Eric & Lucie's Bus Trip: Rock Climbing at Red Rocks, Crimson Chrysalis

"Crimson Chrysalis" is THE mega-classic long moderate at Red Rock. It is a superb climb that ascends the north face of the Cloud Tower, at the mouth of Juniper Canyon. The line, which is nine pitches long and incredibly direct, follows a continuous crack and chimney system at first, then ascends the chocolate-colored face to the top of the tower. Most of the climbing is in the 5.7-5.8 range, making it wonderfully sustained for the grade. We had already climbed "Crimson" a couple of years before, but Lucie wanted her chance to lead it.

The major problem with this climb is its popularity. So much so that it is not rare to see 3 or 4 parties on the climb and a few more queued at the base. Since we wanted to beat the crowds and avoid being stuck behind a slow party, we decided not to wait for the scenic loop to open (the normal approach starts from the Pine Creek parking area along the loop which opens only at 6AM). This meant leaving the campground very early (4:45AM) and approaching on foot from the main road at the end of the loop. This adds another 30 minutes to the hour-long approach. We got to the base at 6:20AM, ten minutes after the first car arrived at the Pine Creek parking lot. After a quick snack, we started climbing at 7AM.

Lucie led all 9 pitches. The 5th pitch, a 5.8+ finger and hand crack is especially fun. Several new bolts had apparently been added to the route since our previous ascent, and some of them seemed unnecessary... We reached the top of Cloud Tower at 11:30AM, had lunch on the top and then rappelled the route (8 double-rope raps past three other parties). We were back at our packs at 1:30PM.