San Jacinto Mountains — Winter Trad Week — Suicide Rock
This was a full few days of camping and climbing, settling into the rhythm of waking up, hiking in, and spending long stretches on the wall.
Approach
The approach is no joke. Steep, uphill, and a bit of a scramble once you get close, with no clearly defined trail near the top. But the scale of the rock makes navigation simple once you’re headed in the right direction.
Routes
'Little Murders'(5.4) forces you into this wild sequence moving backward under a flake; unlike anything else we’ve climbed and amazing, only caveat is that rope drag can become insane. 'Graham Crackers'(5.6) stands out as one of the cleanest and most satisfying trad leads we’ve ever done. Everything about that route just locked in. Movement, protection, flow. We also got our tips in 'Finger Lickin' Good'(5.7) and had some strange fun on 'Tabby Treat' (5.3).
This place leaves an impression. It’s one of our favorite climbing areas, and we’ll be back with eyes on longer routes over on Tahquitz.
Protection & Gear
The whole area of Suicide Rock is solid granite, and the routes we climbed had good protection opportunities. We found that a standard trad rack with a good selection of nuts was sufficient for everything we climbed. The rock quality was excellent, which made for confident placements and enjoyable climbing.
Camping
We camped at Idyllwild County Park. Short drive to the trailhead and a solid base for multi-day trips in the San Jacinto Mountains.
Conditions
December: cold nights, crisp mornings, warm by midday on south-facing rock. Perfect trad weather with no wind.