawaiian Two-Foot?

into

Surf Boy

. Long sustained and enganging face climbing. One of the best 5.11s in the canyon.

14 QD. 70-meter rope required!!

Description

Protection

Routes in Hawaiian Wall