Triassic Sands is a legendary crack climbing route in Red Rocks, home of few long and continuous cracks. The first four pitches follow an incredible crack system the entire way, logging some 600 feet of consistent jamming, with the second pitch’s miraculous 45 meter hand crack being the standout.
Triassic Sands is hands down the best multi-pitch 5.10 crack climb I have ever done, ironic because Red Rocks is not a crack climbing destination. Yes – the trad routes in Red Rocks follow crack systems – but usually they are discontinuous with abundant face holds, especially at the 5.10 and below level. Triassic is the anomaly. The first four pitches are defined by jamming, following an incredible 600 foot weakness with difficulties from fists to fingers, but an emphasis in steep hands. Pitch two is the crux, a 45 meter hand crack preempted by a series of “athletic” mini-roofs requiring a guidebook sanctioned triple set of #2 and #3 cams. Pitch four is especially unique. Every single lick of black varnish, ubiquitous to the first three pitches and all Black Velvet Canyon routes, disappears, leaving a strikingly clean Aztec Sandstone corner reminiscent of Indian Creek. The edgeless orange open book is consistently steep if not overhanging, with more roofs, strenuous jamming, and a memorable roof traverse exit. One thing is for sure: Triassic Sands is anomalous for Red Rocks, worthy of topping any 5.10 tick list.
Bobbi and I have spent a lot of time on the North Face of Whiskey Peak this season, climbing Frogland (5.8, 6p, 700′), Raindance (5.10a) and Bourbon Street (5.8+, 6p, 700′). We also climbed a few routes on the western adjacent Black Velvet Wall. As such, we made expedient time to the base of the route. Within an hour we were roped for pitch one, which felt a little severe for 5.7 since it was a polished acute dihedral lacking in face holds, and wider than the largest cams I had on my harness. I managed a few dubious small cams in shallow horizontals, but for all intensive purposes I free-soloed this 50 foot pitch. From a sizable ledge of jumbled boulders I cast into pitch two, which features an “athletic series of moves” through three overlapping roofs before gaining the infamous endless hand crack. Having grown accustomed to soft grades in Red Rocks, I figured the roofs would be studded in positive edges with a long reach or two, or perhaps a few slippery jams. I would later tell a good friend this was the first time I felt genuinely sandbagged in Red Rocks. I barely held on. The moves were crack intensive and very steep, roughly ten degrees overhanging following a Zion-esque baggy finger crack with almost no face holds. The final roof was downright heroic for 5.10, slapping up a varnished arete on godsent massive horns. Pumped silly and facing a massive winger due to the long runners I placed for rope drag mitigation, I was ecstatic to see the sandbag halt abruptly at the main crack. True to reputation, this miraculous incision really was never-ending, neck craning, sinker hands from heaven. As mentioned above, the recommended rack for this pitch includes three each of #2 and #3 cams. I’ve been frugal after losing our sole #3 in Joshua Tree, so while we had three #2’s, I didn’t have a true #3. My big hands arsenal was an ancient #3.5 Friend, a Metolius Super Cam slightly wider than three inches, and a jumbo hex. When the crack widened to three inches with my three number #2’s long placed, I was dismayed to never find an adequate home for the two almost-three-inch cams on my harness. Instead, all I managed was the large hex and a gruesomely tipped out #1. Whenever the terrifying thought of taking a 100 footer into oblivion threatened my zen, I reminded myself that I had a #3 in each of my fists, and compartmentalized the work into digestible chunks. Running the rope high and dry into the Vegas sky with my last protection out of sight was an experience I’ll never forget, and one of the best pitches of our long summer.
Between a few stuck cams and the bouldery roofs, Bobbi had grunt following this pitch, and when she finally reached the anchor retreat seemed pertinent. We got a late jump and were only two hours from nightfall with 600 feet of wall above. However, we went light with a 50 meter rope and no tagline gunning for the summit, and accidentally left the Beal Escaper on the ground. Our only retreat was fixing and abandoning our dear alpine rope, and money doesn’t grow on trees in 2025. Back to Plan A. I blasted into pitch three without hesitation, placing a mere half dozen pieces on this nearly 200 foot pitch of 5.8 hands. Pitch four was the final obstacle between us and the gentle scrambling terrain preempting the summit. This pitch has two unique and distinct elements. First is a notorious “diving board death flake” underpinning a burly roof to gain the main crack, one of the gnarliest loose blocks I’ve ever seen, and hopefully ever will see. Caked in shoe rubber and chalk you’d think it could be more solid than it appears, but alas it is not. One gentle shoe tap shifted the kitchen table sized widowmaker a full inch. I shuddered, and continued into the business without even breathing its direction. The second uniqueness is the extreme lacking of face holds in the corner – a little slice of Indian Creek. The jamming was sustained and burly for 5.10a, and for the most part slightly overhanging, but another absolute gem. Bobbi followed quickly with a few tugs on gear, and together we raced to the summit up four long pitches of Teton-esque blocky terrain. The guidebook calls these last 300 feet 4th class, but we both agreed this was yet another sandbag. 5.5 felt more appropriate. We topped out the western ridge of Whiskey Peak at nightfall, short roped to the true summit, and enjoyed a peaceful walk off at the December bewitching hour of 5:30PM.
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Triassic Sands would turn out to be our final long 5.10 route of 2025. Bobbi was a touch discouraged by her performance, but ultimately we both knew overhanging crack climbing is neither of our styles. While I somehow managed the onsight, it was not without struggle. I had an easier time with all four of the 5.10d Red Rocks pitches I climbed this summer, between The Nightcrawler, Adventure Punks and The Challenger. I am not saying Triassic Sands is 5.10d – it may very well be 5.10b – but rather, that climbing style is far more important than the numerical grade assigned to a given climb. I’ve handily climbed desperate 5.10c Joshua Tree slabs only to be spit out of a 5.9 fist crack hours later. Both Bobbi and I rely on technique over strength, and the “athletic” roofs of Triassic Sands definitely favored the latter. We returned to the car vowing to more winter gym climbing before another long desert climbing season in 2026.
On a more tangible note, Triassic Sands is a premier line and one of the best 5.10’s I’ve climbed in Red Rocks, a must do for the crack enthusiast. Most folks rappel from the second, third or fourth pitches, but the fast upper pitches and streamlined walk-off make for a well rounded and recommended alpine-style day without the anxiety of rappelling over a sea of rope snagging varnish. If you’re anything like me, you despise rappelling in Red Rocks and avoid it as much as possible.
Extra Beta
For climbers interested in Triassic Sands, here’s a few extra notes:
- Approach
- Approach Whiskey Peak’s North Face as for Frogland. When you reach the base of the north face, traverse west on climber trails to the base of Triassic Sands, above a short but widespread band of rotten cliffs. The pitch two splitter becomes more obvious as you get closer. Bookmark 30-60 minutes.
- If continuing to the summit
- From the top of pitch four, follow the path of least resistance straight up for two rope lengths (no harder than 5.5) until reaching a prominent and steep nose feature. Traverse down and right on exposed fourth class slabs to an obvious vegetated gully 100 feet west. Follow this gully (4th class) to the summit ridge. Once on the ridge, traverse east over and around two pinnacles to the true summit (4th class). Descend the first gully to the east (3rd class) as for Frogland and other Whiskey Peak routes.
- Link the first two pitches
- To avoid rope drag, the first two pitches can be easily linked. I would do this next time.
- The death flake…
- The pitch four diving board death flake covered in shoe rubber and chalk should be avoided. Mountain Project may tell you it’s “more solid than you think” – but it’s not. A bolt on the lip of the roof protects the roof pull and keeps lead falls away from this flake.
- A triple rack? A quadruple rack?
- Pitch two is long and very sustained at two and three inches. Treat this like an Indian Creek splitter. The guidebook recommended triple set of cams in those sizes is appropriate, with more or less according to comfort.
- Round Trip
- We completed Triassic Sands in roughly 7 hours car to car, struggling with pitch two but climbing the remaining pitches relatively fast with minimal protection. We stashed packs at the convergence of the Whiskey Peak approach and descent trails, marked by a large cairn.
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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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