The previous day, Vitaliy Musiyenko, Sean McLane, and I had climbed Times Up (5.12a, 6 pitches) on the left side of the Hourglass on Brownstone Wall. We had banked on sun, but Rainbow Mountain swallowed the low late-fall light and left us shivering in the shade. Times Up was excellent—certainly worth enduring the cold—but we still found ourselves staring longingly at the climbers on Armatron, glowing in a beam of warm sunlight. Vitaliy hadn’t climbed Armatron before, while Sean and I had, and I also wanted a cleaner route overlay than the one from my 2018 ascent. So Armatron became the next day’s objective.

I had climbed Armatron (5.9, 6 pitches) once before, in March 2018. I remembered it as such a cool route—steep, engaging, and plastered with its signature plates. The route takes its name from the Armatron, a vintage robotic arm toy made by Tandy/Radio Shack in the early 1980s. It was a mechanical, motor-driven arm controlled entirely with joysticks and dials—no programming, just gears, clutches, and linkages.

When we arrived at the base shortly after 9 a.m., there were already a couple of parties on route and another group hiking up the trail behind us. We decided to simulclimb rather than clog the belays. One team graciously let us by and chatted as we moved through; the other was understandably less enthused at us cutting in line, but we slipped past quickly. With Sean leading and placing microtraxions as needed, and Vitaliy and me following with about 40 feet of rope between us, we climbed the six pitches in 50 minutes.

Well—what next?

We headed to The Nightcrawler (5.10c, 4–5 pitches), which follows the corner on the right side of the Hourglass feature and is the site route to Times Up (5.12a, 6p) that we had climbed the day before. I had last climbed The Nightcrawler in September 2015 and was happy to revisit it. The clean-cut corners on the third and fourth pitches are some of the best 5.10c climbing in Red Rocks, made even more enjoyable by protection bolts placed right where you want them. There’s a rumor that the route name is an ode to the Uriostes always crawling out in the dark after long days exploring new rock—likely sleeping out overnight while putting up the route.

As on Times Up, we climbed in fix-and-follow style, with the two followers spaced 30–50 feet apart, which worked smoothly. Vitaliy led the first two pitches, Sean led the third, and I led the fourth. We opted out of the bonus fifth pitch above the Hourglass—though I had done it in 2015.

All in all, a fun two-route day at Brownstone Wall with Vitaliy and Sean!

This page includes a route overlay, time stats, and pitch-by-pitch photos from each climb. Enjoy!