Refried Brains is a lesser known but highly acclaimed route on the left margin of the famous Black Velvet Wall. Unique for the wall, it caters to the crack enthusiast with three long pitches of sustained and steep crack climbing, and one penultimate bolted arete pitch.
The Black Velvet Wall is absolutely studded with classic routes from 5.10 to 5.12 and beyond. This massive panel upwards of 2000 feet tall is characterized by steepness, endless desert varnish edges, and few sustained cracks. What little cracks exist typically wane into ladder-esque crimping and high stepping. This is not a complaint, but rather a compliment. Black Velvet routes are unique and interesting. More moderate adventures such as Epinephrine, Dream Of Wild Turkeys and Sour Mash make use of generous bolting between subtle crack features to create interesting mixed protected climbing at an approachable grade. Perhaps the real gems of Black Velvet are the trad protected face routes like Rock Warrior, Fiddler on the Roof and Sandstone Samurai, where bolts are minimized for an incredibly engaging experience of nondescript and committing climbing, relying on small wires and cams creatively placed in thin seams between plates. On most walls routes like these simply wouldn’t work, as face holds would neither be close enough together nor strong enough to withstand fall forces of shallow natural protection. However, the varnish on the Black Velvet Wall is abundant and absolutely bulletproof. The routes pushing into 5.11+ and 5.12 naturally sprout more bolts due to the difficulty and smoothness of the climbing, becoming more akin to sport climbing but no less impressive. But then you have Refried Brains – an extreme outlier – a real crack climb tucked away on the overlooked and shorter left margin of Black Velvet. The first three and a half pitches, some 550 feet, are for the tried and true crack climber, with difficulties from podded tips crack to fists, off-width and chimney, and only a singular lead bolt. Pitch three is one of the best 5.9 hand cracks you’ll climb anywhere, 150 feet of steep and sustained vertical bliss. While it may look benign from afar, this black sheep isn’t to be missed.
Bobbi and I chose Refried Brains for our second to last Red Rocks adventure of 2025 based on recommendation from a trusted friend. While the original route climbs some 2000 feet to the top of Black Velvet Peak, fixed anchors facilitate a retreat from the top of the steep climbing at pitch four. This popular abbreviated version sounded just right for one of the shortest days of the year. Having recently climbed Rock Warrior (5.10b R, 6p, 800′), we were familiar with the sometimes tricky approach and made quick time to the base of the wall. Refried Brains is easily identified as the only top-to-bottom crack line left of Dream of Wild Turkeys. Fresh off a season of consistently climbing long 5.10 Red Rocks routes I figured we’d blaze right up Refried, but much like Triassic Sands (5.10, III, 700′) we were humbled. The guidebook lists the first two pitches at 5.8+ and the second two at 5.9, but we had a hard time parsing between the four and thought they were all 5.9. Once you figure out the difference between 5.8+ and 5.9, please let me know. Anyways, each pitch gave us a run for our money due equally to sustained steepness, difficulty, and rope stretching length. Pitch one was perhaps the most unique, with an engaging friction slab on white sandstone that gave way to a long podded tips crack reminiscent of Dark Shadows’ second pitch, but steeper and thinner. Pitch two had more Black Velvet flare, with some bouldery face climbing following a thinning seam into a giant right facing corner system. When the corner got unruly and protection opportunities dried, I chucked a long runner on a tiny wire and made some memorable horizontal slab moves into an adjacent gully. This gully turned into a long low-angle bombay chimney ending at a gear belay before the steeper upper headwall pitches.
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Pitch three is superb. From the gully, a miraculous 12 inch footledge with no hand holds facilitates a “Thank God Ledge” style nipples-to-the-wall shimmy traverse into a soaring 150 foot vertical hand crack. This crack begins benign, but quickly steepens with a few wide pods that demand offwidth witchcraft or some daring face climbing to pass. I left the optional #5 cam in the truck, bumping engagement level. Higher, the crack thins to a crux in sequential and smooth finger locks. The fourth and final pitch takes a choss gully towards an obvious right facing open book, where instead of logically heading straight back into crack mode you step left onto a brilliant east facing arete with four lead bolts and airy 5.9 face climbing out a small roof. It felt only fitting to end my Black Velvet season with a 15 foot runout above a lonely brass off-set Astro Nut. Bobbi followed each pitch expediently, and while we expected to climb faster than one hour per pitch, we still escaped the rappels before headlamp hour.
All in all, Refried Brains more than lived up to its near classic status. Fresh off three days of climbing with sore toes, poor sleep, a stout winter breeze and no puffy jacket, I climbed timid and had more of a “type two fun” experience than Bobbi, who claimed Refried as one of her 2025 favorites. Pitch three was unarguably king, but my favorites were two and four. I really get off on the vague trad protected face climbing of Black Velvet, and sometimes find jamming desert varnish cracks tough on the extremities. While only rated 5.9, I bet even the most dialed of 5.10 climber would find enjoyment in this fine route, as all the pitches are long, interesting and sustained at the grade.
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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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