There’s a tonne of climbing around Flagstaff, the epicentre of the North Arizona scene. Our previous attempt to explore some of it, at the same time of year almost twenty years ago, ended in a snowstorm and a close scrape as we only just made it out of our campground. As the “Brewed at 7,000ft” label on the local Flagstaff IPA reminds you, it’s a city with altitude!

No such worries this time, as the weather gods have rolled the dice again and they’ve landed on “Double Hot” – time to go even higher! The San Francisco Peaks dominate the skyline, rising to almost 13,000ft. Sacred to more than a dozen indigenous tribes, and home to the world’s largest stand of Ponderosa Pines, The Peaks are a magical, spiritual place (and yes, unlike The Peak back home, it is the done thing to talk about “The Peaks”).

Tucked away in the folds of the foothills are just five crags, and we picked the quirky sounding Hobo Jungle. Access had been off-limits for much of the summer following damage to dirt roads due to forest fires and flash flooding, but these had recently reopened, along with the dispersed camping in the area.

It’s one of those crags where you’re wondering if the GPS coordinates are wrong until the very last moment and then there it is! A fantastic sculpted 100ft East-facing wall of volcanic rock (Dacite / Andesite?).

Scorching in the sun but chilly in the shade (which was fast encroaching on my much-put-upon belayer) so I jumped straight on the crag-classic Mulligan Pie, 11b. Thin crack followed by a soaring, overhanging arete, then a tricky final wall. Well worth its 4*s.

… halfway up the arete you can dip out right for an 11a tick, but that’s to miss half the fun!

Railway Runaway is another highly regarded 11b, with a nice mix of slab, wall and corner features and a fiendish steep crux around half height.

South West of town, Marshall Lake provides yet another area of free dispersed camping…

with stunning views – this time vistas over The Peaks…

… and nothing but a fire ring…

… though what else do you need?

Just a couple of miles west is The Pit a.k.a. Le Petit Verdon, Arizona’s first venture into sport climbing in the 80s.

If the Verdon reference betrays a understandable lack of familiarity with the Gorge, then “The Pit” is equally inappropriate and does the crag a disservice. Presumably it refers to the depression that this Kaibab Limestone escarpment sits in – you walk across remnants of a lava field and then see the top half of the crag poking out of the ground. More weird geology!

Although the cliff face is quite tall, on closer inspection it’s split up into tiers, and few of the routes are longer than 70ft or so. Perhaps the classic sector is the heavily-pocketed Swiss Tower and I took a couple of shots of a young lad on the classic Mr Slate, 10b, inspiring me to hop on there as a warmup. Outstanding route (it would be highly regarded on any famous euro crag).

… also took this pic of a different climber on the crux.

Absolutely scorching though!

The Son Tower at least has the benefit of some shade for the belayer. Here’s Helen on Sunshine Daydream, 5.7

Back on the central area, Popeye Meets the Burrito Monster offers one of the most popular routes at the crag, with a steep, pockety 5.9+ first pitch. Few people press on for the second pitch, but they’re missing out on some really contrasting climbing, and the combination in a oner is probably worth 10d. Back on Swiss Tower, True Value, 11a, is another classic. More pocket-pulling followed by a cruxy heave through a roof – tough to work out on the onsight.

Here’s a shot of a local lass cruising through the roof, putting my efforts to shame!