It is a fairly powerful route for its 35 feet of climbing and its moderate grade.  Shorter folks may have trouble at the 1st bolt and call it 11c, but strong, taller climbers might call it 10+.  Fire up to positive but small holds to the left of the 1st bolt.  Go left first, then up to a good side-pull/pocket.  Then, go R, then hand-traverse left.  To finish, there are 2 ways to go.  Left seemed easier.  Good 1-2-3 punch with

Like Water for Bob

, this, and

I Reckon

.  Nice route, especially if your time is limited & your partner is rumbling about going to Flagstaff to get a pump!

For the

Hymenoptera

-sensitive, there were wasps in the first side-pull pocket of this climb!

Boy Howdy

Like Water for Bob

I'll be Dipped

Square Dance

Inbred Arete

Dirt Shower

West’s Dihedral

Hoo-doggy

Darn Tootin'

I Reckon

This is the leftmost route at Hillbilly - it goes up a short, black face. It is short, powerful, sharp but not painful. This is an exercise in crimpers and underclings. Avoid surprises by scoping the location of all the bolts before leaving the ground. I thought 12a was a reasonable grade, but it's a hard route to onsight, since many of the holds are hard to evaluate (or even see!) from below.

Addendum:

For the

Hymenoptera

-sensitive, there can be a fairly tenacious bunch of wasps on this climb!

This is the 3rd climb from the left on this cliff. It is deceptive. Move thuggishly past a bolt to a ledge, then step up to the confounding crux. This goes two ways, straight up or surf left (harder & reachier), but both are way reachy. Above, easier but absorbing climbing takes you to the anchors.

The three right-hand routes share a common start below a large tree jutting out of right side of the cliff. This is the left-most of these three.  It is the 4th climb from the left on the cliff. Climb past 5 bolts to finish near the tree.

This is the middle line of three on the right side of this cliff. It is the 5th climb from the left on this cliff.

Clip the two bolt of

I'll be Dipped

, then go up and slightly right, then up past a left-facing corner.  The crux seemed to be getting in balance at the penultimate bolt.

The furthest right route, Inbred Arete starts with a higher first bolt. The next moves are blind and may be the 1st crux. After you pull the bulge, gain the arete for the next 3 bolts. After the last bolt is the 2nd cruxy spot. Use a runner at the top of the arete before committing to the anchors.

This route looks easier than it actually is.  From the ground, we thought it would be 5.8 or easier.  It is harder.  The crux is about halfway up where there is a bulge-like obstruction in the crack.  There is a hand-sized crack where the crux starts, but it gets smaller as things get more difficult.  You can finish with the end of

I'll Be Dipped

by clipping its last bolt and doing its last move.  We went up the crack instead, and exiting the crack is difficult.  It is not as hard as the crux, but it is certainly harder than most of the route.  We called it Dirt Shower, because we cleaned out lots of dirt while climbing that fell to the ground.

This route is the second from last on the right, just left of

Inbred Arete

. It is perfect for a warm-up. Scramble up to an easy, high first bolt. Next, find casual climbing to the top of the ramp with the 5th bolt out left on the face. Continue to anchors. 5.7, 5 bolts with steel rappelling biners.

This is the rightmost route on the cliff. It is best identified by the hanging slab reached by trending right on the crag.  Clip four bolts of

Square Dance

, then climb right into a flakey ramp/corner feature that angles up and right. Climb this, and step back left to the SD anchors. It has some suspect rock, but it should clean up after a few ascents.

"I Reckon" this pitch was worth boltin'.

Just left of the aforementioned route is essentially a fun bolted boulder problem. This small pitch climbs directly to the shared anchor and packs a punch. It is similar in style and intensity to

I Reckon

.

We thought it was a nice addition to this fun, little winter crag.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Hillbilly Rock 1