The hardest part is right at the beginning.  At first it felt like a 5.10, but considering it was the very first climb of the day it's likely a 5.9+. It gets easier afterwards, probably a 5.7 or 5.8.

I Wish I Had Some Feet

Pieces of Eight

Cave Route Center

Jane

Tarzan

Route 1.5

Route 1

Cindy's Chimney

Fool on the Hill

Chuckwalla Right

Car Camping with the Kids

Right Cave Route

Heron's Fissure

Pillars of Hercules (right var.)

Route 19

Left Cave Route

Sleeper

Porky's Bad Luck

Belly Up

Belly Flop

Fickle Fingers

Dream of White Gerbils

Upper Kor's Crack

Lower Kor's Crack

Grandstanding

Kor's Dog

Call of the Crane

Double Trouble

Ardeidae Arete

Desperate (Left)

Route 4

Chuckwalla

Grandstanding Right

Pillars of Hercules (left var.)

Shaky Flake

Gymnast

This is route #8 in the LAM on-line guide

  A big step up into a layback section (crux) over a small roof problem and to easier cracks above.

Starting in the back of the large cave, work your way up and out the mouth using a variety of chimney moves, full-body squeezes, fist and hand jams, and good ol' grunts. Feels a bit awkward and strenuous for the grade, but it's fun. After the mouth the grade eases significantly. *Caution: It is common practice to toprope this climb. Beware that a fall within the depths of the cave could result in a ground-fall as you swing outward.

Climb a crack, traverse left, then climb a corner.

Start as for Jane, then break right up steeper and more difficult crack/corner climbing.

Car Camping with Kids start (yellow), then the easier part of Route 1 (green), avoiding its heinous start (red).  Is only marginally harder than Car Camping.

Thin seam 5 feet left of Car Camping. Easier as you go up.

This is route #20 in the on-line guide.

  Start up a crack system, through some blocky stuff, and enter a nice stemming dihedral with stable stances; the flaring cracks running up the back provide great holds and protection opportunities.  An excellent beginner trad lead or TR for total greenhorns.

Defunct sport route. This climbs the arete just left of Pillars of Hercules. Very thin and difficult climbing, not particularly sustained, though. Hangerless/chopped bolts.

Just right of the wide crack/chimney of Chuckwalla, is a fun little face climb.  Start at the lieback flake just right of the Chuckwalla slot, or a little farther right (as for Belly Flop). It's contrived, so there isn't an exact rule for the start, but the thin face near the top is quite fun, which has a few thin moves between one- and two-finger pockets. 

  This is unnamed climb #22 in the online guides, but at least one Potrillo climber has referred to it as Chuckwalla Right which is more descriptive and better than another anonymous climb.   

  I didn't think it was as tough as .10c in White Rock should be (it's rated .10c in the guides).

This is route #2 in the LAM on-line guide.

  The first moves off the ground are usually the most perplexing for people, but can be well protected.  Then follow the nice hand/fist crack up the corner.  Lots of stances along the way.   Some who have TR'd this route argue that the 5.6 is sandbagged, so maybe it is a solid 5.6+.  But it is a truly excellent beginner trad lead once you feel comfortable with the opening moves.  Anyone got any FA info? 

This route begins with powerful moves up a series of finger cracks - some shallow, some finger-eaters. One can find an excellent knee-bar and subsequent no-hands-rest before making the final moves out the roof. After the roof, this route joins Cave Route Center and the grade eases significantly.

Heron's Fissure is the right leaning crack just to the right of the cave, that passes through the huecoed face.   Moves are fun stemming, and the crack is wide hands to fists and provides good pro the whole way.  The big huecos are neat, and not as positive as they appear from below. 

  Because the bottom 15' of this climb is very easy blocky scrambling, this climb feels shorter than most at Potrillo. 

  Original rating? 5.7      Current rating in guidebooks?   5.8+

This is route #18 in the on-line guide, which calls it "The most classic and popular route at Potrillo, with a wide variety of climbing techniques in a short distance."   The Pillars of Hercules route is easily identified by the two massive buttresses that mark the prow of the cliff.  The climb has two start variations; both starts lead to the base of a broad chimney betwixt the two mighty pillars.    This right start variation requires one first to mantle onto the right side of the large, flat-topped boulder/pillar that marks the base of the climb. The crux is moving off the right side of this boulder, getting to a stance below the twin fist cracks in the back of the broad chimney. The left twin crack seems to protect better.

The arete between Pillars of Hercules and Cindy's Chimney is a fun toprope problem, or a heady lead. 

  Climb the arete to a diagonal crack (#0 TCU) and an undercling move to an obvious horizontal ledge.  Last pro here is a red camalot size, or maybe very big gear (6" piece) behind the block to the left.  Pull crimpy moves on the arete (crux), don't fall, and keep going to a big ledge about 9' below the top.  A 1" crack on this ledge provides a final piece of pro before a thin face boulder problem to the topout.

This route ascends a tasty hand-crack (big hands) out the left side of the big cave. Begin by gaining a large bouldery protrusion and get into an excellent section of wide hands to surmount the roof. After the roof the grade eases significantly. Great protection abounds as you climb a left-trending crack above. It is possible to toprope the bottom section of this route from an anchor set at the terminus of Cave Route Center.

Continuous moderately difficult crack climbing.

This route is #32 in the on-line guide.

  Start inside a deep triangular alcove that narrows to a chimney.  Move out to the face on the right when the chimney narrows, and climb fairly easy blocky ground to the rim.     Not terribly exciting, and, despite the easy rating, this actually isn't a great climb for a total greenhorn/gym climber; there's something about the chimney that puts people off.....

This is route #25 in the on-line guide.

  Start in an easy broken crack system that is shared with Grandstanding (a 5.4 that goes to the right).  The crux is in the top half, surmounting the bulgy dihedral with a thin seam in back.

Belly Flop seeks out the obvious hand crack that is left of the finish for Belly Up. 

  Start 6' right of Chuckwalla (the obvious wide crack with the flake), or about  6' left of Belly Up and Grandstanding in a thin crack, which ends 15' up.  Next you'll need to run it out on a featured slab (easier than it initially looks; but heady for a marginal 5.9 leader) to gain the obvious vertical hand crack near the top.  This hand crack at the top is steep and fun and well-protected by large cams. 

  Leaders looking for a well-protected 5.8/5.9 might do well to begin as for Belly Up, then step left and finish with the hand crack finish of Belly Flop, which is better protected than the seam that is the regular finish for Belly Up. 

  I never did find a "belly flop" move.

The face route just left of Fool on the Hill. Climb an orange face past 4 hangerless bolts.

Start by ascending a thin finger crack with a small, hand-sized pod and a triangular block at the top; a blank face on the right keeps things interesting here. About 15 feet up you gain a ledge and then continue your way left up a nice dihedral split by a thin-hands to fingers to perfect-hands crack. Crux seems to be getting into the crack above as it leans out left and overhangs ever so slightly. Very fun route and a classic at Potrillo!

Start behind the juniper, and move up the slick thin finger crack. The crux is about 8 feet up, and can be protected with cams and an attentive belay. Half way up the cliff, you'll reach a big ledge. Continue straight up on Gymnast (5.8) to the top.  (Yes, it doesn't make sense that "Lower Kors" doesn't climb into "Upper Kors")Attention: this crack might eat your cams if you let them walk in. 2 are stuck in there, and have been for years.The original 5.9 rating is a bit of a sandbag, as with many "5.9"s Layton Kor put up in the western U.S. when there were no 5.10s. Clark's guide calls this 5.10d- which is an overestimate, in my opinion. The difficulty is very likely subjective to the size of your fingers (bigger is probably better) and your confidence in trusting your feet in the slick corner. It's also hard to rate because it's really just a boulder problem crux.

This is route #26 in the on-line guide.

  Start up a broken crack system that is shared with Belly Up (a 5.7 that continues up straight).  Traverse up and right to the top of a low pillar that gives access to a chimney behind another higher pillar to the right.  A set of jammed flakes marks the top of the chimney.  Once on top of the big pillar, up easy ground to the top.     Despite the easy rating, this actually isn't a great climb to TR with a total greenhorn/gym climber; there's something about the chimney that puts people off.....

A left-slanting crack system. Not really desperate at all. I don't know where the name came from.

Call of the Crane climbs the prow to the right of Cindy's Chimney and to the left of the offwidth crack Chuckwalla.   Start with moves along an intermittent crack/seam with decent ledges to a horizontal crack below a vertical/slightly overhanging face with no pro.  Place a cam or two here before committing to the headwall of the prow-- crux face climbing for 8-10 feet or so-- then you'll reach more low-angle terrain and a finger/thin hands crack providing welcome pro again.

Really hard roof problem with 2 chopped bolts. Really a TR boulder problem. Very height dependent.

This climb is the arete just right of the cave.  Start on easy blocks shared with the crack climb to the right (Heron's Fissure.) Instead of staying in the crack, move left to the arete, make one steep move to a reach a giant hueco to the left.   A single piece of pro is probably available right before the hard part of the climb starts as you start up the arete, then likely nothing else. 

Ardeidae is a family of heron's and other birds, thus the name implies that the route is next to Heron's Fissures.

This is the first listed variant of route #12 in the online guide.

  Start up a broken crack system to a bulging block.  Go around the right side, then aim left to gain a stance below a pair of converging cracks.  Follow the flaring crack/seam on the right to the top. 

  Desperate (Left) is indicated as an option in the online guide, and by Beverly (2006:208) and Jackson (2006:189-190).     It's not clear from the guide books if the hand crack immediately to the left (Kor's Dog) is on or off.  The online guide describes Desperate (Left) as following the "left-trending crack system to the top" (italics added), so I'd argue that both cracks are on-route, since they're only ~14 inches apart at the top.

Difficult/steep crack climbing leads to a 5.6 finish.

This is route #22 in the on-line guide.  As noted therein, a chuckwalla is a "large lizard with the interesting defence mechanism of crawling into a crack and inflating itself."   Start under the large, thrillingly wedged, guillotine-shaped chockstone and work up into the chimney.   When in doubt of where to go, just recall the route's namesake and stuff your self in there.  When the chimney narrows to the point where your head starts getting wedged, move out of the fissure onto the face to the right and follow the dihedral to the top.

I'll post up a variation as there aren't many 5.6s around. Aside from the last 15', its mostly unique from the normal Grandstanding, and avoids that climbs wide crack crux.  My kid found this variation easier.Start just left of the cave, climb onto the pillar feature from the right side.  A crack with nearby face holds leads to the big ledge at 2/3 height, joining the easy finish of the normal Grandstanding.  I built an anchor off slung blocks.If you're putting a toprope up, you might as well climb both variations.  There's also a harder start beginning left of the pillar (maybe 5.8).

This is route #18 in the on-line guide.

  The Pillars of Hercules route is easily identified by the two massive buttresses that mark the prow of the cliff.  The climb has two start variations; both starts lead to the base of a broad chimney betwixt the two mighty pillars.     This left start variation requires one first to mantle onto the left side of the large, flat-topped boulder/pillar that marks the base of the climb.  The crux is moving left off this boulder and getting to the stance below the twin fist cracks in the back of the broad chimney.  The left twin crack seems to protect better.  This is a great beginner trad lead, once you feel comfortable with the low crux.   

Shaky Flake goes up the low angled slab just to the left of Fickle Fingers.  Start just a few feet to the left of Fickle Fingers, with a tough move off the ground and no protection for 2/3 of the climb, climbing up the slab with thin edges and delicate flakes.  You might find tiny nut placements behind a flake, but don't count on it.  At the top of the slab, you can get good pro, but the difficulty doesn't exceed 5.7 from here to the top. 

  If this line is set as a toprope, the easiest way up is to climb Fickle Fingers for the lower 1/2, and traverse left to the top of Shaky Flake- this is probably 5.8 or 5.9, certainly easier than either of the two climbs independently.

Gymnast shares its beginning with Upper Kor's Crack making its way up a thin finger crack for approximately 15 feet to a large ledge. Once atop the ledge make your way right (left continues up Upper Kors Crack) where you intersect with the twin-cracks second half of Lower Kors Crack. It is easier to use a combination of these upper cracks; if you have bigger hands, the left will likely suit you well whereas smaller hands may be more suited for the right crack.

Potrillo Cliffs is the primo beginner toproping/trad area in White Rock, and was the first major basalt cliff "discovered" for climbing in White Rock. The cliff has two faces: one facing south, and one facing west, so you can find sun or shade as you like.

 It's a great place for the beginning trad leader, as the cliff is short, hosts many 5.6-5.9 routes, and the pro is great. The cliff is a little shorter than most at White Rock (45'), but for the more experienced there are a few harder climbs.

 Some climbs may have bolted anchors, but be prepared to build anchors by tying off the trees or with trad gear (which is recommended).

 A detailed guide is found here, with photos showing the routes.

lamountaineers.org/pdf/Potr…

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Potrillo Cliffs