Crimping Up Lava Flows

The Dead Cholla Wall is a fabulous east-facing basalt cliff that perches on the airy rim of the Rio Grande Gorge, a deep gash carved by the Rio Grande. This scenic crag is roofed by a vault of soaring turquoise sky and filled with silence, the distant roar of the river below, and occasional caws from passing crows. The easily accessed cliff offers stacks of great pocket and edge climbs up its vertical 80-foot-high wall. "Lava Flows" (5.11a), one of Dead Cholla's best offerings, works up the left side of a perfect arete.