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Casually Off Route (5.9, 5p, ~700′)

Main Gully Area

Route:

Casually Off Route

5.9, 5p, ~700'

A half-day adventure with two great pitches of 5.9 climbing.

Region: Colorado

Elev: 6,000-7,000 ft

Rock type: Gneiss

Type:

Date(s): May 20, 2021 (Thu)

Partner(s): Michael Underwood

Related trip reports:

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Main Page

Route Overlay

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Intro

Casually Off Route climbs well-protected splitter cracks on the main wall on the east side of SOB Gully, and generally thought of as one of the better 5.9s in the Black. We felt that the route did not quite live up to that expectation, but it was still a good half-day adventure with two great pitches of 5.9 climbing (and the rest mediocre).

Michael and I climbed this route as part of a two-day spring trip to the Black. The other climb we did was Scenic Cruise.

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

Descend the SOB Gully to the base of the Main Wall. Start on a bushy ramp system below the buttress. Rope up near a semi-dead juniper tree at the beginning-to-middle portion of the ramp. A short approach by Black standards.

Pitch 1

5.8

Climb up and left into a short corner. Continue up nondescript terrain to a stance below a right-facing finger crack. Belay or link with Pitch 2.

Pitch 2

5.8

Climb the corner that is shared with the Casual Route, then trend up and left to reach a prominent ledge with a juniper. Pitches 1 and 2 can be linked with a 70.

Pitch 3

5.9

Pull a mantel move to gain a narrow ledge. Walk left along the ledge to the obvious splitter. Climb this hand-fist crack, moving left through the first bulge, then back right into a wide flake. At a second bulge, trend right into a corner and belay above. Rope drag can sometimes be an issue on this long, stellar pitch.

Pitch 4

5.8/5.9

Climb the undercling directly above, eventually gaining a right-facing corner that leads to a slab. Belay at the top of a sloping ledge/slab at a tree above a steep slot. The route joins the Casual Route here.

Pitch 5

5.8

Wander up and right on easy terrain to a large ledge. We took this opportunity to move the belay. Continue up a short finger/layback crack to the terrace above. This pitch is also the final pitch of the Casual Route.

Top out

Slog out the exit gully, or climb direct pitches to the rim. This pops out near the campground. Although I usually prefer a direct finish, we chose to exit via the gully since this would be quicker (and probably safer from the looks of the direct finish) and we had a 6-hour drive ahead of us back to Boulder.