Comic Relief – Route of the Month

For many trad climbers in Colorado, the arrival of fall means one thing: it’s time to head to the Black Canyon. The scorching heat of summer has finally relented, giving way to perfect bluebird days. While some would say the Black’s fearsome reputation has decreased in recent years, this is stll very much a place that demands respect. For starters, the climbing is committing. You begin your day by descending into the canyon’s depths, and then must climb your way out. For the most part, there are no fixed anchors, and retreat means leaving gear and then a long hump out one of the gullys, up to 2000 feet of steep hiking. The rock on the trade routes for the most part has cleaned up, but it’s not unheard of to knock a chunk off here and there. So yeah, you shouldn’t take it lightly, it’s still the Black.

That being said, it is a truly incredible place to climb. The canyon is unlike any in the world in terms of being so narrow AND so deep. It is a timeless place, where you can look back through the eons in the ancient granitic rock. And its grandeur is overwhelming. No matter how many times you’ve been, it’s hard to walk out to the rim and look straight down to the river almost 2000 feet below without your heart rate speeding up a little.

This time of year the sun can still be hot, but fortunately one of the best routes of its grade lies in the shade until mid-day: Comic Relief. This route is a 7 pitch adventure up a clean buttress in the SOB gully, featuring pitch after pitch of excellent crack climbing. The climb starts with a fun stretch of 5.9, soon followed by the tenuous and balancey crux finger crack, Make it through this, and you’ll be rewarded with a brilliant hand crack that takes you to the next belay. The climbing from here on up is sustained at the 5.9 level, and should put a smile on any tradster’s face. The only suspect rock comes halfway up the 6th pitch, and thankfully the climbing is easy, just test those peg knobs before you pull on them.

Perhaps the only negative is that the route doesn’t top out, instead you must make one rappel down into a gully and then 4th class it up to the rim. Despite its reputation as one of the shorter, easier routes in the canyon, it’s still a legit outing involving a descent, over 900 feet of climbing, and the scramble out to the rim.

Take a trip up Comic Relief and you’ll most likely top out with a grin on your face, wondering what else the magical canyon has to offer. More info and other opinion can be found at mountain project.