Cochise Christmas 2020
Date: December 23, 2020 - January 2, 2021Trip Report #: 452Partner: Nate Arganbright
Winter Break at Cochise Stronghold
- The Waste Land (5.8, 5p)
- Beeline (5.9+, 2p)
- What's My Line? (5.6+ R A0 / 5.10, 3-4p)
- Inner Passage (aka Interiors) (5.4)
- Days of Future Passed (5.10 R, 4p)
- Endgame (5.10-, 5p)
- The Long, Strange Trip (5.11-, 7p)
- Nightstalker (5.9, 1p)
- Arribas Amoebas (5.10+, 4p)
- The Out-of-Towners (5.10+, 3p)
- Fire Sermon (5.10-, 4p)
- Teenage Wasteland (5.10, 4p)
- Magical Realism (5.7+, 1p), Nancy Boys (5.8+, 1p), Uncertainty Principle (5.11, 1p)
- Full Circle (5.10, 5p)
A stellar 10-day Christmas to New Years trip to the East Stronghold.
Table of Contents for this page
Intro
I had climbed at Cochise Stronghold only once before, over Winter Break 2015-16. Cochise was the plan for Winter Break 2020-21. But then in August I tore my ACL and meniscus and had knee surgery in early September. So with my surgeon telling me no at-risk activities for at least 6 months, I figured the Cochise plan (which would be at slightly less than 4 months from surgery) wouldn't happen. But when my religious PT led my knee to start to feel pretty good by about 3 months in, the draw of warm sunny granite was too much, and Nate and I decided to go for it. I would just be careful with the knee. No leading, falling, stemming, drop-kneeing, or boulder-hopping for me. The risk of climbing with a still-healing 4-month-old ACL graft and meniscus repair was a risk I was willing to take.
It was an awesome trip to the East Stronghold: 10 days of climbing, 12 multipitch routes plus 4 single-pitch routes, and 52 pitches of climbing ranging from 5.6-5.11. We climbed 9 of the formations: Waste Land Dome (three times), Stronghold Dome, Cochise Dome, End Pinnacle (twice), Rockfellow Dome, Owl Rock, Out of Towners' Dome (twice), Maybe Pinnacle, and Entrance Dome. We had decided that on this trip we would climb only sunny routes given the maximum number of stars in the guidebook (three stars), so all of the routes we did were warm and spectacular. And despite the quality of the climbing, we never encountered another party on any of the routes we did. Nate did all of the leading on this trip. With Nate on the sharp end leading all 52 pitches, we climbed the routes quickly. He cruised up the notorious Cochise runouts and difficult 5.10-11 sections with impressive ease. Even without my knee injury several of the pitches we climbed would have been pretty heady for me to lead (which likely explains the paucity of other climbers in such a spectacular area). I enjoyed following and getting back on the rock with my favorite partner. As far as my knee went, it felt stronger and more confident by the day and I had no issues.
Another aspect that made this trip so enjoyable is that Nate and I had decided to stay in an Airbnb rather than the campground at the Stronghold. The Airbnb was in a trailer a mere 15 minutes drive from the trailhead. We enjoyed mornings in the heated warmth of the trailer drinking coffee and reading/studying, late afternoons on the porch watching native birds and javelina and sunset over the Stronghold, and evenings grilling and watching Netflix. The hosts Theresa and Ron were awesome, and even gave us fresh eggs and homemade Christmas cookies. Staying at the Airbnb rather than camping allowed me to get in some studying for an upcoming numerical analysis preliminary exam, which was sort of essential for me to be able to pull off such a long trip when I had such an important exam to prepare for.
We had Tanya Bok's guidebook for the area. I really appreciate a good guidebook, and this is very well done with a wealth of information and detail.
Nate and I had such a good trip to Cochise and enjoyed the Airbnb so much that we had booked it for the following year (Christmas 2021) even before our trip was over.
The following page gives our itinerary and a nice photo overlay and photos for each of the climbs we did.
Enjoy!
(Note: There are lots of photos on this page, so some may take awhile to load. Hitting refresh may help if images don't seem to show up.)
Itinerary
Overlays
Mini Reports for Our Climbs
Climb 1: The Waste Land (5.8, 5 pitches)
WASTELAND DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)One of the best 5.8's at Cochise, this popular route has fun (but not entirely casual and often runout) climbing on mostly 5.6 or less.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:59 DESCENT: 0:32
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 2: Beeline (5.9+, 2 pitches)
STRONGHOLD DOME (ACROSS THE WAY)A quick two-pitch romp featuring one of the finest pitches of fingercrack in the Stronghold.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 0:47 DESCENT: 0:20
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 3: What's My Line? (5.6+ R A0 / 5.10, 3-4 pitches)
COCHISE DOME (DOME PARK)A sea of chickenheads. I had climbed this entertaining route in 2015, and it was well worth climbing again.
OUR TIMES: BASE OF APPROACH GULLY TO TOP: 1:34 DESCENT: 0:30
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 4: Inner Passage (aka Interiors) (5.4, ~600-700 ft)
BETWEEN CHAY DESA TSAY & ROCKFELLOW DOME (ROCKFELLOW GROUP)This unforgettable adventure traverses several hundred feet through a tight horizontal corridor between the towering walls of Rockfellow Dome and Chay Desa Tsay. Best to burn off all of the Christmas cookies before doing this route.
OUR TIMES: END-TO-END: 0:30
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 5: Days of Future Passed (5.10 R, 4 pitches)
END PINNACLE (ROCKFELLOW GROUP)This coveted climb climbs one of the few striking solitary cracks in the Stronghold. With Nate on the sharp end, we climbed this route in two hours base to top.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:58 DESCENT: 0:25
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 6: Endgame (5.10-, 5 pitches)
END PINNACLE (ROCKFELLOW GROUP)This fully-bolted route is a perfect combination of face, alligator plates, crack, and slab, earning this route the first-ranking spot on everyone's ticklist. Best sport climb I've ever done! With Nate on the sharp end, we climbed this route in 1 hour and 45 minutes base to top, an even two hours from base to base.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:48 DESCENT: 0:12
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 7: The Long, Strange Trip (5.11-, 7 pitches)
ROCKFELLOW DOME (ROCKFELLOW GROUP)An appropriately-named wandering adventure up the highest formation of the Rockfellow Group. There's lots of good 5.10-5.11 climbing on this fairly well-protected route. It was very windy when we climbed it but fortunately we did not get our ropes stuck on the descent.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 2:37 DESCENT: 1:01
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 8: Nightstalker (5.9, 1 pitch)
OWL ROCK (EAST SIDE CRAGS)A 100-foot high pinnacle with a stunning chickenhead and alligator skin face. This route gets only one star in the book (so it sort of broke our rule of doing only 3-star routes) but if you are in the area looking for a single pitch it is totally worth it for the position and fun and thoughtful climbing.
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 9: Arribas Amoebas (5.10+, 4 pitches)
OUT OF TOWNERS' DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)This route ascends the center of a beautiful face. Nate and I didn't think that the routes we did on Out of Towners Dome were quite up to the 3-star quality of the other 3-star routes we had done on the trip so far.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:50 DESCENT: 0:20
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 10: The Out-of-Towners (5.10+, 3 pitches)
OUT OF TOWNERS' DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)This route has a bit of everything, starting with an immaculate, technical, slabby, long first pitch and finishing with a steep, pumpy jug pitch. Like Arribas Amoebas, Nate and I didn't think that the routes we did on Out of Towners Dome were quite up to the 3-star quality of the other 3-star routes we had done on the trip so far.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:50 DESCENT: 0:20
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 11: The Fire Sermon (5.10-, 4 pitches)
WASTELAND DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)This enjoyable route starts at the same location as The Waste Land (which we had climbed the first day of our trip) and takes a more difficult and direct line to the summit than The Waste Land, with a nice corner finish.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:50 DESCENT: 0:32
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climb 12: Teenage Wasteland (5.10, 4 pitches)
WASTELAND DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)This modern route leaves you feeling like you went to a really good rock concert. Every pitch contains quality rock, interesting climbing, and a fantastic 5.10 section. We enjoyed this climb a touch more than Fire Sermon. We made quick work of this route, climbing from base to top of route in 1 hour and 25 minutes, and back at the base in 26 minutes.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 1:25 DESCENT: 0:26
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Climbs 13abc: Magical Realism (5.7+, 1p), Nancy Boys (5.8+, 1p), Uncertainty Principle (5.11, 1p)
MAYBE PINNACLE (IN THE SHADOWS)Maybe Pinnacle is a one-pitch-high pinnacle in the In the Shadows area below the Rockfellow Group. The quality of the rock is excellent. We climbed three routes here. Magical Realism: A fun 5.7+ that takes a crack and featured arete up the buttress. Nancy Boys: Fun 5.8+ up a featured face. Uncertainly Principal: Amazing alligator skin and hard climbing (so we ended up toproping it). We had planned to climb a few more routes, but our motivation dwindled when some slightly obnoxious climbers arrived at the wall.
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the day.)Climb 14: Full Circle (5.10, 5 pitches)
ENTRANCE DOME (ENTRANCE ENVIRONS)Old school route on okay rock up the tallest section of Entrance Dome's sunny south face. Not the greatest route we climbed on the trip, but it was nice to climb a route on one of the larger and more obvious domes of the East Stronghold.
OUR TIMES: BASE TO TOP: 2:00 DESCENT: 0:29
ROUTE OVERLAY
(Click on image to open high resolution image file.)PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in order in which they were taken during the climb.)Random Non-Climbing Photos from the Trip
PHOTOS
(Click through the album. Photos in a random order.)
