Stilgar’s Wild Ride 5.8, Angel Food Wall

Climbed on April 16, 2023. 

Fun Rating: Fun

Summer is fast approaching here in Las Vegas. We’ve hit triple digits already and the regularity of temps in the upper 90s is starting to scare the crowds away. Anyone who’s been reading here for awhile, or knows me personally, will be aware that this is my favorite season in Red Rock despite the necessity of chasing shade. I am not a “crowds” guy. My least favorite climbing memories involve crowded crags and busy gyms. I remember visiting a gym in LA while on a work trip and, despite the lovely setting and excellent walls, hating every second of it as I had to push my way through crowds to get to the mats. This has always been part of the appeal of the JHAT to me, as sandbagged older trad climbs tend not to draw the kind of crowds I try so hard to avoid.

All this bloviating does have a topical purpose. I’m here to talk about Stilgar’s Wild Ride, a less popular Herbst route surrounded by more popular Herbst routes on a popular wall. To give you some perspective - Tunnel Vision, which is another Herbst route right next to Stilgar’s, has 2,663 ticks on Mountain Project compared to the 102 that Stilgar’s currently has. I think this is a shame, given I was much more engaged for the duration of Stilgar’s than any other route I’ve climbed on the wall. There is some runout terrain, and a couple moves off of one belay that had me a little gripped that I will go into with more detail shortly. Even with this being the case, the fifth pitch is stellar and is a must climb for anyone comfortable at the very approachable grade of sandbagged 5.8 that was originally climbed in 1974

Selfie time.

I spent a good amount of time deciding whether to include some memes from the somewhat recent Dune duology that Denis Villeneuve directed, but I have had enough Lisan Al’Gaibs for a lifetime recently and I’m not funny enough to bring anything new to the table. As such we will mostly ignore, with steadfast resolution, the fact that this climb is named after a character in Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi text. Side note, if you haven’t seen the recent films they’re definitely worth the watch, even if the pacing in the second was a little off. Enough film reviewing, this is a climbing blog.

We set off on the true first pitch of the climb, despite the appeal of the Tele-Vision start, to get the full on SWR experience. I’ve now done the first pitch, which is shared with Tunnel Vision, a few times and despite the overall ease of the climbing I still quite enjoy the first 30 feet or so. The hand traverse that ends with a fun pull into a left facing corner is great fun for the grade, and not as juggy as you’d expect for 5.7. After that the pitch quickly fades into obscurity, with the remainder of the climb far overshadowing it in both fun level and engagement.

Megan cruising the crux pitch.

From there the climb diverts from Tunnel Vision, climbing cracks and chimneys to its right before eventually linking up at the belay ledge for the famous tunnel pitch. I imagine most people who have been here for Tunnel Vision have at least looked at the direct path straight up from the belay. Extremely thin holds over a deep chasm that lead to a roof and eventual pull into a scalloped right facing corner. With no gear to be had until the roof, the last move to get there had me legitimately gripped. I hemmed and hawed over it for some time, enough time actually that a British visitor to the canyon eventually met us at the ledge and got a first row view of me dithering. I think it was his arrival that finally spurred me into just going for it, which ended up being easy enough despite the level of headiness involved.

Once in the corner, you’re greeted with a long pitch requiring creative gear and a composed leader. The scalloped nature of the pitch mean that unless you’re willing to incur horrible rope drag, you’re essentially forced to run it out from the farthest edge of one scallop to another, usually somewhere in the 15-30 foot range between reasonable placements. Given this is the crux pitch and climbs at classic JHAT 5.8, I would not recommend this climb to someone trying to break into the grade. While I didn’t feel that it was necessarily dangerous for someone competent, comfortable, and a little bold I can certainly see where someone could get themselves into trouble. One of the (in)famous Weekend Whippers (link for those curious) shows someone breaking a hold near the top of the pitch and taking quite a ride, eventually being caught by a microcam. This is a great example of what I mean, and if not for that cam holding, that could easily have been a SAR rescue or recovery.

Megan deep in the abyss.

From there the route retains its old and bold feeling, but is less remarkable in the actual climbing. We continued up the corner, which felt very much like the rest of the routes on the wall in terms of difficulty and rock quality, before eventually topping out via the same last mini-pitch as Group Therapy. Left with the standard Angel Food walkoff, we had time to chat and reflect on the ride we had, and the level of wildness involved. Outside of the fifth pitch, Stilgar’s Wild Ride feels very much of a kind with Tunnel Vision and Group Therapy. Classic Angel Food climbing up mostly solid rock with a couple of tetchy moves here and there. The fifth pitch, though, is real Herbst stuff. Be ready, be stoked, and be safe, but have fun and go get after it!

The lovely “stairs” part of the walkoff. As well as my old approachies (RIP)