Stayin' Alive is another excellent sport route in Sport Land.  The first pitch is good, and the second pitch is fabulous -- one of the best moderate 5.10 sport pitches I've done in Boulder Canyon.  Don't miss this one when you visit Tonnere!

Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor below the arete right of Face Off.  Be careful traversing over to the start; the ledge is exposed.

P1: Angle right to the arete, and climb past a steep section (9) to a stance.  Continue up to the top of a small pinnacle. Cross a ledge, climb a steeper headwall, and angle left to the anchor shared with Face Off and Nick Of Time. 5.9, 90', 7 bolts.

P2. The fun begins! Climb a steep face above the anchor, and move right to a prominent "tooth". Don't pull on the tooth; it's delicate and may have to be removed. Traverse right past the tooth to a left-facing corner. Climb the steep corner and exit right to a stance (9).  Climb up and right to a V-corner. Stem and layback up the corner to its top (10a). Climb up and left to an airy arete.  Climb the arete and traverse right to the anchor. 5.10a, 95', 13 bolts.

Descend via two rappels with a 60m rope.

Stayin' Alive

Up and Left - Lone Unknown Route

Clean Sweep

Goodbye Horses

Toe The Line

Tag Team

Total Eclipse

Generous Donation

Sidekick

Face Off

Hard Times

6H4D (6 Horses 4 Daisy)

Nick Of Time

Face Off

is a sport route on the face right of the

Nick Of Time

corner. An OK warm-up for the harder routes in the area.

Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor just right of the belay anchor for

Nick Of Time

and

Sidekick

.  Climb up easy rock to a steep headwall and the first bolt.  Move left and up (crux). Continue up the face, passing two ledges. Turn a final headwall on the right, and angle left to the anchor shared with

Nick Of Time

and

Stayin' Alive

.

Rappel 95' back to the start, or continue with the second pitch of

Stayin' Alive

.

This is a basic sport route with 7(?) bolts wandering up a somewhat broken cliff.  The mileage counts for something, and there are some short, interesting sections, but overall, the route lacked 'flow.'  It is still worth doing if you are there though, and it isn't crowded or packed in like some other area lines.

Clean Sweep is a fun trad route that goes up a steep crack system right of the second pitch of Stayin' Alive.

This route is a good reason to bring your trad rack to Tonnere Tower -- it's not just for bolt clippers anymore! The cruxes are well protected, but you'll need good pro-placing skills along the way.

Start by climbing the first pitch of Stayin' Alive (5.9, 7 bolts), Face Off (5.8, 6 bolts), or Nick Of Time (5.6, gear).  Bring your partner up.  Now move the belay 15' right to a second 2-bolt anchor.  Clean Sweep starts here.  You could also climb Buried Treasure (5.9, bolts, 2 pitches) to get to this anchor.

Traverse right below a small roof for about 20' until you're below a nice-looking crack system.  Climb up the cracks, with a fun 5.8 layback (#2 Camalot for pro).  At a steep headwall, get a green Alien in a small finger pocket on the right, and traverse a bit right (5.8) and up to the top of a flake.  A second steep crack system looms above. Climb up the steep cracks with a 5.9 crux (#13 Stopper for pro). Continue up and traverse right around an airy bulge (purple tricam in horizontal quartz crack for pro). Climb up to a big grassy ledge, and go up a short steep section to a 2-bolt anchor on a small ledge, just down and right from the top anchor on Stayin' Alive.

Descent: rappel 90' back to the ledge at the start; angle the rappel a bit to the left. Then rappel 95' from the Stayin' Alive anchor back to the ground. From the anchor at the start of Clean Sweep, you could also rappel Buried Treasure (2 rappels, 70' and 95') back to the start of that route.

Begin on

6H4D

, but at the headwall, stay left past three bolts on thin, continuous terrain. Climb a power crux at bolt 8 after the rest, make a hard clip, and solve a technical and redpoint crux on the thin, cryptic traverse then layback up the leaning "5.10 corner" past bolt 10. Finish right to shared anchors with

6H4D

.

This ascends excellent rock on the headwall and has uncertain moves in a wild position. It is a very sustained and involved pitch for Boulder Canyon...not the usual V8 to a ledge to 5.11 crapola. Shade after 2 p.m.

Extendo slings and long draws are helpful in spots for rope management and ease of clipping. I am not sure on the grade, but this felt harder than

Mordred

and maybe as hard as

The Agony and the Ecstasy

at Security Risk—the cruxes on this one are easier, but they are also at bolts 8 and 9 instead of right off the deck.

"Would you climb me? I'd climb me. I'd climb me hard. I'd climb me so hard."

Toe The Line climbs the striking east arete of Tonnere Tower in two pitches. An aesthetic line, with varied moves and good protection.  It is comparable to Bihedral Arete in quality, but has a greater variety of moves.

Follow the east face approach on the Tonnere Tower page.  Traverse right on the dirt ledge until you're below the east arete. Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor on the ledge.  Be careful; this ledge is exposed.

P1: Climb a short dihedral right of a gully to the first bolt, and continue up to the arete. At the second bolt, step left, up, and back right (5.8); going straight up is much harder. Make a delicate step-up move (5.10b) at the third bolt.

At the fifth bolt, swing onto the left side of the arete; do not go right.

Clip the sixth bolt on the

left

side of the arete and make an airy high-step move (5.9) back onto the arete. Fun! Make some committing moves (5.9) past the 7th bolt. Continue up to a 2-bolt anchor on the left edge of the arete. 5.10b, 95', 9 bolts.

P2: Straight above the belay is the 5.11 headwall of Generous Donation; this is

not

the route.  Instead, angle up right, past three bolts, around the right side of the headwall (5.10a). Climb a slab and make a fun hand traverse right to an exposed arete (5.8). Climb the arete and a steep headwall above (5.9). Continue more easily to the anchor. 5.10a, 85', 11 bolts.

Descent: Rappel 85' down to the anchor atop the first pitch; angle the rappel a little to the left. From here, rappel 95' to the starting ledge.

Alternate descent: Rappel 95' to the anchor atop the first pitch of Tag Team; this is a straighter line down from the top.  Then rappel 65' to the start of Tag Team, and scramble back down to the start of Toe The Line.

Tag Team is a fun, 2-pitch line that tackles the slabs and overhangs between Toe The Line and Total Eclipse. From the dirt ledge at the start of Toe The Line, scramble right about 40', just past a big pine tree, to a small ledge. There is a 2-bolt belay anchor here (shared with Total Eclipse) that marks the start of the route.

P1: Climb up left past a slabby corner and a short headwall, and continue up left past a V-corner onto a slab. Climb up to a steep headwall at the fifth bolt, where the real fun begins. Move up right on very thin holds (crux) and clip a bolt on the overhanging wall to the right. Work up to a key undercling, then crank up to the awesome Gunks-like quartzite jugs over the roof. Great moves! Turn the roof and continue up a slab to the first belay. This anchor is just left of the first-pitch anchor on Total Eclipse. (5.10d, 65', 7 bolts).

P2: Move about 3-4 feet left up a slab, then gradually move up right towards a beige dihedral that is topped by an overhang.  Stay calm and climb straight up the beautiful and technical overhang where hard moves await. This crux is really cool! (5.10d or 5.11b, 50', 8 bolts).

Note: don't angle left on the second pitch or you'll wind up on Toe The Line. It's fun, but it's not the route. Head up and right to the beige dihedral capped by a roof.

The climb could be done in one pitch, but doing it in two pitches allows better communication if your second has trouble at the overhang on the first pitch.

Descent: Two rappels with a 60m rope, or one rappel with a 70m rope.  With extreme caution, it can be done with a single 60m.

Total Eclipse is another multi-pitch sport route in Sport Land. It climbs the right side of the east face in two pitches of fun, varied climbing.

Start in the same place as for

Tag Team

, at a 2-bolt belay anchor on a ledge just right of a big pine tree.

P1. Angle right up a slab, then move left into a slot. Step left onto another slab, and move up to a roof.  Turn the roof on the right, and climb a steep face to the anchor.  5.9, 60', 8 bolts.

P2. Step up right and climb a short headwall, and continue up a slab past a bulge.  Crank right onto another slab.  Make some thin moves up the slab (crux), and continue up to a steep headwall.

Do not stop at the chained anchor of Tag Team left of the 9th bolt.

Instead, angle up right onto the headwall and continue for 3 more bolts to the anchor just below the tree at the top. 5.10a, 95', 12 bolts.

Descent: Two rappels, 95' and 60', back to the start.

Great summer climb, in the shade from noonish.  The crux is from the 3rd bolt to the 4th bolt. Very nice 30-foot sequence of reachy and fingery technical moves up a steep headwall await you, just up from the anchor atop the first pitch of Toe the Line. Once past the "not that easy" roof mantle, easier ground will bring you to a top-anchor shared with the second pitch of Toe the Line.

Rappel or lower 80' back to the start, and then rappel 95' to the ground.

The name of the route arose from the Generous Donation of a Tyrolean rope by Kevin Currigan and pioneer cleaning (and more to come) by Ron Olsen on this area of Tonnere Tower.

Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor just up and right of the starting anchor for Total Eclipse.  This is the same anchor as for Nick of Time.

The first pitch offers very high-quality, technical moves, climbing onto side-pull cracks, all the way up the steep wall.  Sustained! 5.11a/b, 95', 11 bolts.

The second pitch is easier but offers quality, big-feature climbing. 5.9, 55', 5-6 bolts.

All the way up on this climb, you will find loads of fun and challenging climbing. It makes you think!

It is called Sidekick for good reasons that will be obvious as you climb the route!

Descent: 2 rappels with a 60m rope.

Climb the first half of Face Off (or Nick of Time if you would like). Once on the main intermediate ledge, climb the short overhanging wall on pinches and side-pull flaring cracks, following 5 bolts to a two-bolt top anchor.

Sustained, technical and crimpy for the first 4 bolts.

6H4D is a new climb high and left on Tonnere on the overhanging headwall visible from the road as you drive up-canyon. It's the right fork on the headwall after the shared start.

Scramble out right and up from the base of the lone 10a at the top of the gully and build a belay at a good stance (#0.75 and #1 Camalots, plus a cordelette). Climb 5.10/5.11 terrain past three bolts, navigating some flake features that are hollow but seemed solid enough, then tackle the deceptively difficult, overhanging corner to a roof encounter. Cop a rest up and left, then make a wild, exposed undercling traverse back right to finish on steep, pumpy terrain to anchors at the lip.

Extendo slings and long draws are helpful in spots for rope management and ease of clipping.

Nick Of Time is a trad dihedral on the right side of Sport Land. Bring some big gear if you want to lead this one!

Start at a 2-bolt belay anchor just up and right from the anchor for

Total Eclipse

. Climb a slab past a bolt to the base of the corner. Stem, layback, and jam up the wide crack in the corner to its top on a pinnacle.

Rap 95' back to the start from a 2-bolt anchor.

If you didn't bring gear, you can toprope this route after leading

Face Off

(5.8 sport) or the first pitch of

Stayin' Alive

(5.9 sport).

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Sport Land