Monster Rock Climbing Guide

By John Hogge

Revision March 23, 2008

Copyright © 2008

All Rights Reserved.

WARNINGS:

  • Holds break more often at low-trafficked, new areas such as this. Trust no hold!
  • In the “Pitfiend Pit” between the two cliffs, assess possibilities of hitting the cliff behind you on a fall, on both lead and top-rope. Protect yourself via helmet and back pack (for padding), and consider top-roping instead of leading. Even on top-rope you will contact the cliff behind you on certain falls.
  • Do not climb above the (super shut) anchors, since falls can easily “back clip” you out of both anchors.
  • Z-clipping is a common error on some of the pit routes where bolts are placed closely to minimize fall distances toward the opposite cliff.
  • If a rope is hanging on a top-rope route, assume it’s a static line (unsafe for lead climbing), use it, but don’t remove it.
  • Stay off of detached boulders wrapped in tape on ledges and cliff tops.

Modus Operandi:

  • Before climbing, see for the required fee, release form, and hours of operation.
  • No climbers under the age of 18. No children visiting who would not be safe on the tall, steep ladders.
  • No dogs are allowed due to ladder access and limited space.
  • No glass containers.
  • Pack in/pack out, especially cigarette butts.
  • No illegal activities.
  • Do not trespass onto neighboring lots. Avoid noise and congregation near their back-porches.
  • Contacts:

Local Emergency Services (512-264-1476)

John Hogge (land owner), 1319 Pace Bend Rd, Spicewood, TX78669, .

Routes and wall features are listed left-to-right, facing the wall. See the topographic map on the last page. At the property, see signs below each route.

Dungeons & Dragons Walland J.R.R. Tolkein Wall

These two walls are on the main cliffoverlooking a rock island and river valley. Cross the bridge, walk left on the rock island, and climb down two fixed ladders (impassible by young children and dogs). Move left to Tolkein Wall’s routes 11-12, the pointy Earth Elemental Boulder, and routes 13-14.

From route 11, scramble down into the chasm (Pitfiend Pit) separating Dungeons & Dragons Wall on the right and Horror Movie Wall on the left, arriving at D&D Wall’s rightmost route, #10. Walking left deeper into the pit, you’ll encounter: routes 10-6, Crawl Under Boulder, route 5, Squeeze Next To Boulder, androutes 4-1, under/near the bridge.

  1. Gelatinous Cube’s Deadly Solvent: 5.11b/c,5 draws. Clip the safety rope to reach the start on thewedge-shaped boulder. This approach is sometimes wet/unsafe even when the rest of the wall is dry. Belayer can go up that boulder and sling the 1st bolt, or else belay down below the boulder. After the 2nd clip, use the jug off right to climb the crimps straight up the bolt line. John Hogge FA. PRIZE-FOA

Variation: “Tim, the Goatheaded Wizard” 5.10d. After the 2nd clip, go left along the undercling flake and up the white streak. Roni Beer FA. PRIZE-FOA

  1. Specter’s Touch: 5.10c,6 draws. Belayer can clip into the nearby fixed rope to keep out of the fall zone. Starts right of the wedge shaped boulder, goes left after 5th bolt to merge with route #1. Roni Beer FA. PRIZE-FOA

Variation: “Gandalf’s Plunge”5.11+? After 5th bolt, go up the right bulge, staying off its right-side jugs, clip the hanger at its top, and head to the anchors. PRIZE-FA

  1. 22-Eyed Beholder Hovering Near By:5.9, 5 draws. Shares start with route #2 for 2 bolts, then the next 3 bolts work right to the anchors right of the bridge. (A beholder is an evil floating globe-beast having a huge eyeball, sharp-toothed mouth, and typically 10 little magic-beam-shooting eyestalks.) FA Unknown. Chris “The Wanker” Palmer FOA.

Variation: “Ray of Disintegration”5.9+, 5 draws. Climb route #3 for 4 bolts, then cut left to a different 5th bolt and continue left to route #1 and #2’s anchors (left of the TrollBridge). John Hogge FA. PRIZE-FOA

  1. Swordmaiden of Rohan: 5.8, 6 draws. Start on route #3, traverse right after the first hanger, then climb up to anchors on left side above the cave. The hanger next to the anchors is for Warg Riders. Jen Koschmann FA/FOA.

Variation/Extension: “Warg Riders”: 5.9, 7 draws. Climb Swordmaiden of Rohan, clip the 7th draw just left of her anchors (DON’T CLIP HER ANCHORS-NEVER CLIP AND LEAD OVER THESE SUPER-SHUTANCHORS), continue upward, traverse right over the cave and clip route #5’s anchors. Ryan Collity FA/FOA.

Squeeze-Next-To Boulder: a boulder you squeeze next to, between it and D&D Wall, to access routes 1-4 and some Horror Movie Wall routes.

  1. Sky Full of Dementors: 5.9+, 7 draws. Belayer sits on ledge between the two boulders jammed between the cliffs with back towards D&D Wall and clips into the hanger, or climbs onto Crawl-Under Boulder and clips the hanger on the cliff. Climb the face between the boulders; go up the arête right of the cave. Tim Sharp(TexasA&M) FA/FOA.

Crawl-Under Boulder: a boulder you crawl under to access routes 1-5 and some Horror Movie Wall routes.

  1. Creeping Doom (aka. No Saving Throw): 5.9, 8 draws. On 3’ tall rock ledge just before the first boulder jamming between the cliffs, stem between D&D Wall and Horror Movie Wall. Jen Koschmann FA, Danny Lenz FOA.

Variation “Sand Worms Shake the Planet”: 5.9+. Instead of stemming, pull on the vertical edge/arête. Joel Schopp FA/FOA.

  1. Mindflayer’s Tentacles: 5.9+, 8 draws. Start on right side of the 3’ tall rock ledge and stem against D&D Wall and Horror Movie Wall for about 15’ feet until D&D Wall eases up. Dig the actual limestone chimney moves! Wear helmet and backpack in case lead falls contact opposite wall. Karl Vochatzer FA/FOA.

Variation: “Mindstab Thrull”: 5.10b/c. Climb D&D Wall without stemming onto Horror Movie Wall. Erik Moore FA/FOA.

  1. Dwarven Berserker/Lich: 5.10b, 8 draws. Ryan Collity FA/FOA. Wear helmet and backpack in case lead falls contact opposite wall.
  1. Green Slime vs. Bag of Devouring: 5.10b, 7 draws. Dave Phillips FA, John Hogge FOA.
  1. Seven Gorgons Breathing: 5.11a, 5 draws. Stick clip the high first bolt from the nearby ledge at the access. Climb the little dihedral to the chossy jug. Wear helmet—this route was hard to protect with the opposite cliff close by. Rachel Harris FA/FOA.

Variation: “The Sixth Gorgon”: 5.10d. Start to the right of the dihedral. Dave Barre (College Station)FA/FOA.

Traverse Problems

  1. Grey Ooze: V1. Traverse Green Slime backwards. Grey Ooze was a monster universally hated by gaming geeks.
  1. Green Slime: V1. At the wall’s rightmost low point (below the pit entrance), traverse low, left-to-right, down-climbing onto the 3’ tall rock ledge. Another gaming-geek-hated slimy monster.
  1. The Blob: V2. Traverse Grey Ooze, returning on Green Slime.

Elevation change, Pitfiend Pit entrance/exit separating Dungeons & Dragons Wall and J.R.R. Tolkein Wall.

  1. Herman Munster: 5.9+, 5 draws. Straddle boulders to clip first hanger, then go down to the narrow ledge to start the route. John Sonzcak (Glossip, England) FA, Ryan Collity (Spacewood, TX) FOA.
  1. Grendel: 5.9, 5 draws. Joey Phillips FA, Ryan Collity FOA. Bad landing; consider stick-clipping 1st bolt.

Earth Elemental Boulder: the tall pointy boulder to be careful with when leading nearby routes.

  1. Crawling Chaos: 5.10a, 5 draws. Dangerouslead! Keep hands to the right of Earth Elemental Boulder to prevent falls crushing you between boulder and cliff. Holds behind the boulder are usually marked with trolls and other toys to guide your hands away from the boulder. Those holds are tempting because they ease the route down to 5.9. Don’t be tempted! After clipping the 3rd bolt, go far left of the bolt line. Higher up on the route, be careful of potential lead falls onto the boulder. John Hogge FA. Roni Beer FOA.

VariationHellaciousHobbit 5.6 TR, climb the boulder left of Crawling Chaos and then transfer onto it.

  1. Balrog’s S&M Whip: 5.10c,4 draws. Consider stick-clipping the 1st bolt. This route is at the property line. Be careful of the neighbor’s poison ivy. Stay off neighbor’s big jug towards top—it and rock pieces above it are detached, though currently firmly in place. John Hogge FA, Sean O’Grady FOA.

Property Line.

Horror Movie Wall

This wall is in the Pitfield Pit opposite Dungeons and Dragons Wall and has the same access (from the landing of J.R.R.Tolkein Wall). Read each route’s belay station information to help deal with crowded spaces.

WARNING! On some routes, you might contact the cliff behind you on falls (even top-rope). Some routes are toprope protected (TR) because the opposite cliff would make leading too hazardous. Most TR routes have a directional to keep you held into the cliff. Unclip it on the way up; reclip whenlowering. Watch your back in a fall and wear a helmet and a backpack (or full platemail) for padding. Belayers need to be hypersensitive to avoid excess slack and to take up very fast during a fall. There have been no injuries to date, but this setting is unusual and the risks of injury hard to determine. Assume any pre-hung topropes are static ropes. Use them but don’t remove them. They are deadly if used to lead.

Access Scramble-Down

  1. Cold Damp Embrace of the Mummy:TR 5.11d Leftmost of 3routes sharing TR anchors and a single rope going through left and right inward-directional biners. Shares the leftmost directional biner with route #2. Starts at the access point’s boulder stack on a big jug pocket 6 ½’ from the toprope. Climbs left of the directional, straight up. On all three routes, go to the jugs above the directionals before unclipping them (at waste level). David Cardosa FA, dedicates this FA to Scott Harris . PRIZE-FOA
  1. Dracula’s Silent Steps Approacheth:TR 5.12a. Middle of 3routes sharing TR anchors. Read route #1 concerning the directional biner. Starts between the two directional biners, directly under the TR anchors. Austin Wise FA. PRIZE-FOA
  1. Frankenstein Killed by a Mere Angry Mob:TR 5.12b. Rightmost of 3 routes sharing TR anchors. Starts standing on a small boulder and pulling a mild bulge to the rightmost directional biner. Go up to jugs before unclipping it (at waste level). Austin Wise FA/FOA.
  1. Goblin Mutant:5.11a,5 draws. The left-most lead route. Wear a helmet and pads. To minimize fall distance towards the opposite cliff, use a short draw on bolt 3, clip the biner on the chain hanging from bolt 4, move up, then clip a short draw onto bolt 4's hanger (sharing the chain). The chain alone is too low to protect falls towards the opposite cliff. The hanger alone puts the climber too high over the opposite wall's bulge, in case holds break during clipping. John Hogge FA, James Klein FOA.
  1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (aka. Leatherface): 5.11b/c,4 draws. Randy Ho FA. Blaine Burris FOA.
  1. Shower Scene from Psycho: TR 5.11c. Climb using the directional biner to keep away from opposite wall. Unclip as you pass the biner and reclip upon lowering. Paul Brady FA/FOA.
  1. Eye-pluck scene from The Birds:TR 5.11d. Climb using the directional biner to keep away from opposite wall. Unclip as you pass the biner and reclip upon lowering. For a fun variation, keep hands off the big matchable block. PRIZE-FA
  1. Willard Calls Out the Rats: TR 5.12a/b. Starts where the ground begins dropping into the dark hole, on the big matchable block. Stay left of the sloping boulder and power up the almost-bare section. Belay from the ground left of the start. Austin Wise FA/FOA.

Variation “Ben’s Rat Army”: TR 5.10c. Below the bare face, traverse right, over the sloping boulder, onto the ledge, and then up and left finishing Freddie vs. Jason. Rachel Harris FA/FOA.

Crawl-Under Boulder: a boulder you crawl under to access the following routes and some D&D Wall routes.

  1. Freddie vs. Jason: 5.10a,5 draws and 1 fixed biner. Starts between the two big boulders jammed between the cliffs. Belayer sits low with feet on stacked boulders, back against the ledge (allowing traffic to pass behind belayer). Clip into the ledge’s hangerto not depend on the stacked/balanced boulder landing. Climber pulls on a jug to belayer’s right onto the ledge, then goes up and left. It looks like 5.11, but the trick beta makes it light pulling. Shares anchors with route #9 and its permanent toprope. Just clip the rope in and let it lay on top of the locking biners, then lower. Trevor Brooks FA/FOA.
  1. Thing vs. Cousin It: 5.11d. 5 draws. Starts same as Freddie vs. Jason. From the ledge, climb the dihedral. Paul Brady 5.11d PRIZE-FOA

Squeeze-Next-To Boulder: a boulder you squeeze next to, between it and D&D Wall, to access route9 and some D&D Wall routes. It’s the biggest/highest boulder jammed between the cliffs.

  1. Demonic Hordes and the Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore: 5.10b. 3 draws. Belayer sits on right side of Squeeze-Next-To Boulder and clips into the nearby hanger on the cliff. The climb starts on the cliff face at the top of that boulder. Towards the top, climb left to the anchors shared with route #10. DO NOT get tired and go up for a rest on the jugs with tape all over them; they are taped to indicate they are detached and to stay off of them. Lauren Divine (TexasA&M) FA/FOA.
  1. Trollkind:5.9+, 5 draws. Belayer clips into the fixed rope around the wedge shaped boulder. Climber starts standing on D&D Wall’s little ledge. Be careful on lead here--be aware of the boulder hazard to your left. Be sure to use the ledge on the far right at the second bolt. (Below the start, an ancient troll free solo battle route climbs out of the cave and up the face to the bridge.) Chris “The Wanker” Palmer FA/FOA.

Traverse Routes

  1. UNSENT Homonculust: V? Bad Landings—wait until we can improve them. Traverse low, left-to-right, from start of the low roof to the last jug before the Pit sinks into Oblivion. Beware of chossy holds.
  1. Lord of the Pit: 5.10d, 10 fixed biners. Startsoutside the Pit sitting on the half-coffin sized boulder “guarding” the pit entrance. DO NOT SECOND (FOLLOW) THIS ROUTE—BOLTS ARE POSITIONED ONLY FOR LEADING, AND FALLS WHILE SECONDING CAN EASILY RESULT IN COLLISIONS AGAINST THE OPPOSITE CLIFF. DUE TO FREQUENT ROCK BREAKS, DO NOT TRAVERSE OVER ANYONE IN THE PIT. Traverse right,clipping all the fixed biners on chains. The 10th chain is well above the 9th to exiton Freddie vs. Jason’s anchors. It’s long but a 35 meter rope works fine. Greg Brooks, FA. Greg bolted the line and later sent it in one go, virtually onsighting it. He climbs with the Zen calm and pace of a pre-global-warming glacier that would pump-out mere mortals, and I figured this would cost him on this long route…but no. Paul Brady FOA.


Mythology Wall

Descend the stairs, two ladders, and boulders to the river valley. Walk past Lovecraftian Madness Wall and around the bulge/arêtecalled the Nose of Nyarlathotep. (Never pronounce Nyarlathotep out loud!) You’ll see the neighbor’s stairway.

This wall starts on a bare roof and almost-bare starts of perhaps four future hard short lead routes or TR boulder problemsthat reacheasy climbing half way up the cliff. The rightmost line looks feasible only if the low holds don’t break. The leftmost three lines don’t look very feasible with the lack of footing. I might consider sculpting them, but instead they might be made into fun, unique climbs by adding--am I really considering this?—modular holds, or even gym ropes, hanging from the starting roof, as the actual starts of the climbs. He’s crazy! Too many glances at the Necronomicon….Wait, what’s that sound…No. OH, NO, PLEASE GOD HELP ME!!!!!!

Property line. Marked by fitted stone filling some ground holes.

  1. UNBOLTED PROJECT: Strength of Titans. Proposed manufactured starting holds. The roof under this route is long enough to add a line of roof jobs. Ideally the starting holds and the route itself match the grade of Siren’s Song Forever (5.10b?).
  1. UNBOLTEDPROJECT: Medusa’s Snakes all Staring Proposed fixed gym-rope start.
  1. UNBOLTEDPROJECT: Cracken’s Dance of Death at Sea Proposed fixed gym-rope start.
  1. UNBOLTEDPROJECT: Zeus and Hercules vs. Odin and Thor

The following proposed traverse routes would be accessed from Strength of Titans, if its grade is comparable to the traverse.