Ledgy climbing leads to a steep face near the top.

Planned Obsolescence

Merely a Flesh Wound

Air France

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Mantis

Freezerburn

I.W.S.

Darkness and Charm

The Inquisition

The Serf

Homeostasis

No Ordinary Moments

The Alchemist

Swamp King

SpaceX

No Ordinary Rabbit

Normal Groove

The Sadness

Felicity

Mesquiter

Homo Faber

Band Camp

Madam Butterfly

Eminent Domain

Vesper

Who's Your Daddy?

Khaleesi

The Goodness

Holy Hand Grenade

The Way of the Peaceful Bolter

Divine Vessel

Top Shelf

Sangreal

Total Depravity

Hoarse Platitudes

Mandate For The Masses

Who's There

Excalibur

Homeostasis Extension

The Village Idiot

Voyager One

The Other Side

Crusade

Sweeping Sickness

Raven Nation

Angelic Apparition

Sweaty & Guilty

Last Supper

The Madness

The The

Weasel Squeezer

Magnum Opus

The Honeycomb

I'm Not Dead Yet

Nice, straight forward and easy to find warm up for the Grail, main area.

Orange Limestone, left of " Crusade"  ... this rock is less sharp as the blue areas, and climbs nicely.

A little taste of Southern France. Rock quality and features that are very reminiscent of the Verdon Gorge... right here in the Arizona strip.  

  Start by doing the (right option) first pitch of Vesper. From the comfy belay ledge, take off and mind the gap, following the line of bolts right of Vesper. Some fun, relatively mellow intro climbing leads to a very tricky low angle crux moving left and then up to a line of pockets and then back reaching right to a left facing flake. Take a breather. Either extend this clip and make the clip from below or wait until you're kickin' it at the flake and reach left. 

  The next 3 bolts are the business. Sustained, technical and engaging - sloping pockets, interesting edges and smeary footwork eventually connect you with the second to last bolt on Vesper - finish as you would for Vesper.  

  An outstanding and demanding pitch. A true gem. At some point I would like to lengthen the pitch down into the pit (you'll understand when you get there) but I ran out of bolts and time.. maybe next year...  

  I would highly recommend climbing Vesper first and lowering down this route to hang draws and have a look see at the holds / movement. The last couple clips on this are quite tenuous and a little spicy. Going ground up may result in a handful of jarring, confused falls on a not super rad belay.  

  Grade? Definitely harder than Magnum Opus. But maybe not as hard as Planet Earth (VRG). Maybe the very best rock I've ever touched in North America.

Fun sidepulls and laybacks on blocky rock takes you to a move way far left from your 4th bolt.  Clip the 5th bolt (long fixed draw as of Nov. 2017) and launch into the crux on incredible rock, with sustained, steep face climbing!  6th bolt is a pain to clip, and takes you away from the natural line, which is more to the right.  Fun steepness the rest of the way. 

  I thought the climbing on this was superb and merits 4 stars, but the bolting is a bit funky.  The rock was a delight, though a bit suspect at the start.

Start on the left side of a pod (just above a little down-climb on the walk into the Grail). The start is shared with Horse Platitudes. Break off to the left when you reach the left facing dihedral at mid-height. A sustained and boulder crux ensues shortly after. Crimp and high step your way to a rest below one last hard move up and left of a pod to the chains.

Climbs from the dirt trail, and a small dish on sharp holds, left to a shallow dihedral eventually pulling a small overlap and finishing on the face to the right of "Whos your daddy" ( sharing anchors)

Begin on The Village Idiot but break off left at the first anchor and follow excellent, sustained climbing to the top of the wall.

This was the first route up this amazing band of Limestone.   A super 2 pitch outing or well worth doing just the first pitch if your lazy.   P1 Head up the middle of the perfect blue/grey face with miles of great climbing. 5.11c 135ft   P2 Move left and up steep headwall, then trend back right to anchor at the very top of cliff 5.11c 120ft

10d to the first anchor. 5.12 climbing above.  First pitch is ~ 100 ft and a great warm up, especially when the right side of the grail is crowded.

70 meter rope required. 1st anchor makes a great 35 meter 11d. Lots of small cruxes to good rests. Easy to read until a hard finish at first anchor. Keep pulling for another 15 meters on harder to read rock. A few hard clips will lead to more endurance climbing that eases near the finish. Be careful lowering.

Fight through the initial pump to get to a cozy ledge. Then work your way up to a technical finish. You can get a few good jams in there! 5.11b to the first anchor. The extension continues past another 9 bolts and is excellent. 5.12b

Head up through a vague corner, then move left through some overlaps. The crux is probably between the last bolt and the anchors, moving left again. This route is quite good and it's surprising that it doesn't see much traffic.

Fun route with great rock all the way to the top.

Awesome 5.11 climbing to sport anchors. There is a 12c extension that I did not do. 

3 pitches, all bolted, all pleasant. Try not to rain choss on the masses of people below you, but enjoy your own peace and quiet as well. 

Corner/groove to face, nothing too memorable but still good climbing. A good warm-up if the other 5.10's in the area are crowded.

Mellow climbing down low leads to a tricky traverse left. A crux move, or a reachy clip leads you back to the right.  

  Fun climbing leads up a groove which you must exit on the right to reach the anchor.

This is a pretty fun route that takes you near the top of the Grail Wall.  According to the book, the first pitch is the crux at 5.11d and it’s probably the best pitch of the route.  It sees less traffic above this pitch for sure.  There is definitely some loose rock up high, so keep this in mind if you choose to do this route on a busy day with lots of parties below you.

P1 (5.11d): A fun, steep pitch up edges. 11 bolts, 100’

P2 (5.11b): I felt this was a sandbag.  It’s tough off the belay but the crux comes just after a mantle move when you have to traverse right past 2 bolts to the anchor.  9 bolts, 80’.

P3 (5.11b): This pitch is pretty straightforward and a bit shorter than the others.  7 bolts, 70’

P4 (5.11b): Another long pitch that starts out vertical.  The crux of the pitch is passing a bulge.  Aftwards it turns to a thoughtful slab for a few moves.  Be mindful of a huge, undercut block just left of the bolt line on this pitch.  It’s probably solid, but we didn’t pull on it to find out.

 Rappel the route with a single 60m rope.  On the last rappel, it’s easier to go the Divine Vessel anchors if it’s open.

Start up a bulge through some harder-than-expected movement to reach a standing rest and the base of some big pods. From here move through the pods and into the upper headwall, crimping and edging for a WHILE. A long, brilliant route. Sustained.

An amazing pitch. A crux down low in some sharper rock leads you to a stance below a beautiful headwall of sculpted edges and ledges. Maybe it's 13a? What do you think? A must do.

Low slope satrting at the stone saddle leads to a tiny finger sized crack for first section.  You don't really climb that crack but it helps identify the route. Seemed easier than 10d, perhaps the moves to the shared anchors with Madame Butterfly and Sweeping Sickness are the harder moves?

A fun jaunt up fine features. 

  Starts with moves up a step block to step up on slab.  Follow bigger features and weaknesses up and right to shallow left facing corner.  Up ya go on the steep face for the finish. 

  Fun!

You've probably heard of this route. And for good reason. It's truly incredible. 

  To the left of the little cave, climb up some orange stone and around an arete onto a beautiful blue face and finish up and right to a 2 bolt anchor at a stance. Another option is to climb the pillar right of the cave via a newer route to a nice full on ledge. Both first pitch options are around 11+.  

  Launch from either belay onto the stunning blue headwall. Edge your way to the left side of the slash and follow it up and right through some harder terrain to a memorable runnel finish. Absolutely stellar climbing on world class stone.  

Climb from the dirt trail enjoying a layback on a decent sized flake/crack. Climbs up and right over to the anchors shared with harder route "Freezerburn" that starts to the right.

Fun varied climbing through a few changing corners down low and then straight forward pulling on edges with plenty of feet to the chains way up top.

Amazing holds down low lead you to a great rest before the business. Punch it up small holds and pockets to a good rest. 

  The climbing only gets better as sculpted holds lead to the anchor. 

  This route would only be better if it was more sustained. The crux feels much harder than the rest of the route.

HHG climbs into a groove just right of the Raven.  Exit on right (crux) and follow sustained thin climbing to the anchors.

Sustained climbing on side-pulls, crimpers, and underclings to a fun cruxy section up and right around a bulge. The difficulty drops off markedly for the last 1/4 of the route, after the last big underclings and small roof. Shares the last two bolts with “Way of the Peaceful Warrior.” Bit of a runout to the chains but the climbing is easy out right.

Start up chert crimps and move right past an awkwardly placed second bolt to an obvious dihedral.  Easier climbing up the shallow corner leads to a final crux just below the anchors on sidepulls and edges. 

  The bolts above the first anchor are an open project.

The first pitch heads up nice 5.11 climbing to a 5 ft boulder problem that ends in big jugs. Moderate 5.10 leads to first anchors. The extension or second pitch heads up a LF dihedral in white rock. 

Reachy move to a fingerlock down low, then another reach on poor rock gains the lieback dihedral.

Start on 2 Gray, dishwasher-sized boulders. Shares the 1st bolt with “I’m not dead yet,” then branches right. 5.11b to first anchor. Be careful when lowering from top to first anchor 70M just reaches.

Start on the left side of a pod - sharing the start with the 12c. This version breaks right at a left facing dihedral at mid height. Climb up a column to a brief rest before a hard exiting boulder problem on small holds and poor feet. Share the anchor with Magnum Opus. Solid in the grade.

Begin to the left of the start of Exclaibur.  Start up through the first two bolts (crux) of improbable climbing through a mono pocket.  Continue upward easily after this to a thin and slightly sharp section through the obvious right-facing corner.  Continue to chains.

Who's There is a so-so route on the far right-hand side of The Grail. Climb the arête in two pitches, both about 75 feet. The second pitch has a lot of traversing across the top of the feature. This route has a lot of loose rock, so beware.  

  Rappel once from the top of pitch two, directly to the ground on the climber's right, using a 70m rope.

This route is a long voyage up impeccable gray/blue limestone for 120 ft.  Thin and highly technical climbing on mostly small holds will see you through to the chains.

Real good climbing on small crimps, with a few really good shakes.

Moderate climbing to rest then Crux 3/4 up to finish.  Bolt could be lower in crux area bit heady.   Fun

An amazing journey through edges and pockets that takes you epically high up on the Grail. Start as you would for Magnum Opus and then break right just before the first magnum crux to a good ledge rest beneath the main crux section on Voyager 1. Some rad pockets and sparse feet make up the next 2 bolts of business, and then carry on through a sea of ledges and edges (~12a) for a very long time to reach another thin and super unique finishing crux just below the anchor. Even with an 80m rope you will need to lower twice.  

  Extremely tall! Somewhat sporty! Brilliant stone!

Fun route with a couple extension options.11a/b to first anchors — Reachy move above sloping ledge.11d to the second anchors — Awesome climbing with big moves and holds12b/c to the last set

Fairly vertical climbing on not so sharp orange limestone.

A Link Up, starting from the dirt trail and clipping the first few bolts of " Whos your Daddy" ...climbing left for several independent and squeezed in bolts to meet up to the finish of " Band Camp"

Pitch 1 is an awkward 11a for 90 ft about 10 draws. 15 draws for pitch 2 and 3 12c and 11d respectively.

A vision quest requiring focus.   Easy climbing up low angle ramp to crux. Tech your way through perfect grey stone and shallow mono pockets with sparse feet to first set of anchors. 

  Then embark on a small hold tech fest with little rest. After a delicate and intricate crux, run it out to the finish. 

  Long climb, sporty on bullet grey rock.

Sweaty & Guilty. Guilty of:

Being squeezed in between two superior routes (Serf and Naysayer) and thus insulting those climbsHaving poorly located boltsBeing in desperate need of a proper cleaningI'm posting this up mainly to warn people that this route, in its current state, is dangerous. Until it is cleaned of loose holds, flakes, and blocks, it should not be climbed. Even then, consider the third and fourth bolts which are placed very close to (within inches of) the edge of small aretes - these could shear away the rock in these spots (I've seen it happen).

 The climbing itself isn't bad, but the first half of the route may leave you constantly wondering if holds on the neighboring routes are "on". The line becomes more independent in its upper half, but unfortunately the rock quality also deteriorates. Personally, I think this thing should be removed but, at the very least, the job should be finished with some cleaning and some adjustments to the bolting.

 PS: I left the massive resting flake formerly found just after the lone permadraw at the bottom of the climb in case you want to glue it back on. Sorry it's in two pieces but at least my belayer survived.

Very fun climbing on vertical orange rock. Tricky crux at the bulge about ¾ way up.

Fun climbing down low with a few thin moves leads up to the obvious corner. Climb the arete and then make powerful moves up the steeper more fractured rock to the right to the anchor.

Starts in a small corner in the chert band then climbs a tricky smooth slap section then the route branches left.  From here it gets steeper on small edges and a pocket here and there, the crux.  Finish off with some nice sculped pinches to the top. Great climb.. The The end

Squeeze job between Divine Vessel on the left and Homeostasis on the right. So close to both that it detracts from the enjoyment. Awkward clip up high, cool crux, second pitch or extension above..?

Climb up and right out of a pod and through some easy (and at time questionable) terrain. A short section of ledges leads to the first crux trending left and to a shared rest with Horse Platitudes. From here enter the routes crux through very tight pockets and small edges. The climbs red point crux then comes several bolts higher with a strange right hand imaginary hold and a big move up and left to a gaston. Carry on to the chains. Only seen 2 repeats at time of writing. Originally suggested as 14a. A brilliant pitch!

Consistant through the slabby bottom section - this is harder than it appears. A rest mid way leads into the headwall and the route gradually gets tougher until a final series of sculpted amazing pockets in the bulge guarding the chains.

P1: Clip the 1st two bolts of Total Depravity and then angle left into a corner which is followed up and then a little right through the last bolts to a mid-anchor. 12 bolts, 100', 10b/c. 

  P2: Up the corner as it steepens to a headwall of edges. 15 bolts, 110', 12c.

This wall is the prize! The wall that makes Lime Kiln Canyon famous. Great rock, a variety of quality routes from 5.10- to 5.14a (with a high concentration of quality 5.12's). 70m and even 80m ropes are useful here, and don't miss out on some of the great multipitch lines such as Raven Nation and Vesper. 

  Best routes: 

  Homeostasis 5.11b   City Dweller 5.11d   The Mesquiter 5.12a   Vesper 5.12b   Mantis 5.12c   Homo Faber 5.12d   Honeycomb 5.13a   Hoarse Platitudes 5.13b   Magnum Opus 5.13c-5.14a   Air France 5.14a

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Grail