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chucky
Apr 30, 2003, 10:08 PM
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We are planning a 4 day trip to CO towards the end of may. We want to climb at both shelf road and penitente canyon.
Im looking for some area favorites for both places. Any sport route in the 5.10 range or lower.
All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
also what are the best/recently updated guide books for these two areas?
chucky
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sandbag
Apr 30, 2003, 10:15 PM
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Shelf Road is full of 5.10s and up, youll be hard pressed to find much less than that through out the area, but there are a few. Not sure about Penitente Canyon. Good luck.
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moeman
Apr 30, 2003, 10:32 PM
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http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/listArea.php?AreaID=29
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bolder
Apr 30, 2003, 10:44 PM
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Shelf Road:
Sand gulch
Suburbia 10b
Armistice 10b
Bourgeois belay dog 10b
Karma Mechanic 10a
Gallery
Morrocan Roll 10b
John Cruiser Mellincrimper 10a
Block Party 10a
Period Piece 5.8
Red Dog 5.8
Turbo Charger intercooled meat maching 10b
The Bank
B/C 5.9
The needle lies 10a
Richter Scale 10c
Cactus Cliff
Plum full of 5.10's
Penentinte:
Captain America 10a
lOVESNAKE 10b
Tanks for huecos 10d
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chucky
May 1, 2003, 3:23 AM
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has anyone stayed overnight at either place....
looking for some hotel suggestions.
for penitente is there hotels in la garita, or should we cruise back to monte vista or alamosa?
and what about for shelf road, would we stay in canon city
or maybe we could save money and just camp
chucky
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visionseeker
May 1, 2003, 3:35 AM
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Penetente:
Don't do Captain America, it's short, the bolts are shady, and it just sucks.
Do do:
Tanks for the Hueco
Anatomy 101
Whipping Post
Ligneous Embracer
Buffalo Chips
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tradkelly
May 1, 2003, 3:48 AM
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At Shelf, definitely camp. It's been a good scene in all of my experiences. Except for maybe all the dogs - but that's another thread. Cactus Cliff has lots of easier stuff, 10c and lower, that's not complete choss. Just sorta choss. Oh heck, it's fine. (note my name.)
The 2002 guidebook to the cliff is by the sharp end. It has most of that wall in it, 'cept for the newest stuff, and is decent. I'll agree with the others for other routes at Shelf - either existing book is okay, neither good. CEP area has some easier climbs, .7-.9, but not as good quality as the 10s. It's just a fact to deal with there - not much easy stuff 'cept on Cactus.
You'll have fun with whatever you do there. The bolt spacing at Cactus is generally closer than at the other cliffs, but it'll be hot in the sun if you have any. It's the winter destination. Don't despair. Take water. I can't help ya with Penitente, though.
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chucky
May 1, 2003, 1:40 PM
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tradkelly...
The only books by the sharp end that i could find is
Shelf Road Rock by Fred Knapp (88 pp.)
Shelf Road's Cactus Cliff & Spiney Ridge by Rick Thompson (40 pp.)
The one you mentioned is it the 2nd one, or is there even a more recent one out there. If so where is a good place to order it from?
Also here in albs i can buy the Shelf Road guidebook by falcon. How good is that one?
thanks
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bolder
May 1, 2003, 2:09 PM
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I prefer the Falcon guide by Mark Van Horn. It has more information.
The camping is good at both areas. If you really want a hotel, Canon City has plenty to offer and is about 15 minutes to Shelf. There is nothing in La Garita. I can't believe it is even a town.
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tradkelly
May 1, 2003, 3:27 PM
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The Thompson book is the one I meant. It only covers Cactus Cliff and Spiney Ridge, not the other dozen+ walls. I don't have an opinion either way on books for the other walls, but you will want this guide as well as one of the others.
Without looking around, I've no idea where to tell you to shop for the guides. Local climbing store, special order? Amazon's quick too. Look around at some book metasearches for good deals and fast shipping. www.addall.com has treated me well in the past (particularly for cheap textbooks).
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cabdog
May 1, 2003, 3:29 PM
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I travel to Shelf and Penitente regularly. Shelf is great as you can bounce from one cliff to another to find the shade as it gets pretty hot these days. Penitente is a little cooler, but try the witches canyon if you're looking for shade. As for hoteling, I like to stay in Del Norte when i'm at penitente. The El rancho and Del Norte motels are good. Canon city has a bunch of places to stay as well.
Best 10 at Shelf? Crack of Dawn. Hands down
Best 10 at Penitente? Tanks for the Hueco.
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mother_sheep
May 1, 2003, 3:37 PM
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Hit Dihedrus (5.10 b/c) on Cactus Cliff. It's one of my favorite single pitch lines of all time! Super nice finger crack with some interesting face moves and a few rest spots right where you need them. SWEET ROUTE!
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theclimber
May 1, 2003, 5:08 PM
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Penitente has very nice campgrounds or you can travel into Sidewinder and Witches canyon for some more desolat camping....There is also a KOA with cabins outside of Del Norte with great showers...its cheap to stay at and its not far away......Plus, dont forget to check out the Rockgarden when you get there at the back of the canyon heading into penitente proper.....great place! Something for everyone!
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chucky
May 2, 2003, 1:07 PM
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dirt roads?
both penitente and shelf, are they easily reached by a two wheel drive car w/ low clearance. I try and keep it off of dirt roads all together if possible.
will this be a problem?
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mother_sheep
May 2, 2003, 2:02 PM
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At Shelf, you can easily take your 2WD, especially into the first campground. . .Sand Gulch. The road to the Bank Campground is a little rough as is the road to the parking at the base of Cactus Cliff. If the mud isn't too bad, you should be just fine. If you plan on climbing at Cactus and the road is muddy, you can always park at the bottom of the hill, which is the turnoff to the road to the base of the cliff. From there you can walk up about 1/4 of a mile to access the climbers trail. I'm not so sure about Penitente though.
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rockprodigy
May 7, 2003, 2:06 PM
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In reply to: I try and keep it off of dirt roads all together if possible
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You haven't been climbing long, have you?
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coclimber26
May 23, 2003, 2:24 PM
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I recommend getting the guide book for cactus cliff and spiney ridge. There is a mini guide in rock and ice 103 (oct/nov 2000). Camping is not a problem at shelf and it is a very scenic area. Here are some of the more popular routes that I can recommend..
5.7 **** Crynoid corner - on the left end of cactus cliff. Very nice dihedrial.
5.8 **** Lacholla Jackson - The cracks and holds seem to form fit around your hands.
5.9 ** Oscar de la Cholla - Nice climb for the grade
5.10***Blackman's burden - nice route with cool moves up a blocky corner
5.10**** Dihedrus - Good climbing up a shallow open book.
All of the climbs are at cactus cliff...
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cedk
May 23, 2003, 2:39 PM
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Your lowrider will do fine on the road to Penitente. It's well maintained.
You do need to get over the aversion to dirt roads if you're going to climb much though.
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bigdan
May 24, 2003, 7:11 PM
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Do Spiney Dan at Sand Gulch. .10c or something, way fun.
Cactus will be ridiculously hot soon, don't know when you're planning on being there.
Don't hotel, just camp.
The best concentration of sub-5.10 routes I'm aware of is on Menses Prow. One particular 5.8 with amazing huecos.
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rhu
May 27, 2003, 1:55 PM
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I just got back from Shelf. There are places to stay in Canon City, but camping is so cheap ($4) that it is hard to pass up. Plus you can skip a 15-20 minute drive each way. I think that there is plenty of stuff 10 and under. There are two books that I know of that are pretty new. One is the Shelf Road book mentioned and the other is called Cactus Cliff and Spiney Ridge I believe. It is pretty new. Some people had a print out from Rock and Ice that had 100+ routes just on Cactus Cliff with a number of **, ***, and **** routes in the range that you are looking for. Hope this helps.
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on_sight_man
May 27, 2003, 3:11 PM
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I can't believe no one has mentioned Contest Wall at Shelf road. It has 5.10 after 5.10 after 5.10... although there are few that are easier.
As mentioned, Menses Prow has some more moderate stuff but the walk is a little bit longer (maybe 15-20 minutes)
In Penitente, Try Hueco wall. You go to the end of the main canyone to the fork, then take the left fork in the trail and walk a little ways up. On your right and up the hill is a wall of like 5 moderate, nice, sunny climbs. In the main canyon, virtually all of the 5.10s are nice. I really liked "maybe nuevo" as a "warm up". It's a semi-spooky, moderate, slab that will get your brain freaked out enugh to lead for the day and teach you how well you can paste your feet.
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