Joy Seward joined the Alpine Peanut and I for a week of climbing in Red Rocks. On November 7th we kicked the trio trip off with Bourbon Street, a varied 700 foot route on the north face of Whiskey Peak, by way of the excellent 5.10a single pitch variation Raindance.
In the same vein as Lotta Balls (5.8, II), this will be a brief article. However, that’s no indicator of adventure quality on this interesting route, which tackles the exposed and sprawling buttress looming above the ultra-classic Frogland on Whiskey Peak. While we quested up pitch after pitch of easy but runout and adventurous face climbing, connecting small belay stances on yet another endless Red Rocks sea of desert varnish high above Black Velvet Canyon, the Frog conga line marched steadily upward. Bourbon Street is worthy adventure in it’s own, but shines as an equally moderate alternative to Frogland during the busy season.
We replaced the original vegetated 5.7 first pitch of Bourbon Street with Raindance, a 5.10a mixed face and crack line on especially smooth varnish. This was the day’s most memorable climbing, defined by bold high stepping and thin laybacking up a shallow flake with excitingly spaced bolts, finishing on a flaring, technical and steep finger crack with the occasional pod for solid natural gear. If the previous sentence’s elaboration sounds difficult for 5.10a, that’s because I found the route quite difficult for 5.10a. For climbers at the grade, this 30 meter variation adds significant value to both Frogland and Bourbon Street, whose first pitches are comparatively boring. Pitch two was another standout, a smooth and splitter finger crack with a 5.8+ crux in the unanimously unfavorable size of #0.5 Camalots. Above pitch two Bourbon Street backs off into quintessential Red Rocks face climbing on a maze of generous patina plates. Despite a pedestrian grade on positive holds, the combination of exactly zero bolts and few natural features for orientation kept my highest attention. I believe I placed four pieces of protection in the 70 meter 5.7+ third pitch. The crux was surmounting a five meter overhanging wave with a pair of horizontal #2 Camalots a bit too far below. The remainder of the route retained the same nondescript alpine character of pitch three, but with a significantly reduced wall angle and even larger holds. While playful and scenic, you can only hike up mindless tennis paddles for so long before getting sleepy. For climbers better matched to the grade, these upper pitches would be a perfect venue to sample the dark art of trad protected face climbing.
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All in all, Bourbon Street was an enjoyable way to swiftly blaze up a huge chunk of rock. The second and third pitches are awesome, and when combined with Raindance, the route approaches second-tier classic status. We got a lazy start in the vicinity of 10:00AM, and reached the car well before nightfall – six hours sounds right.
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DISCLAIMER
Ski mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing and all other forms of mountain recreation are inherently dangerous. Should you decide to attempt anything you read about in this article, you are doing so at your own risk! This article is written to the best possible level of accuracy and detail, but I am only human – information could be presented wrong. Furthermore, conditions in the mountains are subject to change at any time. Ten Thousand Too Far and Brandon Wanthal are not liable for any actions or repercussions acted upon or suffered from the result of this article’s reading.
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