Texanephrine

For those looking for another long route of moderate difficulty in Red Rock, this combination of three routes offers a nice alternative to the more popular trade routes in Black Velvet Canyon. I added an unofficial “name” to this combination – Three of a kind – (in the same genre of "Texas Hold’Em") just to distinguish it from the multiple other linkups in the area and to provide a forum for putting it on this web site so others can do this great route. (Based on other comments I changed it to what sounds like the original name - Texanephrine.) It combines the easiest pitches of Texas Hold Em with the classic upper open book pitches of Epinephrine and has a few fun pitches in the middle to link them together. It can be done in about the same time as it takes to do Epinephrine, but has a much harder crux pitch that anyone who loves 5.10 crack climbing in Red Rock canyon should aspire to climb just for that pitch alone. Keep in mind that the first few pitches are lower angle and might/will be sandy especially after wet conditions or lack of travel. Pitch description:Pitch 1 – 5.8 120 feet: Start 100 feet to the right of Epinephrine and 40 feet to the left of the giant corner system. Climb some broken ledges up to a bush passing the bush on the right and climbing a short left facing dihedral until you can step right onto holds on the face. Climb up and right past a creaky flake into the giant left facing corner system. Climb this to a small roof with twin cracks (crack in the corner and crack on the face to the right). Turn the roof, climb a short distance further then traverse left to a chain belay.Pitch 2 – 5.8 120 feet: Step up onto the face and climb the easiest features (left a bit, then back right a bit) putting gear in pods as needed until you are back at the corner system. Climb the corner for approximately 80 feet along beautiful very black varnished rock until you encounter a  bolt on the overhanging face up on the right wall. Note there is a second, unrelated bolt, about 30 feet right above a blank face.  Clip the bolt with a long sling to avoid rope drag, step back down and climb directly right for about 30 feet then up towards the brush to a ledge where you step left to the chains,Pitch 3 – 5.7 120 feet: Move right to the dirty corner, climb it into the brush and continue up a short distance to a ledge. Traverse a long distance along this ledge until in ends below a crack system in a corner. Establish a belay here.Pitch 4 – 5.8 160 feet: Climb up the crack directly above eventually working your way left and upwards through a fat section then straight up a short lie back and finally up left to a set of anchors directly below the obvious steep left leaning crack above.Pitch 5 – 5.10d 160 feet: A fantastic pitch combining burly fist jams, delicate face and thin fingers. Climb wide fins, cracks, and slots for about 25 feet to reach the wide crack through a roof.  Climb the left angling crack above until it becomes thin face climbing past 3 bolts. At the Third bolt continue over the roof into the thin finger crack and climb it until it ends on the ledge and anchors just below the top of Texas Tower.Pitch 6 – 5.9 90 feet: Climb directly up the right hand of two crack seams for 35-40 feet.  Locate a discontinuous ledge.  Use it to  step left easily into the next crack system.  Climb the new crack up and left to a belay.Pitch 7 – 5.9+ 120 feet (combines 2 of Texas tower connection pitches to avoid a belay with old bolts): Traverse down and left to a ledge at the base of a corner. Climb the corner a short distance to an ancient bolt. Back up the bolt with gear in the crack. Traverse left further past another ancient bolt into a corner with an old belay. Put an extra long sling on this belay to reduce rope drag and climb straight up the corner past about 7 old bolts until you can step right onto a ledge with a belay (that has a newer bolt).Pitch 8 – 5.7 80 feet: Step left from the fixed anchor and climb up the arete to the short chimney area. Locate and clip a new bolt on a block out left. Clip this to protect the traverse above. Step up and left around the roof to the right side of the Elephants trunk. Climb another 20-30 feet to gain a ledge with a bolted anchor.All the remaining pitches are well described in many guides that discuss EpinephrinePitch 9 – 5.9 80 feet: Climb from the top of the Elephants trunk up a face with 2 bolts and think cracks up to a ledge (this pitch can easily be linked with the prior pitch).Pitch 10 – 5.9 120 feet: Climb the steep corner past 5 bolts to a small ledgePitch 11 – 5.7 160 feet: Climb the long corner to a flared pod pseudo ledge with two rap anchors. (As of 2011 this was the last remaining rappel anchor. The next set of anchors has been removed from the top of the next pitch. If you continue past this point there are no further fixed belays and you'll need to walk off from the summit).Pitch 12 – 5.9 140 feet: Climb up the face to the right edge of some roofs. Climb the roofs to an alcove where the bolts no longer exist. Traverse left then climb to an area where you can place a safe belay.Pitch 13 – 5.7 150 feet: Climb up until you reach the ramp and put in a belayPitches 14 and up: 4th class for a long ways up the ramp to the right of a large bulging roof then far right across ledge systems and a steep exposed area until you arrive at a tree on the ridge of Black Velvet peak.

Approach – Park in the Black Velvet parking area, hike up all the way to the black velvet wall right below Fiddler on the roof, Sour Mash, etc. Descend the ramp to the stream above the waterfall and turn up canyon. Hike a short distance (50-100 meters) past the bolts at the start of Epinephrine until you are below the large left facing corner that rises hundred of feet above you. Start 40 feet left of that corner below the small tree/bush on the first pitch of Texas Hold em. Descent – Either rappel from the top of pitch 11 down the Epinephrine rappel anchors or climb out to the top and traverse back South East a considerable distance (you actually cross 4 distinct summit like structures on the long ridge traverse before finally getting to the descent gully). Once you have traversed along the ridge until directly South of Whiskey peak, drop down along the well worn trail in a gully that goes towards the parking area. Eventually you will cross back to the left towards Whiskey peak and finally down the Whiskey peak descent gully to the main trail back to the cars.

Protection: A single set of camming devices to size 3 inches and a set of wires will be sufficient for everything except the 5.10d pitch. The 5.10d pitch requires a 3.5 to 4 inch cam at the start two sets of cams from about 0.4 camelot size to 3 camelot size plus a few microcams and wires.