A very interesting route. It wanders a bit, and has a lot of variation. Zig zag your way up the face to a final steep move below the anchor.    Careful lowering off.

Screaming Yellow Zonkers

Across the Great Divide

Sundown

Reason To Be

Bad Moon Rising

Jzero

Trezlar

Tale of Two Shitties

Palo Verde

Cows in Agony

Cliff Dwelling Crack

Shadow of Doubt

Massive Luxury Overdose (aka Planet Luxury)

Desolation Row

Moons of Pluto

Cosmos

[Redacted]

Minus Morgul

Climb the face and vertical seam 6-10 feet right of Cosmos; it lacks a good start but the upper two thirds is quite nice.  Probably best to start on Cosmos and traverse in above the blank bulge.

This is a great route for the seasoned Smith Rock mud adventurer.  If you've done Abraxas, Freedom, and others and are looking for more, this one is perfect for you.  It has some swaths of truly beautiful climbing on great rock, some sections of total garbage, and everything in between.  (FWIW most of the worst rock is while you're still climbing on Chimney de Chelly)I'm fairly sure we did the second ascent today over 10 years after the FA, (at the very least, my bail gear on the second pitch from an attempt in ~2013 was still there) so I'm posting the topo here to try and encourage more than 1 repeat per decade.  (and because Gabe's topo is beautiful and the world should see it!)  Part of what makes this thing cool is having to actually quest up it to get through it.  (IMO 'quest' is the most over- and mis-used verb in the modern climbing vernacular, but it feels like an appropriate term here to describe all the groping up blank, slightly friable rock w/zero chalk found on P3)  It would be cool to keep future comments here qualitative and not let them dilute the uncertainty and adventure inherent in going ground up on a route with only a hand-drawn topo. (or hand painted in this case)

There is a newer anchor at the top of this climb making it more convienient to get off of and avoids the traverse at the top. 

  Jam and stem a clean dihedral to the right of a huge block leaning against the face.

Spicy.   Climb the arete to the right of Tale of Two Shitties using the arete and crimps. The climbing and rock are excellent, the bolts are a bit spaced making it a lil' scary. Bolts anywhere other than where they are would be extremely hard to clip. Perhaps a bit hard for the grade (aren't all 10.d's at Smith?)

Exciting route!   Start out with some wicked crimping down low (short people will probably hate this). Follow bolts up the small knobs on the face to the roof and crank through it to the anchor.

Trezlar is the awesome dihedral on the left hand side of the crag.    Pitch 1:   Climb the mangy lower section of the dihedral (5.7) or climb Cosmos (10a sport) for the first Pitch and traverse over from the top (much better) 

  Pitch 2:   Classic stemming and jamming up the impressive dihedral for 100+ feet.  

  Rap from the top of Pitch two with double ropes.

An excellent three pitch climb follows the right-hand side of the formation. The 2nd pitch is great climbing. 

  Pitch 1:    Climb a slightly chossy corner system for about 80 feet to a gear belay at the base of the dihedral. (uncomfortable belay)    5.7 

  Pitch 2: Jam the clean dihedral until the crack veers right then climb a strenous finger crack through a bulge to a fat ledge with a bolt anchor.    10.a  

  Pitch 3:   A bit spooky! Climb the face above and left of the anchor past a few bolts to a decent runout on small nubbins (5.9) to the big ledge above.   5.9R 

  The easiest way off is to traverse the ledge above the 3rd pitch to the anchor at the top of the Trezlar dihedral and rap from there with two ropes. 

[No longer a nailing route, this has been freed at 5.13a] 

  Best nailing route at smith. A3 in the Watts guide. As always aid ratings are subjective.  

  P1 - 4th class - Scramble up to the 4th class ledge, belay from two bolts. 

  P2 - 5.6 A2+ - Free climb up to the aid cracks, begin on clean aid with aliens, aid past retro bolt belay into a shallow diheadral, belay from bolts, below roof.  

  P3 - 5.4 A2+ - Pull the roof on a fixed KB and continue up the crack, the rock gets rotten but there are a few 3 bolts and a belay 20ft below the top. Aid past below free climb through the killer top out, belay from juniper tree. (only one bolt is original from the FA) 

Cows in Agony is a one pitch sport route on the center of the Mesa Verde Wall, just uphill and south from the excellent Reason to Be. 

  Start just right of a wide crack.  Opening moves are tough, consider stick clipping the first bolt.  Continue up, staying left of the bolt line.  I hate to use the word 'contrived' but this one really felt it.  I was way left following the holds and making big reaches right to clip. This route inexplicably gets three stars in the new Watts guide.  

  Step to center at the final bolt and execute a neat sequence to top out on the ledge and clip the old anchor.

Easy climbing past loose flakes behind the main flake through the beginning to some techy face climbing to an intimidating lieback. Inside of the crack is not amenable to confidence inspiring cams up high. Large hexes may be the way to go.

Shadow of Doubt is very sustained and technical for the grade.  Begin at "Reason to Be," but head right from the starting holds.  From the second bolt the climbing stays 11ish, seperated by three distinct cruxes: a crimpy section above the second bolt, a tricky roof above the third bolt, and another crimpy section above the roof.  Traverse left to the anchors for Reason to Be.

Start on a low angled face to the left of Pitch 1 of Trezlar and follow knobs and pockets to cleaner rock above . An areteish (is that a word) crux comes just below the anchor on excellent rock. 

An exciting and well protected route that epitomizes the adventure of climbing obscure trad routes at Smith.  Start on easy climbing heading towards a somewhat unnecessary bolt.  A brief section of fingers leads into a flare.  Pick a shoulder to lead with and go for it, its very strenuous, slightly dirty, and very awkward.  At the top of the chimney flare exit using the crack to the left.  A very needed rest welcomes you here before the bolt protected lieback crux, great handholds with no feet here, but you'll hit a ledge soon.  Above this bolt I saw a lot of loose blocks but it's not hard to avoid them.  The anchors are pretty high, and there isn't much hard climbing getting to them.  A 70M rope only reaches on rappel with all gear clean and no knots in the rope!

Great arete and nubbin adventure. Knobs galore and pockets where they have ripped off all the way up to and interesting crux below the anchor.   NOTE: This route no longer shares same 1st bolt with Screaming Yellow Zonkers

Knob fest.    Nubbing galore pepper this plseant face.    Crux comes at the top.   Makes a good start to Trezlar. 

This pitch starts at the anchor atop Sundown. Climb the face above the dihedral on small knobs and edges veering left to the anchor above the crux of Mingas Morgul. The traverse left is a bit runout. 

  This can be combined with Sundown into one long lead. (recommended) 

  Either Rap from here with one 60m or continue on for one more pitch of 5.9 up Mingas Morgul to the ledge where Tale finishes. 

Generally neglected, Minus Morgul is actually one of the more splitter finger cracks at Smith. While the business is short-lived, what's there is quality climbing on decent stone.  Historically guarded by fixed gear that was mint in the early 80s, this thing recently got updated.  (the 5/16" wedge bolt was replaced with a glue in as was the fixed pin that came out by hand)P1: (5.8) Approach either via a bolted slab on the leaning block or via naturally protected climbing up the chimney to a semi-hanging stance below the splitter.P2: (5.11d) Clip a bolt off the anchor (previously a fixed pin) and crank up the splitter finger crack to a small roof and another bolt.  The anchor is encountered shortly after turning the lip and pitches one and two link logically.   Most rap from here, but purists can continue above to the top of the wall.P3: (5.9) This is the same finish as for Down Syndrome.  Climb the low angle crack staying right where the crack forks to stay on slightly harder terrain with better rock.  Belay on handsized gear and an ancient bolt (or just gear...) at the top of the wall.  Either walk/scramble off left or rap from a bolted anchor south of where you topped out.

Great West side crag, cool on summer mornings in the shade.   Good collection of trad and sport climbs from one to three pitches long.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in (q) Mesa Verde Wall