My wife and I climbed Sky Chimney yesterday (Feb. 22, 2004). It was a great route and we found it fairly demanding for the grade (personally, I thought that some of 5.8's in the park were easier, ex. Sky Ridge and Pack Animal were easier). To update some of the information posted on the route page by Darin.
Pitch 1: Has been retrobolted. Additionally, there's now a "direct" variation. Start the chimney as described on the route page, and about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way up follow the bolts straight up the face (probably 5.7 - 5.8, very nicely bolted). If you choose the original chimney route, that too seemed to be bolted all the way.
Pitch 2: Excellent pro. The crux is probably getting into the cavelet at the very top of the pitch. The belay is still boltless and relies largely on mid-sized cams behind the hollow sounding block. You CAN supplement with a 2.5 inch cam in the crack near the cave's ceiling on the left (above the hollow sounding block). The floor of the cave is nicely sloped so you are relying on the anchor pretty "heavily".
Pitch 3: The step out of the belay cave is somewhat tricky esp. if you're short but you can place a very large cam (I used my #5 Friend, smaller would probably do as well) before committing (it's kind of a mental game since you remember that the belay anchor relies largely on the hollow sounding bock). I found the crux of the pitch (and the route) to come about 10-15 feet above the belay where there's a slightly overhung flake on the left forming a wide "slot". Worming your way up it is probably the crux. The climbing eases beyond there but never to the point of being boring. About 2/3rds of the way up the pitch, there a decent looking bolt/piton (not sure what it was - looked solid if a bit thin). The technical part of the pitch ends when you pull (left) onto a VERY dirty, sloping ledge. There's a single bolt there the main purpose of which is to keep your rope(s) off the ledge so as not to kill anyone below with fist sized rocks you'd dislodge with your rope. Walk the ledge 20 feet and move up the 4th class squeeze chimney. Belay immediately above.
Darin was not exaggerating the importance of cams on this pitch. If you don't have a grade or two of comfort (i.e. you're a 5.7 or 5.8 leader) over this route rating, you'll be plugging in those cams like there's no tomorrow. It would take some imagination and patience to fiddle in anything else. Most of the pro on the upper two pitches consists of cams in the 1.5 to 3 inch range (though you can find good placements for larger ones as well). Wear HELMETS!!!
Climbed this route on 10/28/06. We had several cams invert due to the funky shaped cracks. This route absolutely eats hexes, I'd recommend a set of #7 to #10 in addition to a normal rack of cams.
Now I'm curious to try climbing it again with hexes, must admit that I hadn't used em much when I climbed Sky Chimney. My latest gear fixation has been using tri-cams in Red Rocks. Gear perfectly designed for that type of rock.
Darin.
rpc - Feb 23, 2004 12:19 pm - Voted 10/10
Route CommentMy wife and I climbed Sky Chimney yesterday (Feb. 22, 2004). It was a great route and we found it fairly demanding for the grade (personally, I thought that some of 5.8's in the park were easier, ex. Sky Ridge and Pack Animal were easier). To update some of the information posted on the route page by Darin.
Pitch 1: Has been retrobolted. Additionally, there's now a "direct" variation. Start the chimney as described on the route page, and about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way up follow the bolts straight up the face (probably 5.7 - 5.8, very nicely bolted). If you choose the original chimney route, that too seemed to be bolted all the way.
Pitch 2: Excellent pro. The crux is probably getting into the cavelet at the very top of the pitch. The belay is still boltless and relies largely on mid-sized cams behind the hollow sounding block. You CAN supplement with a 2.5 inch cam in the crack near the cave's ceiling on the left (above the hollow sounding block). The floor of the cave is nicely sloped so you are relying on the anchor pretty "heavily".
Pitch 3: The step out of the belay cave is somewhat tricky esp. if you're short but you can place a very large cam (I used my #5 Friend, smaller would probably do as well) before committing (it's kind of a mental game since you remember that the belay anchor relies largely on the hollow sounding bock). I found the crux of the pitch (and the route) to come about 10-15 feet above the belay where there's a slightly overhung flake on the left forming a wide "slot". Worming your way up it is probably the crux. The climbing eases beyond there but never to the point of being boring. About 2/3rds of the way up the pitch, there a decent looking bolt/piton (not sure what it was - looked solid if a bit thin). The technical part of the pitch ends when you pull (left) onto a VERY dirty, sloping ledge. There's a single bolt there the main purpose of which is to keep your rope(s) off the ledge so as not to kill anyone below with fist sized rocks you'd dislodge with your rope. Walk the ledge 20 feet and move up the 4th class squeeze chimney. Belay immediately above.
Darin was not exaggerating the importance of cams on this pitch. If you don't have a grade or two of comfort (i.e. you're a 5.7 or 5.8 leader) over this route rating, you'll be plugging in those cams like there's no tomorrow. It would take some imagination and patience to fiddle in anything else. Most of the pro on the upper two pitches consists of cams in the 1.5 to 3 inch range (though you can find good placements for larger ones as well). Wear HELMETS!!!
Martin Cash - Oct 30, 2006 4:08 pm - Voted 10/10
Hexes!Climbed this route on 10/28/06. We had several cams invert due to the funky shaped cracks. This route absolutely eats hexes, I'd recommend a set of #7 to #10 in addition to a normal rack of cams.
darinchadwick - Oct 30, 2006 9:50 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Hexes!Now I'm curious to try climbing it again with hexes, must admit that I hadn't used em much when I climbed Sky Chimney. My latest gear fixation has been using tri-cams in Red Rocks. Gear perfectly designed for that type of rock.
Darin.