Close to the Edge, 5.9PG, 3 Pitches

Overview/Approach

Out of Towners' Dome has the most lineal climbing available of any destination in this canyon located on the east side.  Once you have worked your way through the classics like Arribas Amoebas, Matt’s Line and El Cautivo, a route like Close to the Edge represents the next step down in quality of rock, worth doing, but nothing to write home about.  It makes for a good pairing with Perpetual Change, 5.10-PG.  They start next to each other off of the same treed ledge.

Close to the Edge is a rare Cochise multi pitch trad route with no pro bolts.  Because of that, every pitch in the local guide is given a PG rating.  In this case, the 1st and 2nd pitches' runout sort of deserve it.   Nothing overly exposed though.  The first pitch’s crux is stout for the grade but the true crux is short lived. Climb the easy corner to the arcing roof and work out left.  Then climb a thin and shallow corner moving up and right on run out face (crux).  The 2^nd pitch offers a substantial runout on its 2^nd half via chicken heads that become increasingly to impossible to sling.  The 3^rd pitch is long and wandering, with a moment or two of fun route finding.

Head up canyon for the Wasteland Dome on a well-traveled climber’s trail.  At the junction before you head up hill to achieve the base of the Wasteland, cross the white colored rock drainage to the west.  You do not always find cairns helping you through a short bushwhack, but once on the other side you will start heading up hill eventually finding a decent (2024) cairned climber's trail.  This light trafficked trail takes you through the treed canopy along the base of Out of Towners’ Dome.  At the wall, turn left for a short distance and then turn right to enter a chimney like ledge above a massive juniper.  The fully bolted route you pass under before the corner is Perpetual Change.  At the top of this chimney ledge is a left facing corner that is the start of Close to the Edge. 

Route Description

1^st Pitch- 100’-5.9PG/ Heady lead for the grade.  Climb the obvious left facing corner.  Follow it as it arches left to a shallow and short straight up and down left facing corner.  Make the crux moves up this corner to face climbing above.  Trend right and finish on 5.7R face to a large ledge with a fixed rap. 

2^nd Pitch- 170’-5.8PG/ Walk the ledge left to an easy mantle up to the next ramp and follow it back right up through small cactus (2024) up to the right side of a large tree.  Move left to behind the tree and continue up a short left facing hands corner and mantle on top of it.  Continue up runout chicken heads with some pro between plates.  Finish on slab to a narrow ledge that takes medium to large cams. 

3^rd Pitch- 170’-5.7PG/ Climb the good stone directly above staying right of a weakness that leads to a tree.  Climb the will featured stone to the base of a left facing arcing corner.  Stay on the face to the left and climb runout ground directly up by passing the corner on the left and eventually finishing up and over it to the right and landing on top of the wall.

Descent

Several meters east you come across fixed rap hangers that take a step-down skiers left to reach.  Short rap from there but out skiers left to another set of rap hangers.  Then a single 70m rope rap down to the broad ledge below.  A 3rd rap to the top of pitch one, then a 4th rap to the ledge with your packs. At least one of these raps is a single 70m rope stretcher as I recall.

Essential Gear

70m Rope.  Single to #4.  Extra #.5 and #.75.  Plenty of slings for extension.  Route gets sun most all day in winter.