Eric T Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 (edited) Trip: Red Rocks - Inti Watana to Resolution Arete Date: 10/29/2012 Trip Report: Inti Watana to Resolution Arête Grade V, 5.10+, 22 pitches On Monday, October 29th, Chris Cox and I climbed Inti Watana to Resolution Arête at Red Rocks, Nevada, car to car. Inti Watana is Bolivian and translates as “The place where one can lasso the sun”. The name is fitting as IW to RA is one of Red Rocks longest and tallest routes which culminates on the summit of Mt. Wilson. Resolution Arête was F/A’ed on New Year’s Day, hence the name. Inti Watana is a steep, east facing wall (12 pitches, 2000ft) just to the north of Resolution Arête; Init eventually joins Res Arête on its 14th pitch and climbs 10 more pitches to the summit. Oct 29, 2012 Rise 7:01Am Set 5:47PM 10h 46m 03s Above is the sunrise and set for the 29th, we had 10 hours and 46 minutes of light to do the climb and committed to do the approach and decent in darkness. At 22 pitches in length that would give us 30 minutes a pitch to lead, follow, rerack and start the cycle anew. The full Moon was chased away by sunrise and in turn the full Moon rose as the Sun set making me think about the cycles of life. The approach was strait forward enough; each step we took toward Mt. Wilson made it seem larger until it loomed above us like a dark fortress. We were alone at the base and prepped in silence. Chris led out on the opening crux pitches, stiff 10’s through bolts on red rock. The quiet was only broken by his grunts and my affirmations. The route is a delicious mixture of bolts and trad. If you tie a 70 meter rope onto Chris look out; he will link pitches, habitually. Chris is a habitual pitch linker! Which works out well on long routes like this; after the first few pitches the climbing eases back into 10-/9 territory and had the feel of Crimson Chrysalis on steroids. The 9th through the 12th pitches are worth doing the whole climb alone for. They’re on that plated Red Rocks stone, in spectacular position and really fun climbing. Every anchor of Inti Watana is bolted and the route can be rapped. Chris and I both highly recommend this route. Once we reached Resolution Arête the grade eased off a bit but the climb clears its throat, deepens its voice and gets strait into some adventure climbing. We simu-climbed the last five pitches of Res Arête to make the summit at sunset where we watched the full Moon rise over Las Vegas. We signed the summit log in total solitude snapped some pics and started our three hour decent to the car through First Creek Canyon. A local told us to follow high ground all the way to the back of the escarpment to a saddle where you have one foot on the sandstone and one foot on the limestone, that was good beta. That saddle is where you turn south into First Creek Canyon and start the two hour boulder hoping session before the trail gains the flats where we emerged to Mt Wilson bathed in full moonlight and looking much less sinister. Chris and I had warmed up in the previous days on: Ragged Edges, Frigid Air Buttress, Dark Shadows, Crimson Chrysalis, Bird Land and Black Orpheus. Chris had also done Epinephrine and a few others on Black Velvet Wall with Whitney Clark while I rested and viewed the Grand Canyon. I turned over 100 trad pitches at Red Rocks in Rocktober; a spectacular fall season. Thanks Brother Chris! Moon set behind Yellow Jacket Tower, Mt Wilson to the left. Chris approaching IW to RA at day break More approach gully to IW Looking up IW with Resolution Arete to the left. Chris firing off the crux pitches on IW The last belay on IW looking down the entire route. Chris leading out on pitch 14 of Resolution Arete The cat walk Mt. Wilson Summit Moon rise over Las Vegas Our summit log entry Mt. Wilson by the full moon looking north Crimson Chrysalis Crimson Chrysalis Chris at the final anchors on Crimson Chrysalis The base of Black Orpheus Me at the crux of Black Orpheus Dark Shadows Dark Shadows An old SMC Star Drive....Some say clip'em, some say skip'em Gear Notes: A standard rack to 3 and 15 draws will be sufficient for Inti Watana; some folks might like a 4 and some long runners to finish up on Resolution Arete. Approach Notes: We Approached Inti Watana in darkness and had minimal issues fining the right gully. Edited November 18, 2012 by Eric T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_warfield Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 (edited) Luckily what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but what happens at Red Rocks gets reported on cc.com sometimes. Thanks for the great TR and photos. Edited November 17, 2012 by matt_warfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Great job on the report! Miss that place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Those Mt. Wilson approach gullies are such a delight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 ... wicked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 This is now on my tick list for my next trip to Red Rock...which is LUCKILY coming up in January!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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