Prince of Darkness (POD) 700’+/-, 6 Pitches, 5.10c was one of the classic routes for me to check off in Black Velvet Canyon (BVC) at Red Rocks Conservation Area near Vegas. I prefer trad climbing to sport and had placed less emphasis on POD than other classics like Dream of Wild Turkeys (DOWT), that was of course until I stood beneath this must do line.
Approach to Black Velvet Canyon
On the day we climbed POD, we arrived at the parking area & there were at least 7 other vehicles, so we feared the worst, one team was just setting off & they told us they were going for DOWT the 5.10a line to the right of our route.
Third Pitch of Prince of Darkness
Off they went & we geared up & followed, the approach to BVC takes about an hour & involves a lot of scrambling about &/or a lot of Bushwhacking in a streambed so we were amazed to find when we got to the bottom of the route we were the first ones there.
BVC is regarded as the home of the best cluster of mid grade routes in the Red Rocks area, the guide book will tell you that POD is not the best line on the wall as both its left & right neighbour’s are finer climbs, so on the day we arrived faced with choosing one of the 3, I had no hesitation which route to get on.
Second Pitch of Prince of Darkness
The start of POD and DOWT is an obvious large light colored flake feature that ends at the start of the intense climbing on the solid dark wall above. DOWT takes off on a right angled long crack and POD goes straight up the center of the wall.
1st Pitch- 70’- 5.7/ Head up fast and furious across easy ground staying out of the corner to the right, up and to a small ledge with fancy cold shuts. The bolts to the right relate to DOTW who shares this first pitch.
2nd Pitch- 140’- 5.10b/ Yes you go straight up. Even though the 6th pitch is rated at a higher grade, this is the crux of the climb as it never lets up. In reality, pitches 2, 3, 5 and 6 are all sustained and challenging for their respective grades. Pitches 3 and 5 require more gear placement. Follow bolts straight up maybe placing a piece or two along the way.
3rd Pitch- 130’- 5.10a/ the 3rd and 5th pitches require more gear placements then the other four. This is the third hardest lead of the route.
4th Pitch- 130’- 5.9/ this is the easiest pitch of the sustained climbing.
5th Pitch- 140’- 5.10a/ this is the 2nd easiest pitch of the sustained climbing and again offers some nice gear placements
In a thin seam
6th Pitch- 100’- 5.10c/ The crux move of this pitch and perhaps the route is the vertical varnished slab of to the left of a small finger crack through three bolts to easier ground. The route continues more like 5.9-5.10a through more bolts slanting right towards the shared station with DOWT.
A view across at the Turkeys
Descent is by 6 Rappels it’s quite easy to get the ropes back as there is very little for them to catch on.
While we had been on the climb several other parties had arrived & gone onto various climbs, none had followed us, the worrying thing was that none of the other teams were nearing the top of their respective climbs. By the time we had bushwhacked our way back to the car it was quite late & darkness caught us before we got back to Las Vegas maybe a 15 mile drive. I would not of liked to be any of the other parties in the canyon that day.
POD was one of the highlights of our US road trip, it was my choice of route & Chuck declined to lead any of the pitches so I was very pleased with the way it went. Grade I would grade POD solid E3 5c in English money, a very big undertaking.