Norepinephrine
5.10b PG13 trad · 6 pitches · 720 ft · ★★★★
Route 26 of 28 from left to right on Black Velvet Wall, with Malicious Mischief on its left and Epinephrine on its right. Black Velvet Wall has 28 routes, from 5.9 to 5.11d; 9 are harder, and 4 others are the same grade.
First ascent: unknown
Description
Norepinephrine is a four-pitch variation to Epinephrine that climbs to the top of the Black Tower along the exposed arete just left of the infamous Epinephrine chimneys. An enjoyable - if slightly spooky - outing, expect continuous exposure, interesting climbing, and great belay ledges. While it will never approach the classic status of its neighbor (in large part due to a couple passages of hollow rock), it is still a good route. With traffic it should clean up nicely and the difficulty should remain unchanged. Moreover, Norepinephrine is a useful card to have up your sleeve in the event that you've hit snooze one too many times and arrive at the base of Epi only to find the chimneys clogged with multiple struggling human chockstones... Stop waiting in line, just say no to the grovel-fest, and access the upper half of Epinephrine by climbing Norepinephrine instead.
Protection
A set of cams from small to #1 Camalot and a set of wires (or whatever you've brought for Epinephrine). 70m rope if rapping.
Hikes, approaches and descents
- Black Velvet Peak Descent Route — Class 3
Access
The 13-mile Scenic Drive requires a timed-entry reservation October to May and has seasonal gate hours. Calico Basin and Kraft Mountain sit outside the Scenic Drive and need no reservation.
Wet rock: Aztec sandstone loses much of its strength when wet. Do not climb for at least 24 to 48 hours after rain or snowmelt, or holds break off and routes are permanently damaged.
More routes on Black Velvet Wall
- Epinephrine 5.9
- Sour Mash 5.10a
- Dream of Wild Turkeys 5.10a
- Malicious Mischief 5.9 R
- Prince of Darkness 5.10c
- Sourpuss 5.11a
- Velveeta 5.11a R
- Refried Brains 5.9
- Rock Warrior 5.10b R
- Sandstone Samurai 5.11a X
- Cutting Edge 5.11c PG13
- Smooth as Silk 5.10d PG13
- My Little Pony 5.11d
- Steel Monkey 5.10+
- Fiddler on the Roof 5.10+
- Spark Plug 5.10b
- Yellow Brick Road 5.10b
- The Gobbler 5.10-
- Epi Arete 5.9+
- The Fiddler Roof 5.10
- Overhanging Hangover 5.10a
- Jugs on Drugs 5.9+
- American Flesh Dance (Combination of The Flesh plus American Ghost Dance) 5.10 PG13
- Johnny Come Lately 5.10+
- A Dream of Ultraviolet Unicorns 5.10b/c
- Hybrid Drive 5.10b
- Old Fashioned 5.11c