This is a pretty decent route with the best pitches being the 1st and 3rd. As recomended in "red rock canyon: a climbing guide", we only did the first seven pitches. Three more pitches continue up, but are apparently dirty and bushy. After the 3rd pitch, the rock quality diminishes greatly. However, those 3 pitches are well worth the effort.   

  P1: 5.11a Climb a thin, flaring finger crack on varnished rock to a series of R-facing flakes and pillars. Continue the crack up on questionable rock to reach a comfortable alcove with a 2-bolt anchor. 140 ft. 

  P2: 5.7 Stem and chimney up a right-facing corner to a low angle slab. Stop at anchors. 100 ft. 

  P3: 5.11b Meander up and left to a thin crack on varnished rock. The crack you are looking for is formed by two very shallow corners that face each other about 2 ft apart. Climb up these corners, reaching a wide, R-facing flake system. Belay at anchors before it ends. 130 ft. 

  P4: 5.8R Step back left to the wide crack, step left again when it ends and continue up the well featured face on questionable holds. Pro is good when available. A 4 friend fits well in a pocket midway up. 120 ft. 

  P5: 5.10c Continue up, past a few bushy ledges, eventually gaining a R-facing, rotten corner. Follow this corner until it begins to widen, and belay at bolts L of the crack. 110 ft.  

  P6: 5.11d Take on the roof above you by following the crack as it widens to a chimney, then back down to 4-5". Milk a good rest before taking on the roof, which is 1.5" for a few feet, then widens to hands. Finally, pull around the roof and find the good stance before clipping the anchors. 50 ft.  

  P7: 5.9 Keep climbing up the corner to a ledge, then traverse right to a L-facing corner and up to another ledge. 120 ft.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Snake Buttress

Dry Rub

Thyme Alone

Idiocracy

Sugar

Fist or Flips

Ginger Cracks

Spice

Cayenne Corners

Waterstreak Chimney

Unimpeachable Groping

Ginger Crack Variation Finish (Der Guberbaum)

All You Can Eat

Power Failure

Jack's Lament

Cumin Trafficking

Grab 'Em

Blade Runner (aka The Ginger Arête)

This clean-cut beauty is a great, pure splitter. Along with others like it, it is very unique to Red Rock. The only thing it lacks, from my knowledge, is a good anchor. It is definitely worth throwing a couple extra cams in the pack if you're going to be in the area.  

  From the right side of the ledge, climb a cool, lower angle thin hands crack past a bush (or the chimney to the left). Once at the dead vertical (perhaps slightly overhanging) headwall, some broken up handcracks lead to the base of the main course where a #3 will fit. For some it'll turn out to be pretty solid fists. For others, something a little more awkward! The crack and face are spectacularly clean. Eventually, the rock and crack become more broken up again and the rock quality gets, well, a little worse.

If you continue uphill to the left (south) from the base of Ginger Cracks, you will reach a vague buttress going straight up the middle of the east face of the east peak of Rainbow Mountain.  Climb the buttress and the gully above.  To say more might spoil the adventure... 

  If you are interested in more of the flavor, there is some good history in Red Rock Odyssey

Except for the bushes on the 2nd pitch, this route is good and very straightforward. Cracks, chimneys, good protection, and short, safe cruxes on good rock are what you'll find bottom to top.P0. 90m 5.8. Climb Waterstreak Chimney. Walk to the back right of the bowl.  Identify the direct line leading from the left of the orange face of Thyme Alone to the base.P1. 65m. 5.7 Climb the cracks through the trees to a comfy belay at the base of some rock stairs.P2. 25m. 10a. The direct line through the bulge may be climbable, but unknown difficulty and protection sent us right, to the ledge, manteling through thick trees, to another overhang above.  Up and left through the overhang (10a, well protected, fun) to a comfortable stance on the left, a bit below the chimney. P3. 40m. 5.9+. This pitch is great.  Climb a world class flared chimney to quality handcrack. Belay in a comfortable large chimney. P4. 55m. 5.9+.  Climb the soft rock and chimney to the top, exit right (tricky), and repeat.  Chimney up to that roof, exit right (trickier) and climb the fun triangle chimney, to yet another chimney belay.  P5. 60m. 10+. At the mouth of the chimney is a set of cracks on either side of the wall.  Work these until taking the climbers right option toward the prettiest rock on the route. Climb the smooth crack until reaching the offwidth opening to the alcove.  The route crux lies above this, so either belay here, or  double check you still have some necessary cams (.3, .5, 2, 3, 1 large) and fire the wide stem to boulder problem.  Belay on the massive ledge above. P6. 30m. 5.9. Climb the pretty stem box, and follow the protectable crack slightly right to the next belay ledge.P7. 60m. 10a. The big crack on the left wall starts with a single burly move in a 6" crack through a roof. After that, cruiser 5.8 or easier to the top, passing 2 small cave features.  Belay in a notch at the top of the wall. Follow a heavily cairned hikers trail down, (go skiers right just after hitting the cairns) which eventually exit the bowl below Rainbow Wall. 

A line that starts somewhere obvious, and ends somewhere surprising.P0: 5.8 (90m) Climb Waterstreak Chimney to the bowl.  Walk to the back right corner of the bowl.P1: 5.7 (70m) Climb the the high quality corner crack to a nice ledge. Super fun.P2: C2 (35m) Aid up the splitter corner until the crack opens up wider than a #6.  At this point make a tricky traverse left across the face.  Aid around the corner, making a long reach to another solid crack, and aid up that (backclean!!!!), past a blocky bit, to belay below the incredible corner.  (The start could surely be freed around 10-, the face likely could have been freed as well.)P3: C2+ (30m)  Aid the spectacular leaning crack.  Small gear to a 3" pod, and then lots of tiny brass, ball nuts, and little cams. Great rock and a clean air below make this a truly enjoyable pitch.  Exiting the corner to gain the chimney belay is exciting (see comments). I have no idea what aid grades mean.Everything after this is overlapping terrain with Dry Rub, but if you are trying to do the minimum amount of free climbing....P4: 5.7 C1 (45m) Chimney up and around the roof ( C1 or 5.9+)  Climb the immaculate triangular chimney, through a squeeze, to another chimney belay stance.P5: 5.8/C1 (60m) Chimney up.  Eventually you'll reach trees at the mouth of a massive cleft, around 25m.  Spy a crack in perfect stone on the right wall, and take it. Battle through the remains of a small tree to get inside the slot.  Aid the steep C1 crack above to gain a great  ledge.  P6: 5.5 C1  (35m) Climb the pretty stem box (So mad I didn't get a photo) then easy free climbing up varnished jugs reminiscent of Armatron to another ledge covered in large oak trees.P7: 5.7 C1 (60m) Climb the wide crack on the left. Aid the first move.  35m up is a cave with trees (optional belay).  Climb through the Tunnel-Vision-esque hole in the back, and head up to the next cave, which can not be tunneled through.  Place a cam high and make the exciting move out right (hand traverse the little diving board, easy but thrilling). and climb above to a notch.  This pitch looks chossy, mossy, and wide, but is actually the same bomber rock as found on Crimson Chrysalis.   A worthy finish.After topping the notch you will encounter the most unlikely thing: a heavily cairned trail!  Follow cairns and handlines to the Rainbow Wall bowl and hike out Juniper Canyon.

This line climbs an inobvious face to the right of Unimpeachable groping. We encountered bail gear at the top of the first pitch then no further sign of climbers above this. The climbing is ok, with the highlight of the route being position and the fact that it goes bolt free! Start at the far end of the exposed ledge that starts at the unimpeachable tree. P1 100’ 5.8 Climb a short face to a chossy wide crack, climb crack halfway up to the obvious roof, then step left onto the featured face. Weave up the face to a stance below a large right facing flake. P2 90’ 5.7 Climb the right facing corner up to a ledge. P3 140’ 5.8+ R Step right off the ledge and dance up the face. Trend far right, almost to the arete to find some gear, then back left to gain a nice finger crack that leads to a semi hanging stance, belay off a large chossy thread.  P4 120’ 5.10- Climb the varnished crack on the right to the butt crack roof. Follow this to a stance below a flakey wall. P5 150’ 5.10- Face climb up and left to a crack through varnished plates on a roof. Trend one more crack system left and follow this as the angle kicks back to a large bushy ledge on the crest. P6 40’ 5.6 climb the left facing corner belay in the gully P7-9 300’ 5.10 From here we traversed the gully and finished on blade runner.

 Decent: rappel the blade runner decent with a single 70 or double 60’s

Sugar is a line established by Tony Calderone but left unreported until later rediscovered, documented, and given a name by Larry DeAngelo in the early 2000’s (see comment below). Recently it has been extended another pitch to a logical conclusion higher on the wall. This final pitch, dubbed “The Sugar Glider” is a sublime pitch of Red Rocks slab and seam climbing that elevates what was already a really good, but under appreciated, route to what I think is neo-classic status. As a bonus, from the top of The Sugar Glider, one can easily connect with the 4th pitch of Ginger Cracks if you want to continue with that route. Alternatively, rappel with a single 60m rope.

 P1 (5.7, 95’): Climb the left side of the lowest buttress that is about 30’ right of the start of Ginger Cracks. Some fragile rock, protected by two bolts, gives way to a finger crack in nice varnish. One more bolt and gear placements lead to an anchor, or link easily into the next pitch.

 P2 (5.10a, 80’): Climb a shallow left-facing corner and arete past 5x bolts and opportunities for gear to a bolted anchor on a nice ledge. Note that two bolts were removed from this pitch due to their proximity to bombproof gear placements. A great pitch.

 P3 (5.10d PG13, 150’): The Sugar Glider: A classic pitch! Climb the beautiful, narrow panel of rock sandwiched between a seam on the left and the arete to the right. High on the pitch trend left towards a final bolt in an overlap and the shallow right-facing corner just above. Step up and left (do not follow the corner) to easier climbing up a thin crack to an anchor. 9x bolts and gear protect.

 Descent: Rap 90’ straight down to an anchor on Spice, then continue down Sugar the rest of the way. Alternatively, climb up and left to join the 4th pitch of Ginger Cracks.

I enjoyed this route as much as Crimson Chrysalis - it is more crack oriented, less crowded, but has some less than stellar rock on a few pitches. In the past year or so, bolted belays were added which changed the character of the route a bit. Now it is possible to do the best pitches and rap off. Personally I think the addition of bolted belays is a good thing, otherwise some of the belay locations would be awkward. The crux pitch now has an extra bolt (see description). I do not know the origin of these new bolts.

 The start of the route may be identified by a 6-12" crack that goes up to a scrubby tree. This crack is clean but the start looks like a grunt, so we climbed a thin crack to the left and stepped right, which seemed harder than the 5.7 rating of this pitch. Continue up past the tree, and climb double cracks (see Swain's topo) up a slot to a bolted belay at the top of a flake/pedestal (5.7, 130').

 P2: Move down and step right, then head straight up cracks, through a short chimney, and follow more cracks to another bolted belay (5.8, 150'). I thought this was the best pitch on the route.

 P3: Head up to a right facing corner and crank past a small overhang. Crank over and then follow a wide crack and less than stellar rock to the next belay (no offwidthing necessary) (5.8, [90' according to comment below]).

 P4: The crux pitch. Move up and then right to a new bolt. Continue up to an ancient 1/4" bolt. There is a new bolt maybe 3' higher than the rusty bolt. I don't know why they didn't just replace the 1/4" bolt. The rock on this pitch is a little suspect, but the crux section is not too long and is now quite well protected. Continue on up to another bolted belay. This is the last bolted belay on the route, so if you want to go down, do so now. (5.9, 140').

 P5: This pitch has a reputation for bad rock, and indeed be extra careful as a hold could easily snap off. However bad rock in Red Rocks is still pretty good. Follow a steep crack through nice (too nice) horizontal dikes to a huge ledge. Throw in protection often in case a hold snaps off, this pitch has recorded some spectacular falls, but it is really not that bad, just be careful (5.8, 150').

 P6: Scramble easily past bushes to a large chimney, climb the corner to the left and belay on a large ledge at the base of a left facing corner (5.2, 160').

 P7: Climb the left facing corner, then move right to a weird dihedral above a bottomless chimney. This next section is hard to protect due to the zig-zag nature of the pitch. Stem up and finish the pitch at a notch (5.7, 160'). Alternatively, follow bolts directly above the belay (this is the final pitch of Unimpeachable Groping). From there either rap Unimpeachable, or rap into the notch from a single bolt, and continue as below.

Spice is a line of unknown origin that was rediscovered, documented, and given a name by Larry DeAngelo in the early 2000’s (see comment below). Recently it has been extended by another pitch to a logical conclusion higher on the wall. This final pitch, dubbed “The Pepperberry” is a great pitch of climbing that really adds to the route, both in terms of quality and difficulty. More traffic would really clean this route up - a great outing would be to do both this and its neighbor, Sugar, which is of similar difficulty and offers even better climbing. From the top of The Pepperberry finish, one can easily connect with the 4th pitch of Ginger Cracks if you want to continue with that route. Alternatively, one can rappel with a single 60m rope.

 P1 (5.7, 60’): Climb a gully of sorts that is about 30’ right of the start of Ginger Cracks. This gully turns into a corner with broken cracks and leads to a good belay ledge at a tree. A short pitch.

 P2 (5.9, 175’): Climb a long corner system that eventually thins to a seam with a good edge. The gear is a bit tricky in spots but overall this is a good, long pitch that leads to a bolted belay at a foothold. This pitch can be broken up into two shorter pitches by traversing right to the P2 belay on Sugar at a bolt. Note that an old Star Drive bolt high on this pitch has been removed due to its proximity to bombproof gear placements.

 P3 (5.10c, 90’): The Pepperberry. Some nice climbing. Head up a seam above the belay then work left to a second seam (bolt) which is followed (crux) to a left-facing corner. At a roof where the corner changes to become right-facing, step right (mind your rope drag) out of the corner to a bolt, and work up and right to easier climbing up a thin crack to an anchor.

 Descent: Rap the last pitch then continue down Sugar from there. Alternatively, climb up and left to join the 4th pitch of Ginger Cracks.

Cayenne corners is a sick route that gets a slightly vague description in the new guide book.  The book shows only the first pitch with an ever-so-slightly misplaced arrow, it actually starts in the left facing corner just to the right. (cayenne corners, duh! excuse us, we're a little slow! LOL) The 10d pitch does not pull the roof proper but traverses to the right to pull it and then climbs the thin, long right facing corner.  The 10c pitch was also great but the 6 inch piece was not needed in hindsight. (If you've gotten here clean, you don't need it, although it was nice to have... we bought one for the route and regretted spending the money) We placed it once: Apprx. 15 foot section of run-out 5.8 without it.

This route has always intimidated me.  An obscure 5.8, with an uninspiring name, that none of my friends had done, led me to assume I was in for a dirty sandbag.  Sometimes it's good to be wrong.  Waterstreak Chimney is 300' of high quality rock and movement that is neither overly difficult or dangerous.P1. 35m.P2. 50m.Jerry Handren's guidebook indicates rappelling off a route on the (climber's) right side of the bowl with 2 ropes.

An absolutely fabulous route destined for "classic" status. Originally done in seven pitches of excellent steep 5.10 face climbing. The route was later continued a few pitches higher by the late Zack Martin. Zack passed on before I could get any information about his extension, so I will only include the first seven pitches in this description. And hope that somebody will fill in the rest.The route starts halfway between Ginger Cracks and Power Failure. Find the only big tree in sight and scurry up it till you can reach the 1st bolt.P1: (130' 5.10) After the tree climb up through a right-facing corner and up left past 10 bolts to a 4-bolt belay.P2: (120' 5.10) Up and left following 11 bolts to a 2-bolt belay.P3: (50' 5.10) Climb up to the big ledge via crack and face past 5 bolts. Should be combined with P2 to avoid hanging belay.P4: (120' 5.10+) Follow bolts through the roof via the right-facing corner, past a rap anchor at 40', then up and right to a 2-bolt belay.P5: (80' 5.10+) Steep face past bolts to a 2-bolt belay.P6: (80' 5.10+) Up the steep face to a 2-bolt belay. Stop here if rapping the route, or continue higher to a nice ledge with an anchor.P7: (150' 5.8) Head up pleasant face climbing to the top.Rappel straight down into the bowl (new rap anchor near the lip).  Scramble to the bottom of the bowl, stay between the bushes and the wall to get to the water streak rappels. 4 raps with a single 70m rope.

This is a new-to-me finish that is more in line, literally and figuratively, with the rest of the climbing on Ginger Cracks. Upon finishing P5 of Ginger Cracks, continue up the corner system into the bushy gully. The route "Blade Runner" will be on your right but you're aiming for the smooth, varnished corner dead ahead.  

  Begin with perfect #2 & #3 Camalot hand jams up to the roof using a cool ledge to chimney with your back against the right wall. Place pro out in the flake of the right wall and make a move to get into the broken flake system. Continue up and over the overhang into the corner using the crack and face holds. Continue up the corner until you can converge with the chimney finish of Ginger Cracks. Bust left onto the face when appropriate and finish at a rock pinch.

All You Can Eat is a fine rock climb that appeases all the types of climbers out there. The smooth corners that make up the first two pitches are a rarity in Red Rock and satisfy those looking to climb some good, splitter crack. It shares the same first half of Power Failure's first pitch. Look for the bolt.  

  Approach Pitch: This can easily be soloed or rope up if you want. Start at the 1st pitch of Power Failure up to the first bolt. Pull onto the ledge and walk climber's right to a obtuse corner crack system.  

  There are two options for the first pitch. Both are high quality and engaging.  

  Pitch 1.a: Start out in the adjacent crack to the left of the obtuse right facing crack and traverse back into the crack above the 2nd bolt. The Direct goes straight up through both bolts and goes at 5.11d. The 11d is comprised of holds facing "the wrong way" and some longer reaches to better holds. The crux is low on the left crack. Strenuous liebacking and a thrilling step across move leads back into the main crack. Once above the 2nd bolt climb easier rock to a nice belay ledge. Two bolt anchor. 90' 5.10c/d, height dependent.  

  Pitch 1.b: About 25' to the right of the regular start is an offwidth corner/left facing crack. Climb the offwidth to a hand crack. From here the crack constricts and is tips liebacking. Lieback up under the block and surmount the block. Traverse left on a left slanting finger crack and up onto the pillar. 100' 5.11b 

  Pitch 2: Climb up the left facing corner/crack system past two bolts. The bolts are not necessary if you have small cams and stoppers. The crack goes from tips, to hands to a wide flare past a set of anchors. Skip these and go up to the next set of anchors. There is some loose rock in this section but good cam placements can be found on solid varnish. 100' 5.10a 

  From here we rapped with a single rope but the route continues up for three more pitches. The following pitches are 5.10c, 5.10d and 5.9. All can be rappelled with a single 60m rope.

Power Failure is a fabulous 3 pitch route the ascends to the right of the prominent water streak visible in the photo. The route starts up hill from Ginger Cracks and just down hill from the water streaks. The route ends in the huge horse shoe basin. Pitch 1: (130' 5.8) 30' to a bushy ledge then left and up past bolts to belay on the right. Pitch 2: (160' 5.10) climb thin crack to a left facing dihederal. Pitch 3: (160' 5.9) left and up black face to the left of the left facing dihederal. This route is another Urioste classic, enjoyDescent: From the top bolted anchor - which is at the base of a dirty and vegetated bowl, there are two ways to descend using double ropes. 1) Make two double-rope raps with 60m ropes by dropping virtually straight down (i.e., to climber's left of Power Failure); this way uses an intermediate rap anchor with a tiny ledge; be mindful of your rope ends as the first rap is about 50 to 55 meters. Or 2) make three double-rope raps back down Power Failure (i.e., trend climber's right) from the top bolted anchor.You can descend with a single 70m rope by rappelling down “All You Can Eat” to the right of the route.  From the top, scramble easy terrain up and right to the end of the bowl.  4 rappels will bring you back to the base.

 Update: There are new bolted anchors and rings about 10-20 feet climbers left of the old ones for Power Failure. You can now do 4 single rope raps with a 70 meter to the ground.BE CAREFUL!!Be aware and cautious of teams descending the basin above. The horseshoe bowl above the route is a feeding chute for all things loose. Typically teams descending Ginger Cracks rap into that basin and scramble down to the first rap (last anchor) of Power Failure. It is just too easy to knock rocks off and straight down the Power Failure climb.

40 feet of climbing up a chute through a chimney that leads to the 7th pitch finish of Unimpeachable Groping.  Usually done after your rope gets stuck after rappel from UI and you have to go back up to get it.

Super fun thin crack with tricky gear. Climb the steep juggy wall below the water streak (2b)  Move left 25'. Option to belay here. Climb the obvious crack, passing a cruxy 4" pod. Make a final fun move left to a bush and up to a real ledge with a fixed anchor . Lower with any rope.

"Grab 'em by the Pussy" is a step up in seriousness compared to the seemingly innocent nature of the climb next door. As the pump begins to grow and you slot your fourth successive RP, you may catch a glance of the sport climbers to your right and begin to pine for an era reminiscent of the Clinton administration. An era when a consensual affair with an intern was all the controversy a president needed for impeachment.Pitch 1: 35m/10dStart about 10 meters to the climber's left of U.G. in the obvious crack system. Power through the roofs on stiff 5.10 moves protected by a #3 (and optional #4 a little higher). Prepare for some pump as you work up the crack to the anchor.Pitch 2: 55m/5.10- Traverse left in the crack and then head straight up to the big comfy ledge. A never-ending pitch of 5.9 moves and small gear. Take a minute and enjoy watching the sport climbers learn to multi-pitch. Pitch 3: 15m/5.11- Like many of the splitter cracks in Red Rock, this one is hard to get to and not long enough. Thoughtful movement leads you to a roof. A big reach out left puts you on the face and into easier terrain. Move up and right to gain the belay on this short pitch. Pitch 4: 30m/5.10+ This is the crack that will take you to the top and eat all of your brassies and offsets on the way. Lots of small gear, and nothing bigger than 0.75.Pitch 5: 30m/5.11 Lace up those ballet shoes and dance your way up this intricate pitch. The most sporty sequence toward the top is well protected. Pitch 6: 35m/5.10+ Thug your way through the two well-protected roofs to gain some sweet, sweet varnished rock. This moment is bittersweet because as the rock quality nears perfection, the difficulty subsides and the climb comes to an end. Climb onto the pillar on the left side of the ledge and belay at an anchor.DESCENT: Scramble up from the left side of the pillar to a rap station. 30m rap into the bowl, then rap the water streak with a single 70m. Don't kick rocks onto climbers below.

 

High on the east face of Rainbow Mountain and just above Ginger Cracks is a striking, 350' knife-edge arête. Blade Runner - AKA The Ginger Arête - climbs this feature in three wild pitches. The line, which is easily visible from the highway (and unmistakable when illuminated by the morning sun), is both really fun climbing and, for those capable of climbing the grade, destined to become the natural finish to Ginger Cracks. Keep in mind, however, that this route is demanding: Though the hard moves are all well-protected, you don't get pro every body length. Also, as is the case with many routes in Red Rocks that haven't received much traffic, Blade Runner has quite a few fragile holds and thin, hollow flakes. The route will undoubtedly clean up with time, but the climbing will "feel" harder because the rock demands a light touch.

 Approach: Climb Ginger Cracks through pitch 5 to the beginning of the 4th class 6th pitch. Rather than scramble up to the start of the final corner, look right: Careful study of the arête will reveal a lone bolt about 25' up. Begin here.

 P1 (110', 5.8): Climb up incut but fragile holds on the face just left of the arête passing a few optional gear placements en-route to the first bolt. Avoid a huge, overhanging block directly on the arête by moving back left to gain a short hand crack splitting a large patch of black varnish. Continue briefly up this before returning again to the arête and a second bolt. Four more bolts lead directly up the exposed edge to an awesome belay platform. A total of 6 bolts and some hand-sized cams protect.

 P2 (130', 5.10b): Climb directly up the arête passing 9 bolts for protection. Belay on a great ledge formed by an oven-sized block (careful). This pitch is amazing.

 P3 (110', 5.9): Continue up the arête, climbing on both sides, passing 5 bolts before gaining a low angle hand crack. Follow this to a sixth bolt and a final traverse left on an obvious ledge to a bolted anchor. Again, 6 bolts and some hand-sized cams protect.

 To descend, rappel straight down from the anchor with one 60m rope to a dedicated rappel anchor (do not skip this anchor on rappel or your rope will get stuck). A second single-rope rap leads to the notch between the main wall and the standard top out of Ginger Cracks. From here a third single-rope rap off a slung chockstone leads down into the bowl above Power Failure.

This is the triangular buttress left of Cloud Tower.  It does not really have a distictive summit but merges into the main wall above.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Ginger Buttress