Areet's Arête

Areet's Arête is a classic and secluded arête problem way up the La Fin du Monde drainage, uphill of The Dirty Rail. The landing is generally good but a large angular block sits down and to the right of the problem and could pose a problem if one were to fall off from up high. Thankfully, the holds get better and better the higher you go.

Sit start with a small flat edge and fin. Move up to a sloping ledge followed by another sloping ledge. Move up and right and make a committing move up to a curved rail and then to a jug at the upper right end of the rail. A couple more airy, and potentially scary feeling, moves lead to the top of the arête.

In Moulin's "Southern Nevada Bouldering" book the problem is rated V2/V3. However the sequence photos of a climber doing the problem show frequent use of a small crimp right on the arête between the two sloping ledges. As of December 2019, that crimp as apparently broken off (not sure when this happened) making the problem feel solid V3.

From the Kraft parking area, hike west on the closed gravel road to the old foundation and take a left on the trail that skirts the base of the mountain to the La Fin du Monde drainage. Hike up the drainage for about 20 minutes, passing the Tickle Pickle, Drop the Transmission* and The Dirty Rail area. Just as the drainage starts to level out a bit, look right for the Areet's Arête boulder. Areet's Arête is the only problem on the boulder and its on the uphill side of the boulder.

Three pads is nice--two for the flat landing and one to cover the angular block.