This is a fairly serious headpoint route.  If slash grades were  provided for seriousness, I would give it an R/X.  This is due to the questionable nature of the gear below the first crux and the low angle terrain in the crux's fall zone.  If the protection holds, the fall will be long but most likely safe.  If not, you will slam into the slabby arete below and come very close to hitting the ground.  In either scenario, it's easy to imagine at least a sprained ankle but definitely no ground falls or death potential.

The first 20 feet of this route is well protected, moderately difficult (10), low angle corner climbing that leads to a large jug at the top of the slab.  Beyond this height, the angle of the wall steepens and the nature of the route dramatically changes.  When you have conjured your psyche, and placed your gear (small TCU, sliding nut, and a suspect piton), climb into the shuffled offsets and cast into the business of slapping and hugging your way up an unruly, 3 foot wide, vertical column to an good undercling 12 feet above your last piece.  If you make it here, you are rewarded with a very solid fixed nut.  At this point, the difficulty and danger eases, but the fight isn't over because blind placements, awkward gear, and pumpy, complicated 5.12 offset climbing still guards the chains.

Must'a Been High

Freak Line

Aeronaut

N.I.C

Arete Bandit

Windy

Brevitata

Surf's Up

Aerohead

Leisure Time Arete

Kangaroo Tail

The Evictor

Scenic Route

Bachar Yer Aryan

Aerial Book

Climb Of The Century

Ventura Highway

Kaisho

Emerald City

Bat's Ass Dihedral

Aerospace

Faulty Logic

Aerial Bondage

The Final Eviction (aka Freeline)

Cuban Bluegrass

Fraid Line

Wendego

Over and Out

Over the Hill

Trident

Aero-Book

Athletic Supporter

This is a short, overhanging, and leaning finger crack just to the right of the start of

Trident

. The most reasonable way to start seems to be on good holds near the start of

Trident

, and then traverse over. There's good gear available in a horizontal placement partway through the traverse. Although the crack is shallow, there are a few good fingerlocks and other handy features along the way. It eventually opens up to thin hands near the anchor.

(The route name and first ascentionists were obtained from Steve Levin's excellent guidebook to the canyon.)

I am not sure if I am the first to do this route, as it seems like an obvious link-up, but there is no information in the latest book, Mountain Project, and all the old Eldo trad dads I've asked around; so I am posting it here!

This sweet link-up takes the easy, scary climbing for both

The Evictor

and

Fraid Line

and combines them, essentially the inverse of

Freeline

!

Start as for

The Evictor

, then when your feet are at the overlap and you are in the first fingerlock where the hard climbing starts, traverse to the left (opposite of the

Freeline

traverse). When you arrive at the

Fraid Line

rest jug, place as much gear as rope drag will allow, and punch it to the top - finishing on

Fraid Line

anchors.

Aeronaut is naut really its own route, but is a fantastic continuation to Aerospace (hence the 3 stars).

From the bolted anchor atop Aerospace, head left across some loose, rotten rock to a roof.  A few stoppers can be had at this roof, and there is a bolt just over it.  Pull the roof to a large, positive shelf, and then do a committing mantle onto this shelf.  From here, slab climb and work the arete past a few more bulges (and bolts) to the top.

Shameless beta follows:

Spend a long time like I did trying to figure out how the roof could possibly be 11b (the big hold looks so close from the belay but it's agonizingly out of reach), or, instead, work your left foot into an unlikely jam in a slot under the roof, reach up with your left hand to an intermediate crimp a foot below the big hold, and go from there.

Wonderful finish to a fantastic route!

This very nice, easy route is near the far left edge of Rincon, just right of an easy 3rd class descent gully.  Climb an easy dihedral past a tree to a big ledge.  Great gear, great rock, and great climbing make this a great easy pitch-if only it were longer.

Arete Bandit is a three star pitch when linked with the 1st pitch of

Rincon

or

Center Route

.  The hanging belay at the top of

Center Route

is uncomfortable, and you risk falling on your belayer at the crux.

P1: (70 feet) Climb either

Center Route

(5.11a) or the Concentric variation to

Rincon

(5.10c).

P2: (80 feet) Follow the thin crack about 2 ft left of the RF dihedral on

Center Route's

2nd pitch.  You will pass a pin and a old bolt.  Near the top and after the bolt, run it out about 12-15 feet on 5.8 to a two bolt anchor with slings.  It is very easy to step right on

Center Route

for gear and rests in a number of locations.  If you stay with the thin crack, it is probably closer to hard 5.10.

Continue up

Center Route

or rap twice to the ground.

Windy is the obscure classic just right, around the corner from the Aerospace arete. This is a very unique route for Eldo for its second pitch chimney, but full on Eldo weirdness on the crux first pitch...Teeter up a steep slab as shown in the new book topo (hairy 5.9) or walk from the left above. Surmount a leaning tower of choss and unload some good gear. Do the super commiting move above and tiptoe up to a belay under the chimney. Ascend the well protected chimney and turn the awesome roof up into a dihedral...Belay or continue up and right of the roof to a ledge, place  a small wire or two and do some cool moves up toward the next ledge...The best belay is out left on the arete (Aerospace). My choice for the best final pitch is Aeronaut (11a), up the arete. Walk off...

What a great finish to

Rincon

!  Take

Rincon

(5.11a) to

Bat's Ass Dihedral

(5.11a) to Bevitata (5.11a). Enough hard dihedral for you?

This climb is a definite 2* and protects well enough and has good rests to be a great on-sight attempt for people just at this grade, provided their gear-placing skills are descent. The crux is burley, but it's all there and is not sustained/mental. It is also under-climbed, so don't expect a line for it.

To get to Brevitata, climb Rincon, then climb

Bat's Ass Dihedral

,

Kangaroo Tail

,

Cuban Bluegrass

, or

Ventura Highway

to reach the next ledge up. As an option, you may also walk West from the top of P3 of

Rincon

, then scramble up to approach the base of this right-facing, ever-steepening dihedral, the dark pin is difficult to see from below. The rock on the climb itself is as good as it gets and STICKY. The climb overall starts as a low-angle, right-facing open book corner. In a parabolic curve, the angle of the corner goes from perhaps a 75 degree slab to a 15 or 20 degree overhang. The crux being at the steepest part of the overhang, where a fixed pin gives mental assistance and confidence to the leader.Scramble to the bottom of the corner and set a good belay off of some hand-sized cams, then climb up on stoppers and small cams if desired, to where the corner is vertical- set some tiny nuts and climb up to an under-cling and clip the pin. Back up the pin later by putting the 1.5" TCU in the under-cling in the corner just before you leave it for the crux. Do the gut-buster crux off of some small feet (smears) and a weird finger-lock to reach up and left to a great under-cling on the steep face to the left... now do the gut-buster crux on stems or smears for feet to hit the thank-god hold and easier ground and gear. Height should not be a factor, as all of the wall offers dimples/pimples for feet... none of them good enough to compromise ideal body position for. You can belay from above on a large, solid tree.

To descend, scramble down just to the West and intersect the trail as from '

Over The Hill

' after a little loose rock. Alternatively, one could add an anchor of webbing rings up here and save a little excitement. Remember that there are hordes of climbers below, and try not to knock off rocks.

Since the starting edges are about ten feet off the ground, most people have to stick clip the first piton, and then hoist up to the establishing holds to begin this route. Once on the wall, you immediately encounter a series of small crimps that lead you into the corner (V5/6). From here, clip another piton (use a runner), and traverse left along an obvious flake to a bolt. Gather your strength and then commit to the very shouldery repoint crux (V6/7). From here, work your way up the parallel, vertical, offset features (11-) placing safe, small gear (TCUs and nuts) about every 10 feet.

Although this climb looks intimidating, it is not a headpoint route. In terms of permanent protection, safety, and movement, it is nearer to sport climbing than trad climbing. With that said, this route still requires solid gear placement skills and deserves a lot of respect.

Aerohead is a 40 foot variation to the end of

Aerospace

.  Basically, instead of continuing up the final arete to the anchors, step left onto the face and climb past two bolts.

While the climbing here is more consistant in difficulty with the rest of

Aerospace

(5.11), the arete (low 5.10) provides incredible position and may be more consistant in character.  In my opinion, the arete is better, hands down.

Aerohead may easily be toproped from the anchor, and, if the leader chooses to stick with the

Aerospace

arete he can still leave the option open to his second by running out the easier climbing.

This route climbs the arete just left of the 5.8 dihedral finish to the last pitch of Over the Hill/Emerald City/Over and Out.  In the picture of Rincon Wall on this website, this is the last arete on the left, visible just to the left of the 5.9 finger crack/5.8 dihedral finshes to Over the Hill, etc.

Begin by climbing a steep wall (5.10+) right of the arete heading for a stance on the arete proper.  From that stance climb up the arete (crux) to easier terrain and the top (tree belay).

At this time, since bolts are most likely required to protect the climbing, the route is a top rope.

This seldom climbed route has a 1-star start with a 3-star finish.  Two stars all in all, I suppose.

This climb starts on the upper ledge of Rincon, above the crag's namesake climb. It takes the large, left-facing dihedral at the right side of the massive inset, just right of the climb Bat's Ass Dihedral.

Up and left of the finish of Rincon one can find a huge rockhouse. The left side has a right-facing corner with a huge, wedged flake (Bat's Ass Dihedral) and the right side has a left-facing corner with a tree at the base (Kangaroo Tail).  Kangaroo Tail is just a few feet left of Cuban Bluegrass, and Ventura Highway is just to the right of Cuban Bluegrass.

Set a belay at the base of the smaller pine near the base of the corner so that if you take a tumble you can't drag you and your partner off the ledge for a 250' ride to the base of the wall. Get in to the corner and make a few odd moves to clasp a 12" square chock, set well into the small inset, maybe 8' up the route. Perhaps you can fiddle in a small ballnut or RP from a stance on this, but I thought it was bad gear. One move more will get you to a so-so baby Alien, then another to a stopper.  Until you are pretty high up, a ground fall seems possible from crux moves (5.9+)  Once past this initial section, the rock is clean and solid and the gear is good. Sink a few good cams (hand-sized) in the crack in the corner and move up to near the roof. Use a long sling on the final gear here to avoid drag- you will go pretty far right in a moment (though it's not obvious now). Just before the roof stem out right around the arete and up (2nd crux, 5.9) to a good under-cling on a solid flake. Set gear with a long runner and go up and slightly right up and over the top (3rd crux, 5.9).  Belay from a tree back and left, not the skinny thing in front of you.

Walk off to the far left, passing the 'Over the Hill' walk-off on the way down.  Before passing Over The Hill, you will see an attractive, right-facing corner going up one more tier. This is a good route called Brevitata (11c). It's fun & has a fixed pin at the crux, and is probably over-graded.

Use 'Improve This Page' to add a description!

To find this route hike up past the Rincon Wall towards Cadillac Crag and head right and uphill about 500 yards past the Over The Hill dihedral area. Follow a loose gully up towards the summit of Rincon, if you stay left of the gully it is not so loose. Eventually you will come to a ledge system that cuts right, follow this to the base of the route which is topped by a strange Dr. Seuss-type tree which bends to the right.

Rossiter has drawn a great topo of the route and the tree that sits atop it in his Falcon Guide to Eldo, it is extremely helpful in locating the route which can be tricky to find.

Start with a right leaning crack that leads up to a small bush (10.a) and work past the bush (dirty and loose). Above the bush follow the obvious thin crack and shallow corner (10.c) to the top and belay.

To descend, rappel off a tree with slings near the top of the route.

Bolt protected thin slabbing featuring micro-crimping.  This pitch is essentially a connector between pitch three of Over the Hill and Aeronaut.  A more in character way to get to the start would be via Aerial Book.

Start as for Over The Hill P3.  Cut right to reach a pin about 15' up.  From the pin follow bolts which traverse right to the Aeronaut arete.  The crux is after the fourth bolt, at a section of rock that appears completely devoid of handholds until you launch into it.  Clipping the post crux bolt is pretty tough -- if you've got the stomach for it, it's probably easier to go another move past the intended clip hold before clipping.  After this clip, the arete is reached, at which point footholds reappear and you can catch your breath.  The next bolt is on the right side of the arete.  Clip it and climb up a move until you can see a bolt to the left of the arete, at the same height as, and two feet to the side of, the bolt you just clipped.  Move your runner to the left bolt to allow the rope to run better, then continue up the arete to the walkoff ledge, with most moves being easier than they first appear.

This pitch felt like sustained 5.10 except for the crux which felt like hard 11, especially if you're not dialed into thin this style of climbing.  The scarce, binary nature of the holds on this pitch might make it easier for those with long reaches.

On Rincon wall, this system is just to the right of

Over The Hill

and in a few ways is like it's harder twin. Like

Over the Hill

, this route shoots up a nice dihedral before splitting off right to a little splitter crack. There are some differences though - the crux isn't a few moves between good fixed pins.

On Rincon wall there are several dihedrals on the left hand side. Aerial Book is the most obvious of these.

Over The Hill

is just to the left, and on the right the bolted arete,

Aerospace

is obvious. It is the large dihedral prominent on the left hand side of the attached photo.

Climb a short pitch, stemming and smearing up the dihedral (10d). The holds and gear on this pitch are both thin, but the climbing is more insecure than it is actually hard. The crux is probably about halfway up, at a strange sidepull on the right side of the corner. After about 60 feet, a fixed pin belay is convenient. The belay is visible from the ground.

From the belay, move up and right past a few huecos and onto an obvious, diagonal crack and seam (5.7?) past a tiny tree on the face (visible in photo), to reach a vertical splitter just up and right of the tree. The vertical splitter is supposedly the 11a crux pitch, but it is well-protected and not sustained. I believe crux pro was a pink tricam, but a small TCU or a nut would work, too. After the crux, the route climbs up and left to a fixed rap on a large pine tree.

This route can be TR'd from the large pine with a 70m rope if a directional was placed in the top of the crux fingercrack. A 60m will leave you with perhaps 15' of 5.4 climbing to get on belay. This tree can also be reached by scrambling to the right of the top of the second pitch of

Over The Hill

,

Emerald City

,

Over and Out

, etc....

Judging by the amount of chalk on the holds, this must be a popular route.  The line is stellar.  One of the best pitches of the grade, but probably not led as often as one might think...Modern gear has made an amazing impact!  Before micro cams this was a super serious lead.  Now its still a bit heads up, but the competent climber with Aliens or TCU's should be OK.

The start of the route is a play on angular irregularities.  Two ways to start: Power straight up the pillar (reachy), or stem the left side and tiptoe out right(balancy).  Small cams protect between the two fixed pieces (both dubious).  Crank past that pin and now climb the cool dihedral with stems and liebacks and better pro. Lower off 78'.

This route goes up on the lower half of the upper tier of Rincon Wall. [The line] is a perhaps 10M left of P4 of Rincon, and is 10m right of the big "rockhouse" that is formed between Bat's Ass Dihedral and Kangaroo Tail.I have assigned the route 2*'s which it is borderline for- but it would be a solid 2* route if cleaned up a little more.Approach by climbing the first 3 pitches of Rincon to the top belay, then scamble up and onto a ledge, [crossing] a massive downed tree carcass.  There is a grey/black left facing dihedral that switches to right-facing midway up. The bottom half is lichenous in spots, but the climbing is mellow (5.6?) and protects well on stoppers. The face on the right side of the dihedral is clean and has good edges. Climb upward to a 2" cam placemnet as you switch to the right-facing corner (AKA "flip-flop dihedral). This is on cleaner rock and is quite solid, with easy moves. Climb upward for perhaps 20 feet of 5.7-5.8 to a string of very small nut placements. If climbing thin 5.10 above a string of RP's bug you, you should not be here. Execute a thin crux, reminiscent of "Over The Hill" and finish in larger holds and a 2-3" crack above. Step left to the tree and anchor above Cuban Bluegrass and Kangaroo Tail. This anchor needs backup, as it is 3 bleached webbings and a rusty quicklink.  To [descend], back up the anchor and rap to the top of P3 of Rincon, going W or E from there to scramble off, or rap the route.  Better yet, walk up and West to the Base of Bevitata and do that route.

This is the left-most route on Rincon's main wall, an arete about 15' left of N.I.C. (a 5.5 dihedral with a tree in it and above it).

This climb ascends the low angle arete to a good ledge for 40 to 50'.  [To descend], walk-off to a short gully and back to the base.  This route may as well TR'd or just soloed if lead.  The moves are easy enough and there's no real gear anyway.  5.7 leaders would not like it.

I'd say more, but there's not much to be said for this route.  There's nothing good or bad about it, save it's length.

Get ready for some stemming! This route is on the left-facing dihedral area of Rincon (uphill, and around the corner from the right-facing dihedral area). It follows a nice dihedral for about 90 feet. The crux(es) are stemming moves with not much for hands. At the top, you can walk off, or finish with the last pitch of

Over the Hill

(recommended), which is a beautiful finger crack that goes right through a pink streak on the wall. The summit is also a walk off to the left.

This route is on the left side of the upper tier of Rincon Wall, and is a great finish after

Rincon

, but it is slightly harder.

The route is reached by walking to the top or completing one of the lower routes.  It's only 1 pitch, but it is a great pitch.  Be careful to move right below the flake and then back left under the roof, or prepare for a serious "Bat's Ass Kicking."  Done direct the route felt like 5.12, and I hung on it several times before my partner pointed out my error (going direct).

Rossiter gives this route an S rating and I disagree. The bolts are far by Sport Park standards, but the climbing isn't dangerous. Rossiter grades the route as 11b, but this pitch is considerably harder than either

Aerohead

or

Aeronaut

which are both graded 11b as well.

Start in the dihedral just to the right of

Over the Hill

.

P1. Climb up the corner about 20' and move right below a flake. Make a tricky move around the corner and clip the first bolt. Continue up the arete, the crux is near the third bolt. After the fourth bolt you can either swing back to the face or (as I did) traverse right across one flake into a large, left-facing flake. Pull over this flake and then move back left around the arete. Traverse left to a hand crack, then traverse up and right. Belay below the roof.

P2. We continued on

Aerohead

, but there is a second pitch. Pitch 1 and 2 may be combined for one long lead.

This route takes the arete in between Emerald City and Over and Out, on the left side of the Rincon wall. In my opinion, it was not that great and is sort of contrived, but some people might think otherwise. The nice thing about this route is that it seems seldom climbed, so the most interesting part was finding the nice, key edges and holds without chalk already on them.

Start at the base of Emerald City dihedral and begin by climbing easy flakes right onto the arete. Pass two bolts that are placed at the crux and then climb up to a shallow dihedral, where more pro can be placed. Finish the top of the arete and climb the last short dihedral on the first pitch of Emerald City to the very rotten belay ledge shared by all the routes in the area. Finish on the last pitch of Over the Hill (great 5.9 finger crack), or the dihedral right above the belay (not so great 5.8). I would only really recommend this route if you haven't done all the other routes in the area, and are bored.

Aerial Bondage takes the arete between Over the Hill and Aerial Book.  I gave it s++ because you probably wouldn't die from a fall at one of the two *bad* places, but you wouldn't walk away either.

Start at Aerial Book and climb up that dihedral, then step left with committing (10d) moves up to the first bolt, or, stick clip it like me.  Getting past this bolt is the 11c crux.

Continue up the arete to a flake which you can load up with a bunch of jingus gear (a blue alien seemed like the best piece to me), then stretch to the second bolt (9+).  Do not blow this clip.  11a moves past the second bolt lead to easier ground.  Finish with the upper half of Over the Hill.

Only worth a star compared to the excellent, and better protected, climbs in the vicinity.

Eds.

This original post was deleted by the submitter. See info below.

Per

Joe Collins

: Freeline does the boulder problem start of

Surf's Up

, continues up the seam of

Fraid

line, then traverses right at the old bolt into the crux finish of

The Evictor

. I have heard the grade reported as 13a or 13b.

Per

Steve Levin

: "Freeline" is the complete first pitch of the original aid route done here by Ron Olevsky in the early 1970s (A3 crux right off the ground back then). It has been reported as both the "Olevsky Route" and "Aid Line".

The first reported free ascent of pitch one was by Justen Sjong in early 2000 (pitch two was freed by Chris Reveley in the 1970s). The crux is still the first 15 feet, then a long 5.12 section to the bolt, then right into the crux of what is now

The Evictor

.

This is an obscure, but elegant and high-value route up on the upper tier of Rincon, in the same alcove as Bat's Ass Crack, etc. You can either climb a route to get here, or scramble in on the descent ledges leading from the north.

Cuban Bluegrass is on the right (south) side of the alcove, in a right-facing corner with an incipient seam, just around the corner and right Kangaroo (?) Crack. A mossy, easier-looking left-facing corner is just right again, at the very right margin of the alcove.

Boulder up to a fingerlock and place some smallish TCUs. Stretch up and place RPs in the seam, then puzzle through bouldery, sustained, tenuous moves to reach a jug break. 5.10+ climbing up the corner above leads to sling anchors on a tree.

This route could very well merit an S/VS or VS rating -- if the RPs blow -- or if you fall a bit higher than you really should going to the horizontal. While the landing is pretty good, it would still be a 15 to 20-foot grounder.

This is another great route on a wall already stacked with classics.  While none of its cruxes are super hard, the pump and fear factor on this route are both rather sizeable.  Numerous cruxes culminate with an awkward 12- reach move with a #2 RP below one's feet.  A bit of a spicy meatball....

This classic and beautiful Rincon Wall route is one of the most memorable climbs in Eldorado.  Right of

Climb of the Century

is a smooth, chalk-stained, hanging slab with overhangs both above and below.  It gradually tapers up to a sharp arete and a steep dihedral.  Begin in a short corner and then creep out right onto the face, past all the chalk (crux), using sharp flakes and complex footwork.  Edge up the face, eventually touching the arete and then liebacking up the corner (good med. cam).  Moving past the overhanging section is difficult (.11c), followed by an .11a move (wires) in the dihedral before the anchor.  Most climbers usually lower off at this point, but a nice second pitch (.10d) moves out right and then up a crack and bulge to another anchor.  Rap here (150') or climb up to the walk-off ledge (.8).

The fixed pins on Wendego are quite old and are probably not capable of holding a lot of weight.  Some of the pins can be backed up with RPs or mini cams, but these aren't bombproof either.  Disputes have arisen about placing bolts on Wendego (no!), but it would be better to replace the old pins with new ones.  It would be a good way to find out just how bad the old ones are and how they've aged over the past 25+ years.  The Park might approve gear-for-gear applications (no FHRC required).  If these pins are as bad as people think, then there should be very little scarring when they are removed, and new and better pins could take their place.  Maybe the slots left from the old pins would leave bomber cam placements?!

Even as is, Wendego is superb.  With some careful upgrading more climbers might be willing to get on it.  The elaborate moves, vintage gear, and overall challenge add up to an exemplary Eldorado experience.

This starts just between

Over the Hill

and

Emerald City

...up dihedral for a stem fest to a fun traverse left (at the end of the dihedral, below a roof) and up the steep face to a cool pair of cracks in a steep 25' wall to a large belay ledge (be careful of loose rocks)

now with a bolted anchor

. Continue on with a somewhat tricky 2nd pitch in the obvious dihedral; or with the 2nd pitch finger crack of

Over the Hill

(5.9); or rap 100' from the bolted anchor (formerly from a tree), and downclimb a little to the ground (60 meter rope).

Over the Hill is an all-time classic with exquisite, technical stemming followed by a perfect finger crack. This climbs rewards good balance and precise footwork. Hike to the Rincon Wall, and head west (uphill) to the "left-facing dihedral area". The climb is identified as a long, acute, thin dihedral with a tree near the top and another just above the top. There is a semi-detached flake about twenty feet up which marks the start of the difficulties.

P1. Climb the dihedral, with a full-body 5.10 stemming down low, and another awkward crux exiting the dihedral. There is an optional belay at the first tree, but the only reason to stop there is if the leader really wants the belayer nearby for moral support at the top crux. There are pins at both cruxes, and other micro-gear is available.

P2. From the shelf above the dihedral, move left (moving the belay, if desired), and find a thin 5.9 crack up a beautiful steep slab. This is as good as any 5.9 pitch I've done.

Belay on top, and descend down ledges and gullies to the west. *Be very careful of loose rock, especially getting out of the belay area atop the climb.* This is your typical Eldo rotten ledge, and anything you knock off will go directly down on the typically busy belay areas below.

This "lonely" route has three high quality pitches, all with steep crack cruxes.  Receiving little to no traffic, it is relatively adventurous, with some lose rock, lichen, bushes and no chalk to guide the way.

Start on the right side of the 15' wide ledge at the base of the right side of the Windy pillar.

P1. (5.10-, 100').  Ascend a shallow, "funky", left-facing corner past raspberry bushes to a handcrack through a roof; the handcrack is plainly visible from the ground.  We entered the corner by traversing right 5' from the right side of the above-mentioned ledge.  Belay above the roof, in a "gully" 30 to 40 feet below an ominous looking hanging block.

P2 (5.10, 120')  The book version of this route continues up the gully and under the hanging block.  The variation we did avoids passage under the block, adds some difficulty and quality and is described here.  The right side of the belay gully is a v-slot capped by a steep wall with a hand size crack system in it. Climb this crack system via jamming and laybacking and move back left into the regular route, passing a large tree on its left, above the hanging block.  Continue upwards easily until immediately below The Trident, an overhanging block split by three cracks which resembles Neptune's handtool.  When viewed from the middle of the talus on the approach to Rincon, The Trident is a quite prominent.

P3 (5.?, 30') Climb one of the cracks.  The left one, looks the easiest, the right one seems to belong to the route "Variation V" while the center crack was to us the most compelling.  The center crack was somewhat reminiscent of Art's Spar, Vertigo or Whiplash and though a one-move-wonder, was the crux of the route and felt to me like 11a.  (Note: I'm more comfortable on cracks than roofs and found P3 much harder than P1 or P2; my partner, with opposite strengths, found P2 and P3 about the same.)

This is an amazing combination of

Aerospace

into the 5.11 finger crack of

Aerial Book

.

Climb the bottom of

Aerospace

up past its 4th bolt (11b). After the 4th bolt make an exciting runout and reach left to a good edge. Once you grab the edge, downclimb a few feet to the left and you will be at the little tree that sits at the beginning of the

Aerial Book

finger crack. (The normal

Aerospace

route involves grabbing the good edge then would continue climbing up and right.)

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Rincon - L of Center Route