Alan Cook and I completed a new route yesterday on Red Mountain Pass. The route goes up next to the Gravity’s Rainbow ice climb.  It’s soo cool to be able to head out in the evening and bust up a first ascent in a couple hours and without any real planning.  We are so lucky to live here!  

We did the route ground up, on-sight, with no bolts and no recon in about 3 hrs. car to car.    The beginning went chill, but halfway up the 5.9 pitch I was having my doubts about what kind of stupid adventure I might be getting myself into.  I know that I shouldn’t be too engaged at 5.9, but wandering up an unclimbed wall with only occasional gear on questionable rock you can’t help but wonder how far you’re willing to push it.  There wasn’t much to rappel off of, so I just kept climbing hoping to encounter a decent place for a belay before I ran out of rope.  Running it out on solid rock is easy to handle in comparison as you only need to rely on your own skill.  

The name came to me, not on the route, as we didn’t have much time for pickle tickling, but while I was having a burger with Lisa at Maggies this evening.  The name was too wrong to risk forgetting.  It had to go down in the books.  The combination of innocent words to make a less than innocent picture in your mind is the perfect thing to make me giggle.  Junior highish likely, but if it makes me, and possibly others laugh too, than it’s worth it!   

 

Tickle My Pickle (5.9 R, 650 ft.)

Located just left of Gravity’s Rainbow (a popular ice climb), which is a prominent water stain in the summer.  Approach up the same gully as for Lightline, then traverse ledges to the right for about 350 ft.  

Begin just left of Gravity’s Rainbow aiming for a prominent buttress that’s kind of separated from the main wall.  The first hundred feet are about 5.4 and gain a ledge beneath the buttress.  

Gain the buttress on the right side.  The buttress contains two aretes, separated by a dihedral.  Ascend the right arete until you are forced to traverse left into the dihedral.  You’ll end up on the left arete about the time it terminates into a face. Ascend the face to the top the buttress.  It’s aprx. 250 ft. from the ledge to the top of the buttress and about 5.5 on mostly very good rock.  Belay the the top of the buttress.  Some cam placements can be found closer to the wall for an anchor.  

Step off the buttress and head up, and slightly left into a left facing corner system with bright yellow lichen spots that looms above.  Climb the face moving back and forth from the corner to the face on run-out,  sustained, technical, but not pumpy terrain.  The corner system terminates onto and arete that’s a little loose.  Climb up a little more and belay on a sloping ledge at about 190 ft, green camalot/s size is needed for the belay.  This pitch is about 5.9.  

Step right around the arete, over some loose blocks, then continue up a gully and face to the top of the wall (5.5, 120 ft. or so).

Hike up and left, traversing above a rotten gully, onto deer trails that zig zap back down to the rap tree for the Lightline rappels.