Olive Oil (5.7)

Location of Climb: Juniper Canyon
Aspect of Face: Southeast
Time Category: A Few Hours

Intro

Olive Oil is a step up from Cat in the Hat, and is a Red Rocks classic. For fast parties, total time car-to-car may be as little as 4 hours. There are two different ways to approach the climb from the Pine Creek parking lot. The longer but easier to follow route follows the Pine Creek trail to the old homestead. At the homestead, angle left towards the creek, working your way across to the main trail which ascends the hill side. The more direct route takes the fire ecology trail to the south from the Pine Creek trail. Cross Pine Creek near the fire ecology display and proceed on a narrow trail that heads southwest directly toward Juniper Canyon. It switches back up a small cliff then continues across the desert on faint tread until crossing a maintained trail. Follow that trail to the right (northwest) until it links with the main trail from the homestead. Leave your packs at the entrance to the first large gully to the North of the main entrance to Juniper Canyon as you'll be descending a gully to the North of the Rose Tower. Go two hundred yards up the drainage, staying to the right side. You'll find the brush beaten down by the popularity of this climb. There are two alcoves on the right side, the climb starts in the second one.

Climb

The climb begins on the toe of a low-angle ramp that extends slightly from the right side of the gully. There are no good placements for gear on the lower part of the first pitch, but I've found the best start to be on the left side of the toe, in a shallow crack. The first pitch is about 80 feet, ending in an alcove with a dead tree. Follow the crack up and right out of the alcove, and belay after the crux, near a sloping ledge. The third pitch is a 5.5 leading up to a small shelf to the left. From here, step back down to the right and start up the crack system. The crack system will fade out, making a right traverse necessary. This traverse has to be made diagonally upward to the next crack on the right. The guide calls for two short pitches here, but pitches 4 and 5 can be easily combined if you traverse correctly. Pitch six starts on a large ledge, with an exposed traverse over to the corner.

The climb can be done in 4 pitches with a bit of simulclimbing and a 60-meter rope. Climb the first two pitches as described, but if possible, go about 30 feet higher before making the second belay. The large belay ledge below the chimney pitch can now be reached in a single pitch. If the second belay is placed as described in the guidebook, you'll need to simulclimb about 20-30 feet to reach the ledge. The chimney can also be done as one pitch, with about the same amount of simulclimbing to reach the top of the tower.

Scramble around to the right and scramble down left to the start of the trail heading down the gully to the north of Rose Tower. The down climb is a well-marked trail with a large cairn at the start, and most of the brush has been beaten out of the gully. Follow this out and back around to where you stashed your packs and you're on the trail home. There was a death on this climb in 1997 - a sign not to underestimate any of the climbs at the Red Rocks.

Gear

Smaller gear is useful for the second pitch, with mid-size cams (1 - 3 inch) helpful on the next few pitches. The chimney pitch takes a variety of sizes, but can be done with just smaller gear. An earlier update to this page mentioned bolts at the belay below the chimney pitch, but I was informed on 1/15/2008 that those have been removed. If that is true, then carrying at least one larger piece has proven useful to me in building that anchor, as a large horizontal crack exists at the back of the ledge.