Chain Reaction 'Smith Rocks' by Steve McClure include "header_root.php

The Climbing

Most people have heard of the famous Smith routes, with 'Just Do It' being perhaps the most famous. This route takes a direct line up the hardest part of an amazing freestanding pillar of rock known as 'The Monkey Face'. Americas first 14c, or 8c+, this is an 8a+ with an 8b+ on top. If you want an easy 8c+ then this is probably it, if you want an easy 8a+ then the first pitch is not it!! There is plenty of other awesome stuff to do here besides the desperate. The two most striking arêtes in the world offer 'Spank The Monkey' at 7b, and 'The back bone' at 7c+. The latter is one of the most amazing routes I've ever seen in the world - ever! Having ticked those, the five pitch 'Pioneer Route' climbs right to the top of the pillar, and at about VS should offer a suitable rest.
The second most famous route here is one that changed the style of climbing forever at Smith, if not in the whole of the States, 'To Bolt Or Not To Be'. Soft for the grade if you like 100 move, 45 metre long, vertical crimpy walls, if not move on. The route is right in the middle of a jumble of soaring arêtes and corners known as the dihedrals. If anything sums up the climbing at Smith Rocks then this is it. With over 50 routes and at least 30 being three star, this is your first stop. Did I say the most famous route at Smith was 'Just Do it'? Many people would say the impossible looking arête of 'Chain Reaction' is the most famous route, it's certainly the most photographed. Just near 'To Bolt..' and at 7b+ this has to be on your list, but don't expect an easy tick, I did, and I only got ten foot up!! Make sure you also try the awesome wall routes Darkness At Noon (7c+) and Heinous Cling (7b+). And don't forget to bring your trad rack, the immaculate corner of Sunshine Dihedral (E4) should not be missed.

For those of you with strong fingers, make a beeline for 'Aggro Gully'. Steep and technical and home to a row of 10 routes at 7c and above. For the soft 8a, try 'Aggro Monkey', made even softer if you have any stamina! A hard, bouldery start is followed by 20 metres of long locks between reasonable holds. Don't use up all your energy here though, 'Kings of Rap' a 7c near the entrance to the gully is one of the best routes of its grade in the world.
So what do you do when your tips are trashed and your finger joints like golf balls? Take a ten-minute hike up into the gorges. For some reason this place is always quiet, perhaps its because it isn't the 'real' Smith Rocks. However, I found the climbing here as interesting as any I've done anywhere in the world. The gorges are made up of huge columns with totally different rock, smooth and flat. Climbing here is vaguely similar to the vertical stuff on slate in that there are only a limited number of weird holds to use, more of a mind puzzle than anything else. There are hundreds of routes in the gorges, both sport and trad. Begin with the awesome groove, 'Pure Palm', a 6b+ with only 3 real holds on it, and two of them are arêtes! Ascend with a contorted series bridging, chimineying, palming and laybacking, pumped calves obligatory, enjoyment guaranteed. Then finish with 'Controlled Hysteria', a 7c+ version of 'pure palm, except with no groove and just one arête!