Fun Climbs Around The World

A climber high on “Skyline”, on the Incisor (aka Morning Glory Spire)

On our first morning, we headed to the aptly-named “Skyline” on the Incisor. Our first taste of City of Rocks stone in a few years, and my first time on granite this year, rewarded us with clean stone, great position, and bomb-proof nut placements.

From the parking lot (at Parking Lot Rock, of course) a quick 5-minute walk took us to the base of the Incisor. The classic “Skyline”  starts in any of three possible places.

At the lower start, two cracks on the right or the left, converge before  a traverse left below an overlap. An upper start traverses in from a ledge directly  below the bolted Fall Line, the climb directly right of Skyline.

The lower starts offer very easy climbing on gently-sloped rock and were a good way to get used to the feel of rubber on rock again (after the long drive to get here).

Andrew leading the arete on Skyline

All starts converge at a delicate traverse left, below a small roof, to the arete — the crux of the climb. From here, we followed big holds, good cracks, and nice jugs along the arete to the summit.

High on the arete of Skyline