This route follows the upper north-facing arete of the Watch Crystal face. Approximately 80 feet of fairly moderate climbing from the top belay ledge of

Evolution

(or the hanging belay anchor of

Crime and Punishment

) brings you to the top of the wall. It can be done either as an extension of

Crime and Punishment

or in an 80-foot pitch from the

Evolution

/

Crime

anchors. The first ascent party linked the Imps Arete with Crime and Punishment in one long pitch to the top of the face. If you do it this way, it's best to belay at the first belay ledge 35 feet off the ground above the technical 5.11- crux of

Crime and Punishment

.

This route offers some worthy exposure and stays on the arete to the top. Most of the climbing is cruiser, but there are two 5.9 sections protected by bolts. You will need a few pieces of gear ranging in size from 0.4 to 0.75 Camalot.

Imp's Arete

Mister Man

Off the Rack Mammal

Simians to the Sun

Double Exposure

Jungle Monkey

Jailhouse Monkey (on dope)

Double Exposure Direct

Extra Cool

Crime & Punishment

Durangutan

Left Picto

Jungle Book

The Black Arete

Evolution

Apes of Wrath

Doctor Doolittle

Watch Crystal Crack

The Kong Route

Teen Town

Yellow Pages

Push-Me-Pull-You

One "Bit" Wonder

White Pages

Skyhawk Arete

Right Picto

Dogs of Doom

Power Glide

Picto Crack

Lucky Time Piece (submitted as Primate Highway)

Hidden Gem

Climb the same start as

Crime and Punishment

.  At the second bolt, bust left to six more bolts and a bolt anchor.  This needs one rope to descend.

After clipping the last bolt on

Power Glide

, place some small gear in the crack up and left, and then head left. Hand traverse under the Bonsai tree placing gear as you go. A good mono undercling helps transition you into sidepulls and underclings with good feet. Follow the feature to the no hands rest at the base of the open book on

Primate Highway

. From here, you can go to

The Kong...

anchor for easy cleaning.

After climbing

Power Glide

the climbing is only about 5.10+.

Make a few big moves, and do some pumpy climbing past 3 bolts on the wall above

PMPU

.

Climb the start up to the belay ledge, for some fun funky moves stay in the crack, for some fun face climbing on trad gear go right.  At the belay ledge, climb the bolted route in front of you to finish the classic climb.

This is on the far right of Watch Crystal Wall, and it goes around corner. It is characterized by an overhanging crimps and jugs.

Jungle Monkey is a bolted variation of

Durangutan

between

Durangutan

and

Jail House Monkey

.

Climb the same start as

Durangotang

to gain belay ledge.  From the belay ledge shoot straight up (

Durangotang

is to your left and

Apes of Wrath

is to your right) 160 feet to the top.

Begin on a shared start with "

Dogs of Doom

". Solo up to the high first bolt (this is the "R" bit) and then begin the exciting, footwork-intensive face climbing sequence on solid edges, sloping sidepulls, and classic crimps until and awkward mantle.  There is a small crack here for... maybe a green Alien? Move into more exciting face climbing that links into the upper portion of Double Exposure.  It has great movement and great rock; this does not get the traffic it deserves!

Pitch one - climb crack through a roof and some brush to gain a ledge on the left.

Pitch two - climb the left-facing dihedral to a gully.

Use the same start as

Evolution

, at the second bolt bust left and climb to the second belay of

Durangotang

.  This route has some heady runout, but it is quality.

This is a three pitch classic.

Pitch one - climb the short stem corner to gain belay ledge past one bolt (10a).

Pitch two - climb past a small tree, and go for the ledge, bring your usual East A rack for this affair (10c).

Pitch three - this is a short pitch that takes you past two bolts to the top.

This is typically done as a second pitch to

Yellow Pages

.  It is also possible to walk up from the right.  The route is a slightly overhanging blocky crack that starts at the left side of the belay ledge.

This is an alternative to starting on

Crime & Punishment

for any of the routes starting on the left side of the Watch Crystal Wall. I linked it into

Jungle Monkey

, which made for a fun pitch. Fun and kind of reachy climbing past 4 bolts puts you on a ledge where you can choose one of 4 different routes to finish on.

I am not sure of the history on this one. The shallow dihedral had some empty bolt holes from before I showed up.

This starts at the top of the second pitch of

Push-Me-Pull-You

.  This has fun climbing on good rock but sparse protection leads to the top.

Again gain the

Durangotang

belay ledge and then bust right to climb the bolts to the Watch Crystal belay ledge.

Located to the left of the East Animas classic

Push-Me-Pull-You

, this climb goes up to the obvious roof and over it.

Climb the same start as

Simians to the Sun

, avoid the belay ledge and then bust up the crack to a two bolt achor.

Pitch 1-Use the same start as

Primate Highway

to a ledge at the top of a shallow corner, belay from this ledge.  (5.9)

Pitch 2- Follow the ramp from the ledge to some bolts.

Steve and I originally did this route without any fixed gear (the rating reflects the original state of the ascent). It was done prior to

Lucky Time Piece (aka Primate Highway)

, and so today it benefits from the bolt on the rightward traverse out of the first part of the

Simians to the Sun

crack system. In other words, it heads toward

Kong

. I broke the drill bit (which I tied off for pro) and then in desperation moved leftward along a rail to the

Simian's

hanging belay. It was a X lead at the time with a challenging series of moves along the rail. I named the route after the Heavy Weather (fusion jazz) song.  It most likely hasn't seen a second ascent.

This is the easiest route at East Animas. It has good climbing on good rock, is easy to find, and protects well. A great beginner trad lead.  Starts with a steep move to gain a nice, right-facing corner that leads to a large ledge and bolted anchor.

There are three possible second pitches that can be done from here (

Left Picto

,

Picto Crack

,

Right Picto

).

Described as a classic East Animas crack climb, this takes on the obvious crack to gain a ledge.  From this ledge, belay your partner up and go to the obvious crack (5.8).

Climb up “

Primate Highway

,” and then veer right at the bedding seam to access the “

Kong

” anchor on the ledge.

Pitch 2: from the belay, climb up past the old fixed drill bit following 12 bolts to the top of the cliff. Just after the bulge, clip a bolt shared with “

Simians

,” then look for black bolts up and right on a black rock ban. After the last bolt, you can finish on either the

Kong

anchor or the

Simians

anchor. 70m rope gets you back down just enough to the anchor at the start of the route shared with Kong.

​When I guide up at East A,

Yellow Pages

is often the first route we'll hop on. I've always wanted another easy route. Each time I've done

Yellow Pages

, I've looked at this section of rock and thought something could go up it.

Finally, after going up there one day and doing a free solo circuit over in the Apple Cider area, I decided to really give this line a look. It looked easy enough to solo, so I headed up.

I cleaned out the starting crack on the way up then got up to a good stance and sent some loose blocks and flakes down. Up higher, I brushed off some facey holds and slabby smears as I made my way to the

Yellow Pages

anchor.

A few days later, I returned with some buds, and we put in 4 bolts to protect the face and slab climbing.

This is a fun climb and is great for the beginning leader. A mix of gear and bolts means you'll get to plug some pieces and hang some draws. This is great to toprope or lead while you're over here ticking

Yellow Pages

.

Beta:

start 15' right of

Yellow Pages

. Follow the crack up, protecting with a medium-sized cam or a small stopper. Clip a bolt, and climb into a small recess with a great stance. Get either a small cam or a #4 in here. Continue up, trending left and clipping 3 more bolts, to the

Yellow Pages

anchor near the tree. Lower and do

Yellow Pages

.

I'm sure this route has been climbed before; however, it was fun to clean it up and establish an easier route. I think it will become a popular climb for the grade.

A powerful start leads to a desperate throw after the second bolt. After the crux, enjoy easier but still thought-provoking climbing to the ledge shared with

Yellow Pages

.

At this point, it is recommended to continue up

Double Exposure

. This link-up is creates an amazing 100 foot pitch of exposed arete climbing - not to be missed!

A link-up of Skyhawk Arete

Double Exposure

, and

The Black Arete

, "Black Hawk Arete" makes for one of the better arete climbs around. A 200' pitch, from bottom to top, the climbing slowly gets easier but more runout the higher you climb.

This is the rightmost crack of the

Left Picto

,

Picto

, and Right Picto gathering. It is a fun climb with some funky moves.

Rappel the route from a two bolt anchor. Per

Cole Bellomo

: when rapping, be mindful of cracks directly under the anchor as this rap has a high potential for a stuck rope.

Climb the corner just to the right of

Push-Me-Pull-You

, starts straight up then angles to the right.  The climbing is pretty good, but be solid at the grade, as there is really not much gear to be had.

This route is typically done as a second pitch to

Yellow Pages

, however, it is also possible to walk up to it from the right.  It is the crack that starts in the center of the belay ledge.  It is an overhanging tight-hand to hand crack.  Short but good fun.

Start the same as

Simians to the Sun

, but about halfway up bust right at the roof and then go up to the belay of

Simians

. This has been said to be a little runout.

Per

David Kozak

: this route was originally climbed without fixed gear in 1985, two years prior to Bruce Lella bolting the route. On the day of the ascent, I originally attempted to climb this line on lead but chickened out and moved further right and up to a spot where I tried to place a bolt. I broke the bit (only one I had) and then tied it off and moved left along a rail to the

Simian's

hanging belay. Steve Kolarik and I called this Teen Town and rated it 10- X. We then rapped, and I cleaned and inspected the route (Primate Highway/Lucky Time Piece) and then lead it ground up without pre-placed gear. Due to its difficulty and dangerous nature, I rated the route an 11+ X.

This was bolted on lead, so it is a little sporty. It has a little run out at the top, you have to climb through the crux to get to the next to and last bolt. This has good crimps with powerful lockoffs and big moves over a small roof. It shares the anchors with

Doctor Doolittle

and

Push-Me-Pull-You

. Climb up and left after the last bolt around the flake. Please use good sandstone climbing skills.

I gave it 12+ to 13- rating with the suggestion of others. I would be interested in hearing others' suggestions.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in I. Watch Crystal