Photo by Bob Sihler of Rainbow Mountain, Rainbow Wall and Juniper Peak
Around New Year's last year, my buddy Josh Squire asked me if I'd be interested in heading to Vegas with him for a climbing trip. After I'd agreed, I asked what his goals were and he said, "How do you feel about getting on a big wall?" Without thinking very long I agreed, and this was how our Rainbow Wall adventure began. The Regular Route on the Rainbow Wall climbs a corner and crack system for 1000 feet up the middle of a curved rock feature at the back of Juniper Canyon. Originally an aid route (where climbers would pull on gear they placed in the wall rather than just the rock) the route was finally sent free (without aid) almost twenty years after the first ascent. I had never attempted anything nearly this difficult but Josh told me I could, "probably pull through most of it" whatever that means. He had also never climbed the route.
When the day finally came, we headed into the canyon at 6am. We would have liked to start earlier, but didn't have the overnight permit to camp in the park. Instead, we were first in line waiting for the gate to open listening to the 90s grunge rock my partner is addicted to.
In the book, the approach is listed at about 2 hours, but Red Rocks is famous for confusing climbers with a poor sense of direction. We started hiking at 630am with a single 70 meter rope, a light rack (doubles up to 1inch, single to three, a single set of nuts, and 14 draws), 4 liters of water, some snack bars and two peanut butter sandwiches. We arrived at the base of the climb just after 8am. The sun was up, but Rainbow Wall is famous for remaining shaded all day. At the base of the climb there was a large pile of unmelted snow. After a short snowball fight, we dropped our packs, and set up for the climb. Josh was taking the first 3 pitches, and I would take the middle five before he would finish the last 4. At least, that was the plan.
Tim Wolsonovich cleaning a route on Rainbow Wall
For the first pitch, we did the easier 5.11b variation. It was the hardest pitch I'd ever climbed anywhere. I got to the anchor, out of breath and exhausted. The next pitch was harder (11.d), and the third wasn't easy either (11c). Josh had to lead two more pitches (10c/10a) before I was recovered enough to take the middle three (5.7, 5.9, 5.8) including a long traverse that was interesting to protect on flaky hollow rock.
Tim Wolsonovich signing the summit register of Rainbow Wall
At 2:30 in the afternoon, we arrived at the base of the crux pitch, a blank looking 5.12a corner with no handholds and an equal number of footholds. It was beyond us. I was exhausted and Josh was only slightly better. He aid climbed the last four pitches and I jugged after him, ascending the rope. Before setting out for the day, we agreed to bail at 4pm no matter where we were on the cliff so that we could make it back to the car before the park closed. We topped out at 4pm exactly. I signed the summit log while Josh set up for rappels. We spent the next 3 and a half hours rappelling the cliff and hiking back to the car. Our total time, car to car, was 13 hours.
Tim flaking his rope on Rainbow Ledge with his climbing partner, Josh
In most of the pitches, there were moments I knew I couldn't progress without falling, but made the attempt anyway (often without falling). The experience completely changed my expectations of myself and elevated all my goals when it comes to the sport. Overall, the route was impossibly hard, but I have a different understanding of how hard "hard" is, what I'm capable of, and what my goals will be going forward.
All photos besides the full shot of the range by Bob Sihler were provided by Tim Wolsonovich; the Gym Manager of our South Boston location
