By Bennett Chabot, SummitforDays team
November in the Desert
Call me uncreative, but I’m hard pressed to find a 4 day rock climbing trip in November that can beat Red Rock Canyon, NV. Although it became a marketing campaign this year to #OptOutside on the Thanksgiving weekend, it’s one I can support. And for a kid from New England, the otherwordly allure of the desert southwest, as seen in the mild temperatures of autumn, has brought me back to the red sands outside of Vegas just about annually since I started climbing 6 years ago.
This year, the call of the many canyons ringing the National Recreation Area was an echo of last year. Last November, a linkup dream of combining Solar Slab 5.6 with Rainbow Buttress 5.8 came about an hour shy of a responsible start on the second route. So in 2014 Team Ben backed off the Buttress responsibly, stumbling dejectedly down Oak Creek Canyon to the tune of unmet expectations. Why aim for the summit of Rainbow Mountain if you’ll be doing the entire descent of the Canyon in full dark?
That summit was calling again in 2015. What does the source of Oak Creek look like? How far can you get from the teeming crowds of the Black Corridor with a day’s climb? Should I complete the pieces of a big linkup before combining them? These questions needed answers. Luckily for me, @paddythacher was on hand to go chase them. And so the Rainbow Buttress landed in our sights.
The Traditional Traditional
Rainbow Buttress is found on the Eagle Wall of Oak Creek Canyon, in the vicinity of such celebrated classics as Eagle Dance 5.10c and Levitation 29 5.11c. Our target was distinct for its relatively purist trad character, with no bolted anchors and no protection bolts traded for the more moderate grade. With the sole rappel option (found atop pitch 4) necessitating 2 ropes, we made the committing decision to carry only one 60m. We also kept to the more traditional 3rd class approach route, choosing easier routefinding and defter movement over the shorter but dicier 3rd/4th and 4th/5th class approach options described in the Handren guide. Having passed here in the trudge of defeat, I knew the huge pine trees would offer easy-to-locate stashes for our larger packs while on route.
Packed the night before. Up at 4:50. Rolling at 5:15 from Henderson (the opposite side of the Vegas basin, unfortunately for our shuteye). 4th car in line for the gate to open for the Red Rock Canyon loop road at 6am. Walking at 6:30. Eat an apple on the way until I notice I bit into a very rotten spot.
The trail quickly turns to scrambling, and as we throw ourselves into full throttle boulder hopping, we’re faced with the bizarre extreme of sweating bullets in tee shirts while trying to keep our drinking water from freezing. We hoped for sun on the wall, and kept hustling.
@paddythacher in aerobic approach mode, while ice forms in puddles and in CamelBaks alike.
A 3 hour approach budget would leave us an hour per pitch til sunset: then our economies from there would go towards the descent. At this grade, I hoped to average 40-45 minutes a pitch at best, leaving us a solid 2 hours to return down the unknown upper reaches of the Canyon and regain our packs stashed at the point of departure from the canyon floor, with reserve food and water for the downscramble out.
Some of the more reasonable boulders along Oak Creek Canyon
Off the Canyon floor, the slabs approaching the Eagle Wall were well textured and thankfully sunny.
From Hike to Climb
All told, we spent about 2.5 hours on the approach, about 30 minutes of scrambling beyond what would readily constitute Type I Fun. Past exploits on Mt. Conness had driven home the lesson of how good it feels to change muscle groups from sub-vertical approach to near-vertical climb: that thought made the difference as my quads waned and the exposure increased.
@paddythacher sizes up the first lead during our brief moment in the sun.
Wave to the first parties on Eagle Dance and Levitation. Flake, rack, snack: On rock at 9:10am. Pat takes the first lead, a lightly protected 5.6, as I chat with a couple from North Carolina rolling in behind us with intent to follow. Clouds take hold, and we lose our direct sun for what turns out to be the rest of the day. Be glad for wool longjohns.
I take the second pitch, a short but satisfying stretch of 5.8 corner. We’re ahead of 45 min/pitch, and Pat takes the chance to stretch his offwidth sensibilities in the 5.7 grade on Pitch 3. I’ve learned that when the guidebook says “awkward,” I tend to love the climbing: Pat sends the pitch, but love seems too strong a word.
On up the welcoming 5.7 of Pitch 4 with minor tree wrestling (isn’t this a desert? Who put this tree in this crack?) to the halfway point, the top of a varnished pillar called the Black Tower. It’s in the vicinity of 12:30 pm, with 4 pitches to go. The lack of sun is wearing on warmth, but proactive layering and steady movement keep us moving up.
Here the route splits: the Handren describes the right variation with an unprotected traverse followed by a burly 5.8+ corner, rejoining with the original variation for Pitch 8. We opt for the left variation, starting with a pitch of inconsistent 5.8 and a step left to a ledge crowded by bushes.
Ridge running at dusk to the source of Oak Creek.
The headrocks of Oak Creek.
