Tall and committing, this is my favorite route in this zone. I'm not sure if the grade is accurate, but the hard move on this is towards the top.

Sit start on crimps in the center, and go straight up, following a winding seam to a delicate topout.

Again, I've kicked off as much loose rock as I could, but there is still some suspect rock at the top, so be careful what you pull on. Everything I used at the topout was totally solid.

The Unholy City

The Frolic

Invocation to the Void

Sideshow

Ten Steps to Thin Mountain

Vastarien

The Shadow at the Bottom of the World

My Work is Not Yet Done

This Degenerate Little Town

The Glamour

His Shadow Shall Rise (To a Higher House)

Noctuary

Sit start on the left side of the south face. Follow the arete up, moving slightly left onto the slab at the top.

The Frolic has fun, juggy climbing with a R/X landing and a cruxy topout.

Begin standing on a big shelf below an obvious, horizontal crack (just left of the wide crack splitter), and move left utilizing underclings to gain the arete with the left hand. Take a deep breath, and commit (or better yet, bail), because it won't get any easier - throw right to a good shelf, then negotiate a spicy exit.

Falling at the crux would be unpleasant for you and inconvenient for anyone naive enough to spot you.

This is a worth while problem if you like serious, Samurai style bouldering.

From the sit, big features lead to a tricky roof, but the true crux is pretty high and over a bad landing. Once you commit, see it through.

Sit start on crimps, and climb up and right following strange pockets in bullet rock trending right.

I expected this to be the easiest of the three on this face, but I'm not so sure. It's hard to read and cruxy up high over a pretty bad landing. Still, it's pretty cool and for sure worth a lap if you climb the other two - but

Unholy City

to the left is better, IMO.

Also, I found some chalk in a pocket on this one and suspect it may have been climbed already. HMU if you know of an earlier ascent.

This is a nice, slab warm-up, but it does not have a great landing.

Climb the same start as

Invocation to the Void

, but traverse right to the arete (avoiding a big, chossy feature further down and right), make some committing throws past a bulge, and move left of the arete on good holds to the top.

This is another must do highball in this zone. I'd give it 4 stars, except the boulder at your back is a little heady at the start.

Sit start in the shadows at the base of the SW arete, immediately left of "

Degenerate...

". A couple easy moves lead to a bearhug of the blunt left arete. Follow the arete leftwards, and make some reaches to good pockets, with your body on the west face.

It has great rock the entire way, and padding the boulder behind you for the top out makes it feel much less exposed than the true height. I thought this problem might have the best movement in the whole zone!

Climb the tall SW arete of a giant boulder, staying on the south face.

Great rock follows jugs and pockets, but be careful pulling on the final holds. The rock quality changes dramatically at the very top. I kicked off most of the choss, but be heads up.

This is a nice warm-up after "

Ten Steps...

," since it starts off really easy and slowly builds in difficulty, and the crux is at the end. It also climbs like a highball but traverses up the hillside, so you never actually get that high off the ground.

Begin on the sharp arete on the left side of the west face, traverse to the right staying low, pulling around on to the south face, and continue traversing low.

The crux comes midway across the south face, passing two right-hand gastons, and hitting a big sloper. Pull onto the south east face and top out.

You'll hit choss if you try to top out too early. Stay low and come up on the right side of the big sloper feature at the end. I bounced on it a bunch, its solid despite sounding a little hollow.

This has a stand start with two options: start on the face just to the right of the big, detached boulder... or right on the arete hugging compression features. The left start is easier.

Either way, climb the west face of the cliffband, moving slightly left at the top.

There were some stones that seemed intentionally stacked at the base of this tall slab, which made me think it had been climbed before.

Sit start on obvious sloper, move up through thin stemming past the "white fang" calcite, finding a sidepull on the left arete. Make a reachy, committing move to the "lip", and then commit to even more climbing to top out.

This has great rock the whole way and a good landing. Bailing left up high reduces the grade a little, the true line stays plumb the whole way.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Il Teatro Grottesco