Climbing The Most NOTORIOUS Big Wall in Red Rocks, Nevada

Hey guys, in this video we are going to be spending three days climbing in beautiful Red Rock Canyon. The main goal of this trip is to climb a route called Levitation 29, which is a nine pitch 511c climb that is supposedly Lynn Hill's favorite climb of all time, which is saying a lot for the person who did the first free ascent of El Cap. My partner for this mission is fellow YouTuber and climber Ryan Mitchell. Ryan is one of the more interesting characters I've met in the space. This is my all-time favorite pre-climbing snack. We have a stick of Lando Lakes butter. He was initially a successful Minecraft YouTuber when he was younger, but then he did a complete 180 to make a YouTube channel all about mountaineering. While his focus has been on more high altitude ascents, he's also been getting more into technical rock climbing. Levitation 29 will be a challenging climb for me, no doubt, but it will be by far the hardest climb that Ryan has ever attempted. So you're going to want to stick around to see how the climb goes for us. Oh, and if you end up enjoying this video, please hit that like button and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. It's free and I have a ton of great videos and adventures coming up. So when I'm training hard, what I put into my body is absolutely crucial, and that's why I'm super excited to have The Feed as the sponsor of this video. The Feed is the world's largest sports nutrition marketplace. What I love is that it's a true one-stop shop from gels to hydration to protein. Everything you need to train and recover. Instead of bouncing between a bunch of different websites, I just build my recurring setup on The Feed. They've got over 10,000 curated products. Everything is tested and recommended by top nutritionists and elite athletes. It's the same stuff used by Olympians, world champions, and pro teams. So I can actually trust what I'm putting into my body. Another huge thing for me is the customization. I can order just one gel, one flavor, one product to test before committing. And that's been huge for actually dialing in what works for my training without wasting money or product. So if you're hungry for more and want to fuel your training and adventures, then check out The Feed through the link in my description or with the QR code on screen. Thank you to The Feed for sponsoring this video. Let's get back to it. Red Rocks is one of my favorite climbing areas in the country. It's proximity to Sin City, Las Vegas, makes the access super easy and also makes it the only climbing area in the country where you can be deep in the wilderness having this epic experience. And then 30 minutes later, find yourself on the Las Vegas Strip where you proceed to lose everything on slots. What an incredible experience. Not a single cell phone in sight, just people living in the moment. But it's not just the location. The climbing and rock itself is truly world class. In my opinion, no other climbing area has such a good variety of sport climbing, trad climbing, and bouldering all in one area. All three major climbing disciplines are truly well represented here, from easy beginner level climbs to the elite level, and even some of the hardest climbs and problems in the world. In other words, Red Rocks makes for one of the best rock climbing training areas in the country. How'd you sleep? How'd you sleep last night, Ryan? Too cold. My Christmas blanket $10 from Target. No bueno, no bueno. Because Ryan and I have never climbed with each other, I wanted to first spend two days warming up together on easier and smaller routes before we hopped on our big goal of Levitation 29. This is called Plumber's Crack right here. It's a V2. Oh boy, okay. Just squeezing through like little mole rats. Don't fall on me. I'm not falling, bro. Mom, help. Oh yeah, jug. Let's go, dude. That was so fun. Wait, you have to go back down though? So for day one, we headed out to test our crack climbing skills on some of the classic crack routes that Red Rocks has to offer. What's the hardest track climb you've done so far? A 10A, so we're jumping up a whole level here. We're jumping up like four grades here? Yeah. Helmet's on for mom. Helmet's on for mom. Noah's dialing in. I'm a good boy. You're Noah Kane? Yeah. I do see some of your videos. Awesome. Cheers. Yeah, you know it, bro. Woo. Let's go. Woo. Bam. Bam. Let's go. All right, dude, I got two tips for this one. Okay. I think you should go without crack gloves. I think the smaller your hands are going to be, the better. Sure, sure, sure, sure. The easier it's going to feel. Let's rip them up. You know, they're not that ripped up. And just kind of get ready for it to feel like a little muscly, you know? Okay, sure. Like you're definitely kind of canvassing a few moves. Be prepared for that kind of intensity of the route, you know? Yeah. All right, 11A. Hardest route I've ever done outdoors in its entirety. Dang it. Okay, we made a move. Get your ass in there. Nice. Damn. Damn. Let's go. Yippee. Ow, my hands. All right, Ryan, what would you say? Successful first day or what? Red rocks, red hands, more like red hands, you know? Yeah. Hands feeling a little raw. Red Rocks is not only a major climbing area in today's day and age, it also played an important, but at times controversial role in the history and development of American rock climbing. Nobody climbed in Red Rock. Yeah, Red Rock was something that was just a pile of rocks, like things that people thought were just a pile of crap. The desert was a place that people disdained. Climbers disdained it. Everybody hated it. And we loved it. So we're fine. You know, we're just like, no problem. When climbing in Red Rocks was first being developed, the clean climbing revolution was well underway. The ethos was no longer to just pound pitons into the rock and aid your way up. Now the idea was to only use removable protection, such as nuts, hexes, and camming devices that wouldn't leave a mark on the rock. But in Red Rocks, there are a ton of climbable lines that don't exactly follow obvious cracks with lots of protection. Not to mention the rock is softer, more friable, and prone to breaking. And so the question for the first ascensionists of Red Rocks was really whether to leave the rock as is and create bold and dangerous climbs, or to drill expansion bolts in some places to make routes safer. This philosophical question between safety and purity really divided climbers in Red Rocks and in the broader climbing community at the time. The top climbers of the day were interested in boldness and control, and you had to run it out. So it was almost like reselling. And the fact that George and I even put like a couple of bolts on some of our routes was a very, very bad thing. We were considered very evil, and we were hated. The Urioste's decision to bolt sections of their routes was certainly controversial. But in the decades since, their routes have stood the test of time, becoming some of the most sought after and classic routes in the area. Routes like Epinephrine, Armatron, and Levitation 29. Whatever your personal view on the issue of bolting, it is clear that without the Urioste's contribution of accessible routes with bolted sections, Red Rocks would not be the international climbing destination that it is today. It was a very pivotal moment where climbing could go forward instead of being held back by old rules and egos. That's the rack. How many, how many like crab multi-pitches would you say you've done? Like days out, five maybe. Five? Okay, yeah, awesome. We are heading into that canyon right there. I believe it's called Juniper Canyon. And the trail's like a little hard to follow. You know when he brings out the phone to record, you gotta go see something. Bro, I think we're gonna, I think we're gonna find Narnia on this approach. Ryan said he, Ryan said he got hit, got got by a cactus. Got the rack. Oh yeah. All right, we got helmets on for mom. Helmets on for mom. Harnessed up. We're getting ready. All right, you could, there is, there should be a middle marker so you could give me a holler once that, once that passes through the grigri. Yeah, I think this first pitch has a couple bolts on it. For day two, Ryan and I set out to climb Armatron, which was a route put up by the Uriastes back in the early 2000s. And it climbs a super unique section of black varnished rock that almost looks like layers of bricks. A classic climb that was made even more ultra famous when two relatively unknown, kind of under the radar climbers, free soloed it together back in 2022. Okay, I'm at the anchor. Nice dude. Oh yeah, careful on that right foothold actually. Leaving pitch one. Anchors right now. Sick. It's just cool rock. Sick dude. All right, nice lead Ryan. Yes. Crush that pitch. Yeah, pitch three. Third pitch complete. Okay. Oh, look at that. Oh, that is a fun, that is a fun placement. Now let's play us a three while we're at it. Ryan, I am secure and you can take me off belay. Yeah, I hope you don't, hope you don't mind. I get a little bored while belaying. So I'm just, you know, watching some, watching some YouTube content over here and some like poser trying to like be a mountaineer or whatever, you know. Who is this tourist? Who is this absolute tourist? On these like first lines. All right, got a little bit of scrambling action to do here. Yeah, you definitely wouldn't want to fall down there. This feels like a high point right here. Rock's a little wiggly. Let's stand on this one. All right, Ryan, nice job. Summit of Juniper Peak. Juniper Peak. How was Armatron? Good route? Yeah, it was great. Yeah. Yeah. I think we kind of cruised it. Yeah, I know. I feel much more confident for tomorrow now then. I would say so. Me as well. All right, let's go. We got to go find this descent trail. Might be a little bit scrambly. So the adventure continues. All right, Ryan and I have come looking for a place to charge and post up and just dirtbag it out for like two hours. And we've, for whatever reason, ended up in like the nicest strip mall. We're going to get kicked out. The security guards just like getting ready. All right, Oak Creek Canyon. Here we go. Well, after two days of warm up climbing together, the time had finally come for us to set out and attempt our goal of Levitation 29. The climb lies pretty deep in Oak Creek Canyon on a thousand foot sheer cliff called Eagle Wall. Looks like we're going to be following this riverbed maybe. Bro, we're spelunking over here. That is some nice desert water. Nice. All right, well, here we are getting our first really good glimpse of the route. Levitation 29 is probably the most classic intermediate slash hard big wall in Red Rocks. It was first ascended in 1981 by George and Joanne Uriasti, along with John Long and Lynn Hill. They did the first ascent on Joanne's 29th birthday, hence the name Levitation 29. And this route is in many ways the route that really put Red Rocks on the map. In the decades since, this route alone has attracted climbers from around the world to come to Red Rocks. And what makes Levitation 29 so awesome is that it is actually pretty safe. There are quite a number of bolts on this route, making it pretty accessible to try even if the grade is at or above your limit. However, what makes this climb not so accessible is the approach, which involves a two to three hour hike up a riverbed and then scrambling over exposed slabs. I think we'll soon be out of the trenches. Oh yeah, I feel like the rope's gonna get so snagged on this. It sure is. Oh my god, dude, what are we doing? A thousand tiny little pokey thorns in me by the end of the day. And now we're just kind of making our way across these slabs where it's kind of just, you know, don't slip. Come on, we just gotta get through the slots. Come on, don't eat it. Nice. Come on now. Wow, what an approach. Careful, some of the rocks are loose. Get me in. Look at this wall. Wow. All right. This is my all-time favorite pre-climbing snack. We have a stick of Lando Lakes butter. So this route is technically a trad route, but there's quite a few bolts on it, so it's really more like a mixed route. We brought up like kind of a single rock, a few doubles and a few pieces just to have them since we're planning on linking a few pitches. Get it. Get in there. It was right off the bat. So this is my first time I've ever made this mistake on my channel, but I completely forgot to press record on my GoPro for this first pitch, which is a total bummer because this 5.10 pitch actually featured really engaging lead climbing and just overall really fun rock and movement. Dang, there's a chance I wasn't even rolling for that shoot. Darn. Made it to the top of the first pitch. It was pretty fun. Well, a little tricky movement here and there, you know, really thoughtful. All right, climbing. Good rock. Just smearing my way up. Ah, let's go. Nice. Sweet. Nice, dude. Great lead, man. All right, pitch two. All right, like a little tricky move here, getting off the deck. Is that pure? Is that pure climbing? I do not think so. All right, just watch me here. Okay. Either place some gear in this crack or run it out. I like running it out. It's good feed. Okay, I'm clipped. Oh, yeah. Let's have some fun, shall we? Oh, that is a jog right there. Clipping. The hardest individual move on pitch two is this steep boulder problem, where the goal is to eventually get your fingers into this crack, but it's a pretty far reach with not many good hand holds in between, making for a cruxy section. Okay, going for it. Sick. We got a jug here. Big jug. Look at you up there looking crazy. Woo. Yeah, yeah. I'm at the anchor. I was pretty psyched to have flashed this pitch, but for the sake of efficiency and moving quickly, I decided to keep climbing and link it with the next pitch, an easy 5.8. Okay, going for the 5.8. This was fine. The climbing was chill, except with all the rope running through the corners and protection of the previous pitch, it meant that I had a ton of rope drag by the time I neared the pitch three anchors. Oh, dang. The rope drag's getting bad. There are the anchors. All right. That's a lot of rope drag. Okay, Ryan, you can take me off belay. I'm at the anchor. All right, getting into the big crux move now, so keep me a little tight. This is a little bit of a big move, but if you get the heel up, that right heel, you'll be golden. What? I know where I need to get my ... I know the finger lock he's talking about, but I'm going to try to get up to it. No, dude. There we go. Damn. Nice, Ryan. Come on up. That was a movie. How was that? Was that the hardest pitch you've ever done in your life? I think so. That was pretty challenging. Yeah. All right, so it's 1253, so we've got about an hour, 10 minutes before we at least want to start thinking about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So why don't we see what we can do on these next few pitches? Let's do it. Yeah, we should be able to get ... I think we can get at least two more, and if I can get through this in decent time, 510, oh gosh. All right, I'll lock in for you, my friend. I'll lock in for you. Let's do it. Shit. Oh, ****. Let's go. All right. Two turns? You can take me off belay. I'm at the anchor. Let's go, dude. All right, Ryan just got to the top of pitch four. Now I'm going to start climbing. All right, dude, climbing. Nice lead. Thanks. Now you've got your money pitch, huh? Dude, this looks insane. Right. Perfect. Thank you. Fun belay spot. Good. Yeah, right? Good hanging belay? Yeah, yeah. Let's go. Nice, dude. I'm psyched on that. All right. Wow, look at this crux pitch, huh? Yeah, you're going to get into it. All right, dude. All right. This is big. This is big. Glorious. The fifth pitch is the hardest on the route, getting the grade of 511c, but this pitch would end up being the pitch where I would realize why Lynn Hill and so many others love this climb. This pitch really challenged both my crack climbing and my sport climbing abilities, culminating in truly one of the best pitches of rock I have ever climbed. Watch me here. Jog. Oh yeah, I'm bleeding. Okay, going for it. No, yes. Yes, jog. Yes. Oh, that's a good rest. Oh yeah, baby. That's it. I'm done. Yeah, yeah, baby. ------- flashed it. Let's go. I was elated to have flashed the fifth pitch, but it was at this point that I started making some calculations in my head about how much daylight we had left, our energy levels, and whether it would be wise to continue up the remaining four pitches. And the biggest thing in my head was that I didn't want to descend in the darkness, especially over those sketchy scramble sections with pretty high consequences. We had already gotten five really great pitches in, I was super content, and going down now would ensure that we would have at least some daylight left for a safe descent. All right, I just did the crux pitch of levitations. I feel like I really fought for it. There was sort of two distinct cruxes, I would say, and one of them I was like, I felt like I was a centimeter away from peeling off, like balance-wise. If I had barndoored out a little bit more, I thought I was going to go. And now we're going to be belaying Ryan up there as he tries it on top rope. Give it a try. Come on. No. That was so solid. Get in. That was it, card. Oh, grabbed it. Oh, wow. All right, you can lower me. Yeah, that was cool. I'm just going to drop this down. Rope. Bam. Oh, look at this rappel. What? We're out here. Oh, it's kind of loose. Loose the rock. Careful of the rock right there. Oh, loose. Oh, yeah. Free-hanging rappel, boys. I'm going to kick you in the face. All right, folks, we made it down from levitations, back down on the ground. Ryan, nice job, dude. Thanks for bringing me up there, man. I know you may be a mountaineer, but dude, you're a pretty freaking badass climber. That's right. That's right. Yeah, we freaking got after it today. Okay. They look like a blue thumb. Here's where we do not want to fall, folks. Yeah. The rest of us is kind of friction walking on these slabs and, you know, don't fall because if you start rolling, you're fucked. The way up was still soft. Yeah. It made us mad. Yes. All right, folks, it's getting dark. We got the light of the full moon guiding us on this deep approach through the riverbed. All right. And after what felt like ages, we finally popped back out on the regular trail. Great adventure. Great adventure. Back at the trailhead. Ryan Mitchell, thank you very much. Let's go. Great time, dude.