Red Rocks: day 5 (panty time)

Ben on Panty Mime (10d)
Originally uploaded by slampoud

On Tuesday morning we were up for seeing some of the more scenic parts of the park, doing some sport climbing, and maybe trying our luck on some harder grades. So we headed to the Panty Wall, with only one pack full of gear: a single rope and quickdraws. Regular sport climbers!

The Panty Wall is off the first pull-out in the scenic loop, nestled among the gorgeous crimson boulders there. The hike getting there was gorgeous, although we found out that the big pine tree that the guide book uses as a landmark for the place blew down on Christmas 2008 and is now lying in dying pieces at the base of the rock. RIP pine tree... I first led the Panty Prow, a 5.6 arete up and left of the Panty Wall, and then we toproped Victoria's Secret (down and right of the anchor) (10b) and Ben did Panty Mime (down and left from the anchor), a 10d for which there are bolts, but which I think would be an absolutely terrifying lead. In fact VS worked me pretty hard. I must have taken 4 or 5 falls, and I didn't make the last 10 feet or so of the climb.

We then moved down to the Panty Wall proper, where a party of Canadians, and a group of three women were also hanging out. There must be an unwritten rule that chicks lead at the Panty Wall, because in all three parties there the leaders were women. I led Boxer Rebellion, Sacred Undergarment Squeeze Job, and Brief Encounter, one 7 and two 8s, with great style and aplomb. In my mind those climbs were far easier than their rating would suggest, and the whole experience got me thinking about the strangeness of the rating system: in what sense is the difficulty of Pauligk's Pillar in the same class as Boxer Rebellion? In any case, we were assured by an old-timer we ran into on the hike out that the grades at Panty Wall are fair for the area.