A few days ago I got to return to one of my favorite places on earth — Superior, Arizona. This town of 2,000 has some of my favorite people and favorite climbing areas. I first came here while researching the Resolution Copper mine, and the impending destruction of Oak Flat. This is a free campground that was specifically set aside as an exclusion zone for development other than recreation, it is considered sacred to the San Carlos Apache, and it provides access to great climbing. I was freelance writing for climbing magazines at the time, and saw it as an important story to tell.

While I was there I made some of the best friends in my life, and got to do some amazing climbs.

Those friends are still developing routes on a cliff called Apache Leap presides rises over the town. The rock in this area is volcanic tuff, similar to Smith Rock but a little more friable. It naturally forms amazing towers, pillars and cliff faces, which are visible from all around town. I can actually see them now from where I sit in the Superior public library.

In the past couple of years, my friends David Gunn, Ian Gunn, Chiara Mingione, Jason Conlon, Cas Sundell and Charlie Brown have put up some amazing routes on the Leap. Most of them are multi-pitch routes, and all of them are in spectacular positions. To reach them, one can either drive to the back side of the bluff and hike to the top of the climbs via Oak Flat/Mine access, or one can walk up from the bottom.

Last season I put a few good days in helping develop the trail up to the top of the formation (plus some bolting and cleaning on a couple of routes), but they have recently started developing climbs on a large detached flake that is more easily accessed from the bottom. You can see it at the top right corner of the photo below.

Charlie Brown prepares to rappel down to one of the routes at Apache Leap during a day out in 2022/2023 winter.

I met them there after about an hours walk up from Highway 177. Dave, Charlie and a younger climber named Andy were in the process of putting up a new route in the 10+ range. They had just finished bolting two others on the same feature in the same range.

When I got there, we got down to the business of … getting up! We started by climbing the 10+ called White Hactsin. It climbed up a rough-edged chimney onto a stunning red and white face, up through some intricate and powerful moves to the top of the pillar. It’s twin route, Black Hactsin, breaks away left after the third or fourth bolt and takes a steeper line through a small roof of very clean white and red rock. Both of them turned out to be wonderful climbs. Charlie had botled them with a friend I hadn’t met, and he was saving the true FFA for that person. We both hung on the first bolt of White Hactsin to preserve the FFA. But Charlie was generous enough to let me try White Hactsin for the First Free Ascent onsight, which I did. The route was really enjoyable and had some fun exposure on beautiful, strong stone, and went around 11-.

From L: Ian and Dave Gunn on a cold and blustery outing during the 2022/2023 winter season.

As we walked down that day Charlie, who has been a fishing and raft guide for the past 25 years, told me he never imagined he would be able to get a house at the base of such an amazing, and undeveloped climbing area. It’s amazing that we get to spend time in places like this, where we are the only ones on the wall, beside the cliff swallows, lizards and crows. From the top of the Leap you can see out over Superior to Picketpost and into the Superstition mountains. It’s an incredibly soulful place to test yourself.

I once had a client from the UK tell me how much time he and his friends have spent searching for new routes to put up in England — days spent in the rain looking at dumpy little boulders with flaring, diagonal cracks in them. It made me very thankful for all the space and rock we have in America. I’m so glad to be back in the hinterlands.

First Ascents at Apache Leap

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