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Black Velvet Wall, Texas Hold’Em (5.11c, 9p, 1090′)

Black Velvet Wall

Route:

Texas Hold'Em

5.11c, 9p, 1090'

A great multipitch 5.11 on Black Velvet Wall.

Region: Nevada

Elev: ~5,400 ft

Rock type: Aztec Sandstone

Type:

Date(s): April 27, 2025 (Sun)

Partner(s): Nate Beckwith

Related trip reports:

Red Rocks June 2007: Dogma Pitches 1-10, Epinephrine

Red Rocks Spring Break 2012: Geronimo, Olive Oil, Cat in the Hat

Red Rocks Sept 2014: Triassic Sands, Climbing with Uriostes

Red Rocks Spring Break 2015: Climbing with the Uriostes, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Dream of Wild Turkeys

Red Rocks Sept 2015: Adventure Punks, Crimson Chrysalis, Sour Mash, La Cierta Edad, Dark Shadows, The Fox, The Nightcrawler, Hidden Falls cragging, Winter Heat Wall cragging, Atman

Red Rocks Spring Break 2016: Black Orpheus, Wholesome Fullback, Our Father, Frigid Air Buttress, Eagle Dance, Tunnel Vision, Ixtlan, The Gobbler, Fiddler on the Roof

Red Rocks Spring Break 2018: Myster Z, Armatron, Dark Shadows (Full), Ginger Cracks, Birdland, Frogland, Inti Watana, Spark Plug, Refried Brains

Red Rocks Spring Break 2019: Sweet Thin, Beulah's Book + Arch Enemy, Enterprise, Challenger, Epinephrine, The Schwa, Honeycomb Chimney, Bird Hunter Buttress

Red Rocks April 2024: Cloud Tower, Levitation 29, Unimpeachable Groping

Red Rocks April 2025: Rainbow Wall Original Route

Red Rocks April 2025: Mt. Wilson Resolution Arete

Red Rocks Cragging & Hikiing

Route Overlay

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Intro

Texas Hold'Em is an engaging, awesome route up a wall beside Texas Tower. Each pitch is progressively better, and the finish is superb, making this one of the best climbs in Black Velvet. Begin 100' right of the start of Epinephrine.

I've always felt that Black Velvet Canyon has some of the best rock in Red Rocks, kind of a bullet-hard dark sandstone, so when we were looking for a big route to cap off a three-week stint in Red Rocks, Texas Hold'Em came to mind. [Funny story: I had left my home in Estes Park on what I planned to just be three days in the Creek before returning home. It ended up being a six week climbing road trip involving sandstone splitters in Indian Creek, the uber-classic Moonlight Buttress in Zion; the steep limestone of Lime Kiln Canyon; the renowned overhanging limestone at Clear Light Cave; big routes in Red Rocks like Rainbow Wall and Resolution Arete and Texas Hold'Em (this page) as well as several days of sport climbing in Calico Hills and Calico Basin to get strong.]

We climbed this on a rather cold and windy day, which made rallying the fingers for the cruxes difficult but also meant we didn't have to bring much water. We were the only party on the route. Nate lead the first 7 pitches, and I led the last two. My favorite pitches were the Pitch 5 crack to techy arete moves, the Pitch 8 flare, and the burly Pitch 9.

The following page gives a route overlay, time stats, and photos from our climb. We both thought it was an excellent adventure.

Time Stats

Times

Leave Black Velvet Canyon parking lot: 5:54 am
Base of route: 6:48 am
Start climbing: 7:25 am
Top of route: 2:53 pm
Begin rappels: 2:59 pm
Base of route: 4:24 pm
Start hiking out: 4:39 pm
Black Velvet Canyon parking lot: 5:21 pm

Splits

Approach: 54 minutes
Climb route: 7 hours and 28 minutes
Rappels: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Hike out: 42 minutes
Total time (car-to-car): 11 hours and 27 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

2nd

Start on Texas Tower Direct. Start 100 feet to the right of Epinephrine and below and to the left of a long left-facing corner.

Pitch 1

5.8, 120'
Texas Tower Direct Pitch 1

The Handren guide says to go up on some steep ledges, then move right and follow a flake up and right to where a few face moves on fragile rock lead into the base of a large left-facing corner. Follow the corner over a bulge, then 20 feet higher move left and up to an anchor on a bushy ledge.

We went a slightly different way, after reading mountainproject comments about the first pitch being a heinous, dangerous, sand castle. Instead of going into the giant left-facing corner, we went up and left to a bushy ledge, located the bolt above, went far left on the ledge to a tree/bush and up an easy corner, then went back right to the bolt. (Thanks Jeromy Markee on mountainproject for this beta.)

Pitch 2

5.9, 150'
Texas Tower Direct Pitch 2

Climb straight up the easy slab above into the huge, left-leaning corner. Continue up the corner to a bolt on the right wall. Traverse to the right, staying low, then step up and make a final pull over a slight bulge to reach a good ledge. There is also another bolt a bit further right of the aforementioned bolt that allows a more direct line at seemingly the same grade.

Pitch 3

5.7, 130'

Climb a short corner to the right, then scramble up and right along bushy ledges to the base of the right most of the two thin cracks.

Pitch 4

5.8, 160'

Follow the crack system past an anchor at 100' to a higher anchor on a good ledge. (Pitches 4&5 of Yellow Rose of Texas.)

Pitch 5

5.10d, 180'

The next pitch climbs the long left-angling crack above, which starts as fists but gradually narrows. After passing an overhang the route joins the last part of pitch six of Texas Tower Direct, climbing a steep seam (4 b's) to reach the big ledge just below the top of Texas Tower.

Pitch 6

5.10a, 90'

There are svearl thin left-slanting cracks on the wall above the ledge. Follow the crack directly above the anchor for 35', then traverse 10' left into the left-hand crack; follow this with poor protection to an anchor on the left. This pitch is the first pitch of Texas Tower Connection.

Variation (5.12b A0 or 5.12c, 180'): This is an amazing pitch which climbs directly up from the initial crack on Pitch 6 and eventually joins Pitch 7 at the left end of the roof.

Pitch 7

5.11c, 90'

Step right and climb up a crack until it is possible to exit right onto an awkward ramp (2 b's). Climb up the ramp, then up to the left end of a roof. Climb the steep corner to the left of the roof (3 b's) to a cramped stance at the base of a beautiful flare.

Pitch 8

5.11c, 100'

Climb the flare (3 b's), then traverse into a corner on the right. Up this to a ledge below huge roofs.

Pitch 9

5.10d, 70'

Follow the crack under the roof around to the right and up to another huge roof. This roof is avoided by a traverse left on a ledge. Once past the roof a short face leads to an anchor. Leave the rappel line fixed on this pitch for descent, otherwise no amount of swinging will get you to the anchor.

Descent

Rappel

Rappel the route with two ropes. Leave the rappel line fixed the final pitch for descent, otherwise no amount of swinging will get you to the anchor. You can also rappel with a single 80.

Previous and Next Adventures

Calico Hills and Calico Basin cragging, Red Rocks, NV

Red Arch Mountain (Shune's Buttress), Zion, UT

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