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Before any climb, I try to learn as much as possible about a route. The higher the commitment, the more time I’ll spend poring over guidebooks and shaky GoPro footage on YouTube. Despite the popularity of Cat in the Hat (nearly a thousand ticks on Mountain Project) I was a bit disappointed by the inconsistency in the recommended beta, primarily around how to rappel most efficiently. Below is an attempt to synthesize hours of research with additional insight from having done it myself. If you’re trying to onsight the route, you’re in the wrong place.

History & Ethics

Skip ahead if you find this boring, but I think it’s interesting and important. If you haven’t heard of George and Joanne Urioste, they are legends of Red Rock Canyon and are responsible for over a hundred first ascents on many RR classics including Cat in the Hat. When they first moved to Las Vegas in the mid-70s, they weren’t too keen on the climbing after encountering poor rock and bushwhacking the thorny desert brush. In 1976 they began exploring Mescalito, the peak which CitH climbs the south face and made the first ascent of the route. That route opened their mind to the possibilities within Red Rock Canyon, ultimately making it a world class climbing destination.

The desert is a fragile environment and Red Rock sees a ton of traffic. Do your best to keep your impact to a minimum. Within three hundred feet of the trailhead, Leah and I came across bags of dog poop left hidden behind cactus, rocks, and trees. Gross. If you can carry it to a trash bin on a city sidewalk, you can do it here too.

Preparing for the climb

There’s a good chance you’re visiting, so you might be carrying some jetlag. Try your best to get a good night’s sleep as you’ll be waking up early to beat the crowds. Get your gear, clothing, and water packed up before you doze off.

Aim to be at the entrance fee station by 6:30am or earlier. Ideally you have an annual parks pass (or the equivalent) so you don’t waste time buying one that morning. Setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier could save you over an hour on the route. Make sure you leave enough time to have breakfast and do your morning duty (heh).

The approach

Many climbers get lost on the approach, which should take you about 40 minutes (1.45mi) on mostly flat terrain. In order to avoid going down the wrong path (especially if we had to return in the dark), I loaded up the trail (see GPX line) on my watch and on Gaia offline. It was spot on accurate the entire time. We could hear other climbers lost on adjacent trails and quietly walked faster.

Pitch 1 and 2

I would highly recommend combining Pitches 1 and 2 for a full 150ft climb. This is the popular way to do it. Pitch 1 ends at a set of bolted anchors on an uncomfortable, semi-hanging belay after about 100-110ft. You’ll later use this station for rappelling. Climb an additional 40-50ft up the left-slanting fist-sized crack. You’ll know you’ve arrived at the top of Pitch 2 when you come to a massive ledge with a bolted anchor. In that 40-50ft you will pass by what looks like a massive ledge that slopes downward. This isn’t it. You’re looking for the big, flat ledge a few feet higher. You should see the three-bolt anchor easily. I did myself a favor and pre-made a quad at the bottom which I used to bring my partner up. Get familiar with this station as you’ll later use it for rappel.

No special beta for this pitch, except that you should try avoiding rope drag, you may use your #4 cam, and don’t clip the bolt of the P1 anchors as protection (it’ll cause rope drag).

Scramble

After bringing your partner up while enjoying the sunshine, wander right around the protruding rock until you’re face to face with a groove with a left-leaning crack. The first move is the most committing but it’s a walk in the park after that. Once you top out, walk over to a short, black wall and set up your gear anchor there. You should have your entire rack to choose from. Heads up that if you need to pee, this general area is your best spot to avoid doing your business near a belay station.

Some parties choose to climb this unroped. For the comfort of my partner, I chose to stay roped in but placed no gear. I put her on belay and she quickly made it over to me. I’m not counting this as a pitch.

Pitch 3

This pitch is about 50-70ft and is also 5.5. The first moves are the hardest and put you on a ledge. Move into the left-facing corner and aim for a tree. You’ll later use this tree to rappel.

I would advise you to not use the tree as your belay anchor though. Instead, make a gear anchor at the base of wall that you’ll climb for next pitch (about 15 feet further up). This dark wall marks the first exposed part of the next pitch and is easy to see from the rappel tree.

Some advantages of the gear anchor higher up are that you’ll be more comfortable and any party behind can use the tree below instead of crowding with you. The downside of course is that you’re using gear. I still think it’s worth it.

Pitch 4

Pitch 5

This is a short, easy pitch of about 50 feet and maybe comes in at 5.3, but there’s quite a bit of exposure. While you were bringing your partner up, you may have noticed bolts following a sharp arete directly above you. This is Rabbit’s Arete (5.10d). Go for it if you feel like it, but I can’t really advise. If you’re sticking to the route, what you’ll do is step down from the belay and carefully traverse right around a corner. If you stay low, it will feel easy and the exposure shouldn’t bother you. If you don’t go low enough, you’re making it more challenging. There are some opportunities for placing pro on this traverse, but not too many. Try not to fall or have your follower slip.

You’ll get to a varnished, black wall that is split by a crack. This is Pitch 6. Resist the temptation to climb it now. My advice would be to make a gear anchor inside the crack instead of lower down on a ledge. This will put you ahead of any other parties who may be climbing Cookie Monster (5.7), which merges with Cat in the Hat here. It’s a hanging belay but not that bad.

Pitch 6

This is the money pitch. 100-110 feet of 5.6-5.7 climbing up the crack. All the holds are there and the gear is plentiful. Eventually the crack will peter out and you’ll want to trend up and right towards a bolt. There are two crux-y moves on slab that are somewhat runout. It really isn’t that bad as long as you read the rock carefully for the best possible ridges and crimps. Don’t overthink it.

The anchor has 3 bolts and the stance isn’t very comfortable for belaying or rappelling, which you’ll want to do as soon as your partner is up. This isn’t the kind of finish where you eat lunch and watch the view. There’s likely a whole army of climbers on their way up. The climb can continue to the summit of Mescalito if you feel bold and like the idea of 500ft of 4th class scrambling up and down, but I was eager to get down.

Rappel

My advice for rapping will assume you have a 70m rope. If you have two 60m ropes, that’s better (except you’re more likely to get your joining knot caught in flakes). With a 70m, it should take you 5 rappels. It is absolutely essential that you tie knots at the end of your rope. These rappels are using the full length of your rope. I’d also recommend using a rappel extension and pre-rigging your partner so they can come down as soon as you’re ready. It’s a pain, but I’d highly recommend using saddlebags instead of tossing your ropes. You’ll have zero snags and zero climbers who you tossed the rope on top of.

Rappel 1: From the top of Pitch 6, set up your rappel to descend left of where you came up. You’ll descend over anyone climbing Rabbit’s Arete and you’ll see climbers heading up Pitch 6 to your right. Take a photo!

This rappel will take you to the slung boulder at the start of Pitch 5. Depending on how much shrinkage your rope has gotten due to age, you may end up standing on the boulder instead of next to it. Before you untie the knots at the end of your rap lines, tether yourself to the boulder. If you did untie the knots, re-tie them for your partner so they don’t rap off the ends.

Rappel 2: The slung boulder has a rap ring on it. This rappel is another rope-stretcher so be sure to tie knots. This will take you to the base of Pitch 4, 15 feet above the tree anchor. You’ll have to come off rappel and down-scramble unroped 15 feet to the tree anchor. Be mindful of your footing, but it’s not too scary.

Rappel 3: This rappel is another rope-stretcher for a 70m line. It will get you to the base of that scramble section earlier (i.e., the bolted station at the top of Pitch 2). You’re walking across a big ledge for part of it so the rappel will be a bit of a struggle of you have a tight friction hitch. You likely will need to untie from the rope in order to pull it, since it doesn’t quite reach the anchor. It’s not bad at all as the ledge is massive.

Rappel 4: A 70m will not reach the ground from here, so you’ll need to make one more stop at the top of Pitch 1 (this was the bolted anchor we skipped on the way up). It’s an uncomfortable hanging belay/rappel station.

Rappel 5: This is it. Take it all the way to the ground.

Final thoughts

• If you want all of this in a to-go format, check out the condensed notes here.

• It took us 9 hours to climb it car-to-car and we were the second party on the route. The first party was so fast they weren’t an issue at all. There were at least 5 parties who would be rappelling in the dark instead of enjoying a hike out with the beautiful sunset.

• Drink water in the car before you leave, at the base of the climb, during the climb, and as soon as you’re back down. Carry up only what you need and you’ll of course need much less if you’re drinking when you’re not roped up.

• We climbed this on Thanksgiving week on a Tuesday. Temps ranged from 35-55 degrees Fahrenheit.

• If you’re climbing up, don’t clip the rap rings on the slung boulder and incorporate the ring into your anchor. That is not what it’s there for. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

• I would recommend doubles from BD #0.3 to 3 and a single #4. No need for hexes or tricams. I barely used any nuts.

• Don’t forget your headlamp. Be sure it’s charged. Getting behind the wrong party can mean you’ll be out in the dark. Fortunately, you can rappel almost whenever if you have the right rope. Ask yourself whether it’s worth doing the last pitches if you’re losing daylight and there’s a queue ahead.

• While there isn’t any need for crack climbing, I enjoyed using my crack gloves. I also thoroughly enjoyed having my battery-heated Black Diamond Hot Forge chalk bag too. It was so nice to return some feeling into my fingers on the first pitch.

• My favorite item by far was having a walkie talkie to talk to my partner. There are so many people on this route and the long pitches and potential for wind in the canyon means that communication can be tough. My absolute favorite has been the Rocky Talkie. It dramatically made the climb more fun.

• For the approach, check out Gaia. I’ve been a member for a while and have saved countless hours by not getting lost.

Happy to answer any questions. Just reach out. Hope you have fun!