UKC

I will be going to a conference in Las Vegas in the first week of May and would love to climb at Red Rocks for a few days afterwards (10-12 May). I'll be on my own and given the short time frame and my lack of familarity with the area I was considering hiring a guide, but they seem fairly pricey at around $400-500 a day.

So, I would appreciate any advice on where to find a partner (I have seen PlanetMountain mentioned), where to stay, and how to get around (car hire seems advised, unless I can find a partner with a car). Also some idea of what to expect from the weather/temperature given that summer will be approaching, and the best areas and routes to minimise the sun.

I would be hoping to climb some mid-length trad classics up to about 5.7 or 5.8. Preferably not too sustained and slab/wall rather than punishing cracks and chimneys. But shorter routes would be fine too. I just want to make the most of a limited time.

Join the Vegas Climbers group on Facebook.

See if you can find anyone who's up for something like Crimson Chrysalis, Dark Shadows, Cat in the Hat, Olive Oil, Frogland etc etc

E

Mountain Project (MP) has a useful lifts and partners section.

https://www.mountainproject.com/partner-finder

Jerry's book is superb, just buy it to scope things out beforehand.

https://www.redrocksguidebook.com/contact-us.html

In May you will probably need shade (loads of routes have this) or very early starts. On the MP Red Rocks page, temps average between 80 and 60 Fahrenheit in May and you are very much at the tail end of the spring climbing season. I'd argue it's up with the best accessible trad in the world for 5.6 to 5.8.

I can't recall many punishing cracks/chimneys compared to the UK (but haven't climbed Epinephrine yet) ....lots of holds means they usually feel fine.... Red Rocks often seems positively friendly. From Enty's list only Cat in a Hat seems maybe a bit hot for best enjoyment.

Can't be sure about shade since I've always been there in the Autumn but I'd recommend, in addition to those already mentioned, Lotta Balls, Black Magic, Dark Shadows, Birdland, Olive Oil, Johnny Vegas (we followed this 150m climb with another 400m of Solar Slab which made a great long day but I'd say this will be full in the sun?)
For a proper UK style mountain day we loved Jubilant Song - interesting offroad drive, proper uphill approach walk, great climb, immense views, nice walk down - it has it all and in addition, being high, it was cooler. Footnote: The interesting offroad drive proved yet more interesting going down and losing the way in the dark! 

And another vote for Jerry Handren's guide book.

I don't think you can do it without a car, or by climbing with someone with a car.

Thanks Enty. I will check our the tips from yourself and others on finding climbing partners.

Apart from the above, does anyone have any tips on good (cheap, convenient) places for a single person to stay, or local climber hangouts?

During the week, some of the casinos can be surprisingly cheap. Other than that, the Camp ground close to the road to redrocks seems the only option.

For such a short stay I'd be on The Strip having the full Vegas experience. Unfortunately 10-12 May is a weekend so expect to pay a bit more.

Where are you staying for the conference? Maybe contact them and get a price for an extension.

E

I've stayed (ten years ago) in a cheapo motel up in the north of Vegas, it was something like $8 night (walk-in $40) and kinda cool, full of long-term residents and construction contactors. Also in Hooters (a casino just below the strip) which booked online (from the parking lot) was a good deal as you got a credit for the tables which you cashed in on leaving and free food in any of the five restaurants. 

Another place we stayed was the Bonny Springs which is a full-on Western experience, kinda run down rooms but good traditional western food, a mock gunfight and right outside the park boundary so you could walk into some of the canyons from there.

It's a place best visited by throwing all your preconceptions about visiting climbing areas out of the window!

The campground may be a good place to look for climbing partners, the parking lot was always full of climbers during the evenings when I stopped there in May about 8 years ago.

I think it's worth adding that the campground can get brutally hot. Pitches do have metal shelters for shade. You get free visual spectacle in the evenings when the laser light show from one of the casinos lights up the desert sky.

You're getting mixed up. The hotel was $8 an hour 🤣

E