As you are walking along the left cliff band toward to the two other purgatory routes look to your left at the giant overhung cliff band. There are a number of very loose looking lines that travel out the really tall roof, but to the right of that is a very clean looking line that starts on a Texas-shaped hold and follows through some weird crimps and shallow crimpy pocket things up a slightly overhung section.

Texas Hold 'Em

Orangutang Swang (AKA Hooray For Beer)

The Great Escape

The Nostril

Are You Dead or Are You Sleeping

Fire Crotch

Kessel Run

Learning to Fly

Ape Escape

Pipekabob

Riders on the Storm

This is Water

Alien Blade Lasers

Sand Crawler

Nose Bleed

Semi Nice

Back to the Gym

New Map to Hell

Glenn's Dance Floor

Madness

Never Been to Spain

Balrog Crack

The Nose

Disclaimer: this route is potentially very dangerous if the cliff were to topple due to the soft nature of the rock.

A powerful (possibly height dependent) start leads to a big ledge you can take a nap in. From here work up smaller holds (crux) before the second bolt, then gun it up to the top and finish with a classic Zen Pen top-out.

Pull onto the large starting ledge and use the low, large sidepulls and/or the slopey crimp rail to dyno to the huge slot below the roof. Topout above and to the left.

 Possibly the best at Zen Pen!

Climb the arete until the thin vertical seam peters out, and move right to a jug just before going to the top.

Sit Start on the shelf and move up into the great sloping nose-like feature. Using a crimp and a shallow vertical crack navigate the technical body movement to carefully latch the sloping jug. Just left of Orangutang Swang.

Jump start to the sloping rail and instead of heading straight up like New Road Map to Hell follow the rail up and left and top out.

Another noteworthy warmup but be careful. Decent holds run up the tallest portion of the slab and over a questionable landing.

A few moves gets you to a 5+ foot dyno off relatively good crimps to the top of this 18ish ft. boulder.

Fun movement makes for a noteworthy problem on good quality rock. Sit start on the shelf of The Nostril/Nose. Unlock a sequence that takes you left to a large sloping jug. Top out straight up from there. A great addition to the area.

Start standing using a low left side pull and a sloper on your right. Use small intermediates or make a reach to a big in-cut above your head. From here move up off sandy feet and right to a sandy in-cut sloper. A small slot up and left sets you up for the top.

A striking arete runs through a sculpted horizontal rail in the heart of Purgatory. With attractive features this obvious line is often climbed as a warm-up for harder classics.

This turtle-shell slab has some of the best aesthetics and rock quality in the area but, man, is it blank! Start in the middle of the face on pockets and make a difficult no-hands stand into a thumb press above your head. I'm unsure on the top out and no options in particularly stand out so choose your own adventure from here but topping out up or on the blunt arete is appealing. Traversing right to top out probably detracts from the experience. The grade is a guess.

I’m sorry but this is a run and jump. Using a good sized shelf about two feet off the ground, launch yourself nine and a half more feet to a decent knob. Let muscle memory guide your path!It’s worth trying this static. Rumor has it someone has climbed the middle of this face before. 

Get establised with your feet low on the boulder and compress small sloping crimps on the left side of the arete and good crimps on the right side. Move up through the in-cut slopers above and to the right. Make a big move and top out.

Left variation of the Nostril. Start low and left in a bad left-hand pocket, and the good right-hand pocket. 

instagram.com/p/BeG3_pklRFQ…

  The OG send video.

One of the best slab warmups here! Opposite of Learning to Fly, start in the middle of the slab and head straight up toward the 2 parallel vertical rails. Technical and a little tall, this solid slab is occasionally climbed but rarely mentioned due to its lack of a name for a long time.

Sit start matched on the lowest horizontal. Go up on a few sloping horizontal crimps. Hit the lip straight up around the crack. Top out pinching some sandy plates. Top out will probably be better quality with some traffic.

Jump start from the big block below the sloping rail (easier than it looks). After catching the rail slide up a little and heel hook, rock up through a few other holds or go straight to the top. Press out the mantle to finish.

Stand start and hike a foot up onto the ledge. Use a couple crimps left of the arete to get to the big hold in the middle of the wall. Top out.

Stand start with right hand on a side pull just left of the arete, left hand gaston. Go up staying left of the arete. Get the side pull undercling and top.

Forgotten but definitely worth checking out, this short line has interesting holds and very solid rock. Start sitting with a hand in the 3 finger pocket. Move to a left hand sloper pinch and then lock down a couple desperate undercling crimps to top out.

YOU. SHALL. NOT. CRACK!!! A surprisingly technical and quality crack boulder. Originally sent by liebacking the crack with a high foot, this climb might be easier to someone skilled with jamming.

Stand Start on the sloping Nose-like feature. Using a crimp and a shallow vertical crack navigate the technical body movement to carefully latch the sloping jug.

The other great area at Zen Pen. There are a number of great moderates from V2 to V9 and a couple of notorious double digit problems/projects.

Description

Protection

Routes in Purgatory