Saddle Peak Rock Climbing
Saddle Peak Location Description:
Saddle Peak, located on Stunt Road in the Santa Monica Mountains, is a north-facing sandstone outcrop. It sees moderate traffic from climbers and features grainy rock on some routes, primarily focused on slab and crack climbing. Route grades range from 5.4 to 5.11a, offering twenty-three bolt-protected sport routes that may benefit from traditional gear, making it suitable for beginner lead climbers. Although it seems like an ideal low-commitment sport crag, its north-facing aspect results in cold, shady conditions in winter and hot, sunny conditions in summer. For optimal climbing, visit on warm fall or winter days and cool spring days. Feel free to reach out with any questions about this awesome location!
What we offer at Saddle Peak in Los Angeles!
-
Looking to enjoy a safe, carefree day of rock climbing? We have you covered! Maximize your experience by tackling as many pitches as you can. Challenge yourself to climb all 23 routes at Saddle Peak!
-
This location is ideal for learning to build solid anchors using permanently fixed hardware, such as bolts. You will leave this course with a comprehensive understanding of how to construct anchors correctly with bolts, as well as an insight into strength ratings and the rationale behind each anchoring technique.
-
In this comprehensive Learn To Lead Sport Climbing course, you will learn how to effectively prepare and plan for sport climbing routes. The course covers essential sport climbing techniques, proper inspection of bolts for correct installation, and, most importantly, how to properly clean a sport anchor. You will also gain skills to safely lower yourself or rappel back down to the ground. All techniques and skills are up to date and best practices as of 2025.
During this course we will focus on getting our students hands-on training as much as possible. Utilizing mock leads will accomplish this, and, in some cases our students will lead a route with one of our instructors climbing next to you.
-
Saddle Peak offers several cracks where beginner trad leaders can refine their gear placement skills. This site serves as an introduction to traditional climbing, due to the limited options for building gear anchors. Bolts will be used for our anchors. Therefore, this course emphasizes effective and proper gear placement techniques using spring-loaded camming devices and passive gear, such as stoppers or nuts.
