The Rainbow Wall

(Photos by Chris Brown. His blog (and entire website) is a must see: highexposures.com

Fast and light? In a day push? I've talked to several friends who have done The Original Route on The Rainbow Wall in a day, car to car in 14 hours. One of Red Rocks proudest features reduced to a game of tag. Sure, we're physically able, but that's not the point. This isn't about ego. We were not trying to race up towards the summit of Rainbow Mountain, visible all the way from The Strip, and tick it off like the green route in the gym. Don’t get me wrong, we're not trying to minimize such an approach, if that’s your goal. Our team of three, Josh Finkelstein, Chris Brown, and myself, all project and sport climb. There's a time and a place for racing, but for us, this line didn't qualify. We sat back to take in the experience, to let it wash over us and clean the grime of city life from our skin. We were only out there for two days, but the entire time, we hoped it would never end.

Climbers are so regularly emboldened to push their limits because of gear and the results of freakish fitness schedules. Cams are so well engineered, ropes withstand unimaginable forces. Boulder has four incredible climbing gyms for my training pleasure! Boil that together, and you’ve got a potent motivational tea that allows climbers to push it. We see, in videos, blogs, and magazine pages, the glory of our heroes on walls farther and much more remote than the outskirts of Vegas. After enough climbing porn, we have the belief that we're capable, perhaps vicariously, of only slightly more modest feats. Josh, Chris and I picked The Rainbow Wall. We dared to even choose a style. We decided on a relaxed pace, a team of three. Two nights of bivying with our morning coffee made from snow, and the dazzling lights of a desert tumor blotting out the dark, only a few miles below.

We slept at the base of the route the night before climbing. We hiked in as the sun slid past the mountains, the heat of the day riding like a fog on the trail. As the daylight softened towards evening and the temperature incrementally dipped, we finished the final slabs and saw our new home, if even only a temporary one. A perfect, level ledge, four feet by six. Our heads touched the nadir of the central dihedral that leads defiantly, proudly, to a summit 1,200 feet away. A small ring of stones outlining our bedroom. A meek defense against the wind; an appropriate metaphor as man chops hopefully against the very air he breathes.

We spent the night watching stars wheel above our hanging, stone ceiling. It's a view we'd never enjoyed, were the ideal style a blitzkrieg. A ring-tail cat pondered the scent of our food, our nocturnal friend greeting his guests at only the proper moment. Dawn kissed us awake, and we lazily pulled warm sleeping bags over our heads, hoping for a few more minutes of dreamtime.

We climbed all day. The pace of our pitches was unhurried, methodical. Adventure whispered as wonder when we were unable to decide if we'd picked the wrong crack system. From a large ledge system 800 feet up the face, it grew quiet for a moment as we relaxed in our confusion, an island on this sea of sandstone. That adventure loudly returned as a fist; a large boulder falls from above and chops into one of our ropes like a hatchet. We survive, and then can only smile in return, thankful for the gifts. This beautiful wall was made even more unique for us; the moment's ultimately benign danger delivered us from our narcissistic comfort.

From the summit, we rappel back to the bivy ledge. The Spanish saying: "What's the value in rushing?" Indeed, and what luck! Anyone fancy another evening under The Dipper? We called in that second day of bivy permits, so let’s use it! A feast awaits; cashews and figs in a stuff sack with the packs. There’s more snow for coffee. We can walk home tomorrow. Let’s keep this dream alive, or should I say…let’s keep living the dream.

(NOTE: Readers are urged to clink the link that leads this entry. Chris Brown compiled video footage of the climb from a helmet cam on Josh's helmet, as well as video that Chris shot while following the route. He is also the talented photographer who took the shots I uploaded. The band playing is Pretty Lights, a local DJ/drummer combo that are hugely interesting. Great live show. Comments? I (as well as Chris) would love to get feedback on this story and his blog/video. Thanks for reading.)