While climbing at the

Solstice

in general may be considered a

Catch 22

, this route may be the crag's prime example.

Short and stubby knobs climb to a heavily pocketed bulge. Catch a quick rest and finish on the face using edges, pockets, and small, ticking time knobs. This route is a good and varied way to get a feel for the place. Fragile at best.

Catch 22

The Fornification of Kings

All the Kings Horses

Behind The Beige Vinyl Curtain

Token of Affection

The Least I Could Do

Curmudgeons

A Fall From Grace

Quaker Oats

Vampires

Eve's Testicle

April Fools

Breakfast of the Damned

Crimes of Passion

Torsades de Pointes

Chertin for Certain

Tricksy Hobbits

Start on a low angle section of rock, climb up slowly steepening terrain to a crux in a hard to read and hard to leave scoop. Delicately work through this area using big holds and a few small pinches. Get a good rest and make the final push on a steep knobby face.

Start up on lower-angled rock (as per this crag) which quickly steepens and gets thin and technical. Lots of small, fairly straightforward edges until a couple of bolts before the bulge, when what holds there are get even smaller and the movement becomes a bit tricky.

Keep your cool, figure out the technical bits, and head into the enjoyable overhang. A couple of bolts with awesome chert knobs and you're done.

A wonderfully long, exciting line. Travel upwards on the ever-present reddish-brown, sculpted chert features. Occasionally the chert edges get thinner here and there; in the nick of time, a single-finger pocket or two appears.

Approximately three-fourths of the way up a slightly overhanging bulge bars the way. Surmount this using big, rough, irregular knobs and good feet, plus a pocket or two.

Use a 70m rope, a 60m won't be quite long enough to lower all the way.

Chert knobs and edges to pocketed/crimpy overhang. Stimulating climb.

A mostly low-angled, richly-textured line that ascends a vaguely conical feature near the right side of the wall.

The climbing is almost all on large, reddish-brown chert features to the top of the cone and onto a sloping ledge; the route gets slightly steeper right at the top of the cone. If you're of average height, you can clip the anchors from the ledge, and then make a somewhat tenuous move up (the hardest on the route) to clip in and clean.

If lowering, unclip the last draw to avoid excess rope wear.

Fun climbing on the crag's ubiquitous chert features, with a pocket or two, and some mail slots thrown in for good measure. The short section from the last bolt to the chains is thin, and is certainly the psychological crux.

A fun line using the omnipresent chert knobs and edges. For variety there are a couple of small crimps, single finger pockets, a large whole-hand pocket or two, and a large, vertical pocket with grass growing in it.

Start up a very log angle slab for a few feet until you hit the wall proper. The climbing gets steep quickly for a 2 bolts before the angle eases off again. NIce chert knobs and pockets and great opportunity for smearing run for the entire length of the route.

Start up on a couple of large edges, taking care not to fall (because you'll land on a Barrel Cactus). The climb is fairly straightforward on edges until up near the bulge, when you might be momentarily perplexed because the edges disappear. Find a couple of pockets and soldier on through (avoid the looser rock to the right).

Head up into the bulge; the higher you get the better the holds. Naked limestone gives way to chert knobs and edges.

Ascend an ever-steepening face with many edges and pockets of various sizes. A very slightly overhanging bulge appears; the feet get smaller and the holds trickier. Good footwork and balance will see you through this short (2 bolt) crux.

After the bulge the angle eases slightly and the holds get huge, making for easy cruising to the chains.

An unexpected bonus is the appearance of a fossil impression of a bivalve shell on the top side of a chert knob a few inches above and a foot or so to the right of the last bolt.

Starting just to right of Quaker Oats, April Fools climbs for 3 bolts and then joins April Fools for the last 6 bolts. While this start isn't quite as steep it is challenging in it's own right.

Another slabby route on sharp chert knobs that climbs through a v-slot and shares the last move crux and chains with

The Least I Could Do

.

Possibly the most generic route at the wall,

Crimes of Passion

climbs a consistent line of pockets and edges with an accompanying selection of solid feet. A real good place to start,

Crimes of Passion

offers some solace in a sea of instability.

Shares the anchor with Curmudgeons, just right of Curmudgeons.

Fun climbing, with a tricky crux midway, then slight left traverse at the top to the anchor.

Starts just a few feet left of Curmudgeon and merges into that route at the top. Has a few balancey sections with small feet.

A possible candidate for most interesting route at the wall,

Trick Hobbits

keeps you on those sharp, fragile feet. Reachy edges and radio dial pinches lead to a desperate and delicate sequence of moves over a hard to decipher crux. Connect to

A Fall From Grace

by slowly traversing left on a steep and thin face using side-pulls, hidden under-clings and what ever else sticks out along the way.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Solstice