High above the Las Vegas valley, between Red Rock and Mt. Charleston, lies the La Madre Mountain Wilderness. Its tallest, steepest, and most inspiring cliff is the south face of La Madre (8,154’), a 1,000’ wall of limestone. Few people make the approach to climb here—it’s more than two hours if you know the way, and upwards of four hours through thick brush and talus if you don’t. The rock is typical Mojave limestone, which can be very chossy.

The only known prior route was done nearly 30 years ago, by Andrew Fulton and Dan Briley, leaving no fixed protection. While the idea of repeating their route was appealing, I figured a new route probably wouldn’t feel much different. I wanted to explore a large corner system about 100’ left of the original line (based on Andrew and Dan’s description).

On a cold day in November, my friend Mike Starr and I met up at 4 a.m. to drive to the “trailhead”—an unmarked pull-out on an unmarked dirt road on Madre’s north side, accessed from Kyle Canyon Road. We approached up a gully system, ascending a few thousand feet to a saddle between La Madre and El Padre Peak before dropping down about 600’. We got to the base in about two hours.

Our plan was to climb long pitches and hand-drill bolted anchors (mainly because the rock quality isn’t good enough for confidence-inspiring trad anchors). Protection on the route wasn’t great, but I found gear where needed. About 750’ upt he wall, after one last short section of 5.10-, the climbing eased off and became scrambly with the occasional fifth-class move. We hit the summit and hiked out to the car on a pleasant ridgeline.

Though most of the climbing on The Allotrope (900’, 7 pitches, IV 5.10- R) is run-out, chossy, or both, the position is fantastic and it’s a great way to escape the Red Rock crowds. 

— Joey Latina