It starts out 5.6 up 15 foot corner with wide crack and then heads up easy slab between 2 big boulders and scoots up to slab traverse to the right and belays at large tree below the famous Verschniedung V-slot with perfect hand crack.

Pitch 2 heads up to the slot, place stoppers and/or small cams before making tricky moves into slot. Then jam perfect hands for 40-50 feet straight up the V-slot. When this crack ends, you must go left up overhanging crack with big holds for 20 feet to slab....move up slab and traverse left for 15 feet to belay, now updated with a 2 bolt anchor (Metolius rap hanger & chains).

Descent is one double rope 60m rappel and a scramble down to ground or two raps with a 60M rope. This route is just right of

The Unsaid

, one of the first popular areas to climb on west ridge. Verschniedung is easily recognized by a tower that rises above the ridge with a v-slot and vertical hand crack (easily seen from trail).

Verschneidung Dihedral

Clean Freak

Super Scooper

Verschneidung Direct

Mineral Maze

Ernest Extended Way

Wild Turkey

Leg of Ilg

Quo Vadis

Runsholl Scrunch

Water Line

Wingshot

Crow's Landing

Foaming Cleanser

Party Pooper

First Unknown

Morning Thunder

The Exterminator

Turkey Jerky

High Anxiety

Initial Route

Thunderworld

Jam Con

Territorial Integrity

Thunderbolts From Hell

Wishbone

Initial Hangover

Ranger Danger

Piece Easy

Sleepytime

Blind Mouse

Pork Chop

Allosaur

Earnest Stemmingway

Stepping Stones

Kickin' Chicken

A Moveable Flake

Flyback

Roadside Attraction

Blues Power

The Farmer's Wife

Odarodle

Something Blue

Auntie Perspirant

Office Girls Walk The Plank

Shot and Chaser

Up the Downclimb

P1 5.9, 120': From a solid tree on a comfortable ledge, scramble up and right onto a gentle slab and pull over a rotten bulge.  Move slightly left and join a finger crack to a ledge then up and right around an awkward 5.9 corner to the left end of a large slab system.  Climb the arête to your immediate left onto a face and up into an open alcove then up through the rotten bulge past a small pine tree and onto a large slab at the top of the ridge.  Establish a belay on the far left side of the slab near the base of the tower with the shallow, left-facing dihedral.

P2 5.12a ~60':  Psyche up for the shallow, left-facing corner on the tower.  First 35' packs a wallop with a bouldery .12a funky corner/face sequence into a dead vertical power-endurance finger crack with poor feet.

First pitch previously climbed by Steve Levin (AKA 'Dog Patch') but included here with permission.  The second pitch was done ground up and involved some cleaning.

Thanks to Rob Kepley for lending a helping hand in this endeavor.

This West Ridge climb is good clean fun, although it is relatively obscure.

Hike up the West Ridge to just past the amphitheatre, as it goes out of sight, you will pass the Initial Overhang (see that entry on this site) and then come to a solid section of rock with multiple ovehangs split by thin cracks.  The "solid section" just out from the rest of the ridge, lying just uphill from the amphitheatre and a small distance below the High Anxiety area.  The buttress is perhaps 40 feet wide and 100 feet tall, in all. It is split laterally by two ledges rising up and left and vertically by a few cracks going up from each of those two ledges on the wall.

Climb in from the right (lowest area) of the buttress or pull through a bulge below the buttress and climb up about 30' to gain a left-leaning crack on the first buttress.  Climb up this crack and a right facing corner (slab) past a good section of crack that will take a 2.5" cam. Pull out left [from the] corner as it ends and into a vertical crack- place a large stopper or cam and climb up the steep wall to a good stance below an overhang.  Set a 1" or smaller cam in a fingercrack just above and climb out and left through a brief [overhang] to more vertical rock and up onto a sloping ledge (optional belay).  From the ledge look up to see a short section of thin crack that you must use and protect to reach a series of 4 good holds. The pro here is a 2-3" cam at waist, thin stoppers overhead. The crux is now, so MIND THE LEDGE. The sequence is devious, but as it turns out, is really only 5.9 or 5.9+. A key starting hold may be out of reach for anyone shorter than 5'6", bumping the grade up to 5.10. There is a key "flake" up and left of the crack that you will use; although it looks scary, it seems to be good.  I certainly would not place a cam behind it though. Pull up past that (jugs) over the overhang lip (jugs) and up onto the slab (jugs) and then up to a solid tree to belay.

From this line you can finish on Party Pooper, the upper part of the Initial Route, Quo Vadis, or rap off from above Up The Downclimb.

CRUX BETA: From the sloping ledge to through the overhang... there is a small scoop up high facing left where the crack is offset, some 7 feet off of the ledge.  Handjam with the right hand in the wide section of crack, step up on some small feet, use the left hand to "pinch" the offset, with the left fingers in the scoop and left thumb around the corner above your head. Set feet hard left and PUSH to the pocket up and right.  Match near the pocket, set feet hard right and PUSH left to undercling the big flake to the left. Reach up over the flake and match there. You can put an arm behind it to rest whil placing a small nut, ball nut, or micro-cam overhead for the finish.  Reach up and right of the crack at the lip for a big jug on a corner and pull the lip.

This climbs a sparsely protected, thin face to the classic dihedral.

Climb a slab to the right most of several colorful aretes. Move right past a break, and undercling right on a flake and up to a scoop. Continue straight up the poorly protected face, and veer left to

Verschneidung Dihedral

.

Just up-hill from Water Line is a right facing dihedral with a small roof, this is just behind a large tree. Approach from the slab (easy) and belay at the tree. Mineral Maze is a cool problem that entails getting established in the dihedral and solving the roof pull on the right. This is a power move on good hands, and you may try to get some gear in after pulling the lip, however, the slab is just a move away and probably most folks just climb on through. Belay at one of the trees and walk off left. This is a very worthy problem.

This is a nice way to extend

Ernest Hemmingway

.  Check out that description (and the pic below) for approach info.

At a broad, grassy section of the ramp (just up from the 'model Christmas tree', locate a broken, right-facing dihedral.  Climb that up through a roof, angle up and left to meet up with

Ernest Stemmingway

just below the roof on that climb.

Above the roof, the pro is sparse, and the bolt that is at the crux inspires about as much confidence as fishing for marlin with dental floss or bullfighting with a blindfold on.  Don't fall there.

At press time (10/04) there was a sling and rap ring on a tree on the east slab that will *just* get you back to the start of the climb with a 60m rope.

Wild Turkey climbs up the face and overhanging arête to the right of Wingshot in the alcove area. The route is high quality, challenging climbing with modern quality bolted protection, and spectacular position above the creek. The route gets good sun all winter, though its frequently very windy.  Scramble up to the alcove area from near the boulder traverse along the trail and to the base of Blues Power and Wingshot.  Follow the break to the right below the blocky magenta band at the start of wing shot for about 40' to find a small, exposed ledge, the turkey perch, overlooking the creek.

From the turkey perch, it is best to reach up and clip the first bolt before begining the climbing proper.  Climb onto the steep face moving up and left past a detached undercling flake (careful!) to a left leaning crack from which the second bolt can easily be clipped.  Continue up to positive holds at a rock scar then up and right to a large flake in the broken band.  Powerful and sustained climbing up the steep bulgy arête past 3 more bolts deposits you at a stance on the vertical face above the arête.  Continue straight up the delicate face to a two-bolt ring anchor.

This route was "originally" established in the "head point" style, placing all traditional gear and clipping 20 yr old bolts in the upper section on lead. Three bolts were added to the begining of this climb and all of the old existing bolts replaced in September 2006. Unfortunately, the anchors are difficult to reach from the top of the climb so setting up a TR requires a short rappel from the summit to the anchors proper.  Rossiter lists this route as Thunder Construction, a long abandoned project.

Pretty much a waste of time.  This short route has a short crux right off the ground (5.8). Bushwack through trees on easier terrain to a short left-facing corner.  The route deposits you at the base of

Earnest Stemmingway

.  Continue up or walk off to the east.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines Quo Vadis as, "Whither are you going?" That's appropriate, since I walked back and forth for 15 minutes before deciding where the route goes. Rossiter's description is pretty vague. Although this is an obscure route, it's worthwhile once you find it. Good climbing on a nice line, mostly moderate with a couple of crux moves, on pretty good rock.

Start:100' or so above the Allosaur amphitheater the trail switchbacks against the cliff about 25' below a huge boulder against the base of the cliff. Quo Vadis starts at the low angle right facing corner where the trail meets the cliff. See photo below. Odarodle climbs between Quo Vadis and the huge boulder.

Since I was self-belaying, and rope drag was therefore not a problem, I linked the two pitches. With a belayer that could be difficult because of multiple transitions from low angle to steep and back and a short traverse right up high.

P1: Climb the low angle slab past two small trees--it's nicer to climb right of the trees--to a vertical headwall. Get gear at the base of the wall then climb at about 12' of about 5.5 with no gear to a small tree (sketchy nut a little below, but not necessary. Step right and up onto a slab. Follow an easy groove past a tiny tree to another headwall and a wide crack. Place your big piece high in the crack or a smaller piece lower. One of the crux moves follows. Pull over the headwall onto a slab below an overhang. I used a hidden hold out right at the lip of the slab. Pull over the overhang using amazing holds onto another slab. Place one or more good directionals and traverse right to a large tree.

P2: Traverse back left on the slab to a wide crack. Place a big cam up high and make another crux move up and right to below  yet another slab. I did this as a layback. Up the easy slab and then traverse right at the red band to a left facing corner through the red band. Up easily to a large tree. You could rap from here in two single rope rappels (maybe one?), but you'll need to bring slings and rings. Continue to the top. If you're going to descend via the Allosaur raps, you can exit right a short distance from the top and fantastic views of the west side of Redgarden.

Descent:Scramble easily climber's right to the Allosaur rappels or left (more difficult) to the Verschneidung raps.

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Hike around the South tip of the West Ridge. You will pass a short South-facing wall with a crack and a bolt at 20 ft. This is Water Line, and it entails good face climbing with gear in the crack leading to the bolt. Things run out a bit getting to the slab after the bolt, but climbing backs down considerably. Belay at one of the trees and walk off left. This will also link up to

Roadside Attraction

if you need to get to the top of the ridge. Pulling the overlap on thin but crisp edges, bolt protected, is the crux. Interesting problem.

At the base of the West Ridge there is a big amphitheater, just up and across the stream. This is seen in the very right hand edge of the attached photo, although the routes are obscured by shadow. The broken rock hanging in the amphitheater makes it look daunting. None the less, there are a few good lines through it; Wingshot is one of them.

Cross the stream and head up the trail until a foot-worn path leads up and right, as for the approach of Allosaur. You will walk and scramble to the slab below the amphitheater.  If you arrive at the base of Allosaur, traverse down and right to reach the slab below Wingshot.

At the lower right end of the amphitheater there is a broken overhang that goes to a few underclngs, then to a thin hands and finger crack on the left side of an inset, past a yellow and blue fixed sling on a chockstone, and then up and left past a roof to a fixed anchor with chains.  This anchor is above Office Girls Walk the Plank and Blues Power (12a).

Climb the line as described. Lower from the anchors.  If you will have a partner follow, please feed the rope directly- use biners & save the anchor.

Shot And Chaser is a great extension and finish to the route, and is considerably easier than the 5.11 grade which it is given in the rossiter book, but is earned on this first pitch.

Just above the West Ridge Amphitheater (as for Allosaur) and just below the Unsaid area there lies a set of less-often-climbed routes. This is the High Anxiety area. 'High Anxiety' and 'Varieties Of  Religious Experience' are two of the better routes here. Most of the routes here are 5.10 to 5.11 and almost all of them are runout at least a little. Crow's Landing is another area climb that is worthy of an ascent. Crow's Landing gets high marks more for the adventurous nature of the climb and for its uniqueness than for the singularity of the line or the rock quality.

The route described here is as I have done it (followed by Chris Parks). As I could not resolve the Topo and text of a guidebook, I improvised and took what appeared to be the best line.  Along the way we did find evidence of travel such as chalk under the huge overhang, so we believe that we did the route correctly, but we might be wrong. BE WARNED!!! This section of cliff is best suited to climbers who don't mind hard runouts, and if you end up off-route, that's most likely what you will get.

To find 'Crow's Landing' (as we did it), first locate the big clean slab 100' down and 30' left of the hanging slab of Verschneidung, where a lone pine tree holds a rap station. A right-facing, right-leaning corner borders the left edge of this lower slab, which is Verschneidung Indirect Start. About 60 feet to the left of V.I.S., a left-facing low angle corner lies at the right-hand-edge of the slab. Scramble or climb up this dihedral past a large pine tree and onto a ledge, just beside a second tree, that is much smaller.

P1 Option #1: (5.10a, PG, *) From just beside the small tree, climb up the right side of a blunt arete.  After a few meters you will pass a bulge, after which you angle up and left toward a thin crack. And to the bottom of a cove formed by a right-facing wall between a slab and an overhang. Climb up past a few stopper placements and onto the slab, belaying at the back of the slab or continuing on Pitch #2.

P1 Option #2: (5.10, PG, **) From just beside the small tree, climb up the blunt arete. After a few meters you will move sharply left under a bulge, almost as for High Anxiety, but after a few feet you will encounter a small right-facing feature. Climb up this and to the thin crack above, aiming for a blunt corner higher on the wall.  Continue past a few stopper placements (small or RP needed?) to a crux perhaps 50' up. Angle right to the bottom of a cove formed by a right-facing wall between a slab and an overhang, which is just out of sight. You can not see into it, but you can see where the rock is missing here. Pull yourself out around onto the slab, then up to the bulge, belaying at the back of the slab or continuing on Pitch #2.

P2: (5.10, S, **) The adrenaline pitch! Move out and left from the back of the cove through under-clings and pinches on the wall to your left. There is plenty of chalk on a few of the holds. The rock here overhangs to the left and outwards. The rock is chunky here and is primarily done on under-clings and pinches, while climbing up and left. There are a few loose holds in the area, but they can be avoided. The crux moves are protected on questionable tricams or TCU's behind flakes from .5-1.5 inches. There is no good rest on this committing and powerful section, so it is best to run for it outright. After 15 feet of such climbing (crux) you will tackle the last bit of overhang and then climb up the face above. I recall setting a belay nearby the top of the roof (perhaps a small tree + gear) to keep an eye on my partner. This is an "exciting" follow as well, as the swing out over space would be a zinger if gear pulled.

P3, Option 1: (5.10, S, *) The "where to now?" pitch. The pitch could be easier or harder. I wandered only a bit and it felt like 5.10.  Climb up the face above and two the right hand edge of a tower and onto a slab which forms a right-facing low angle corner where it intersects the tower. Climb this to the top and belay.

P3, Option 2: (5.8, s-) If the previously described top-out looks unsavory (runout) it appears to be possible to traverse right up above the overhang on P2 to the base of the third pitch of High Anxiety. Climb up and left on a band of rock for perhaps 30 feet above a small dihedral. If drag is bad, set a belay here as the finish to P2 of Crow's Landing and then finish up to the crack above with reasonable difficulty (5.8?) and reasonable gear. I have not personally run Crow's Landing to this pitch, but it does not look difficult to achieve.

To descend, find one of several lines of rap stations on trees in the area, or scramble NW up the back side of the West Ridge for perhaps 100 feet and descend as for Verschneidung.

Since High Anxiety isn't in the database yet, this one is a bit hard to orient to. Nevertheless, right (downhill) of

Verschneidung Dihedral

and

Varieties Of Religious Experience

are three right-facing corners all in a row. This is the middle corner, with the left being Irreversible (11c X) and the right being High Anxiety (11a/b R). The two left corners move through a 30-foot rotten band high before traversing left to a good belay on a huge ledge at a giant tree, just below the second pitch of

Varieties

....

[I'd still argue for a VS, given the opening sequence. The guidebook recommends traversing right to avoid the upper chossy band, but if you go straight up it, you will find some solid holds and a couple of cosmetic RPs, with the climbing going at about 5.10-, a variation called She's a Soft Scrubber: 10a X; Derek Hersey, Brad White, John Huffer, 1980s].

In my mind, this is truly a VS--licheny, two cruxes done of off either distant and/or psychological pro, and lots of loose rock up high. With less lichen, it would feel more comfortable.

Scramble up on the slab to belay at a small tree. Move left, then back right along the break under the undercut wall. At two parallel seams, drop a TCU in below your feet on a flake, then go up the right of the two seams (good RP), which forms a small left-facing corner. Punch it to a break, put in a crap RP, do another crux (THE crux, I think), then step back left into the corner. Finally, a finger crack and good gear. Move past a huge hollow shield into a pumpy crack, place a good piece as high in the crack as you can after some pumpy layback/jam moves (good gear), then up the purple choss to another ledge. Either belay here off a good crack (small-hands to hands) or set directionals and traverse, gingerly, to the tree....

This West Ridge climb still has a lot of lichen but not too much dirt or loose rock.

Start by finding and climbing

Super Scooper

:

From the solid belay tree on

Super Scooper

, climb up and left on low angle rock (5.2?) and onto a ledge. There is a bulging overhang split by a crack just up above you. From a pedestal left and below the crack, place a piece to the left with a long sling, and then go up, lean out and right to place a second piece on a long sling more or less at eye level. These pieces, or at least...one to the right, are your crux pro. You can fight in thin nuts overhead later, but it is easier to "run for it" to the top of this short section. In any case, set up and right off of the pedestal into the overhang past a nice pinch and then either fight straight up the crack (5.9+) or fire hard right to a rounded chickenhead, match on it, and then fire hard right again to the right-hand edge of the ledge above (5.9). There are a few jugs at this lip which make the finish fairly easy to do without protection, although some cams might be put in. Go up and left to a tree after this reasonably protected 5.9 section, about 40 feet in all, or proceed for the next 70 feet of 5.7 R. Climb up to the arete now behind you and to the right. To the left of this you can see an old grey aid sling, and to the right of this arete is a 15-30' wide face, and then the low angle easy dihedral finish of the Initial Route. Between the arete and the dihedral, the face is climbable at about 5.7. Climb up this face near its center. The first protection is 15' up in a lousy crack behand a flake (bad gear). The first pro I felt was worth the effort was 60' up with a #3 and #3.5" cam in some huecos. I might have placed a #4 Camalot lower if I'd had one. The climbing here is fun and relatively secure, so a runout within your ability here is not too bad on the head. The section I believe is 5.7 might be 5.8- I can't say for sure. A 5.9 climber should find it mellow though. Climb to the top of the ridge.

From the top, you can rap by moving out NW to the arete to a fixed station and rap off to the big juniper 70' below and to the south. From there, a 100' rap to the south will put you at the base of the route

Allosaur

. Scramble south and West to the West Ridge trail, and then perhaps 200' back up the trail to the base of the route.

A so-so climb, but is more interesting than scrambling up to the 'Morning Thunder' area and in that respect is worth doing. The lead is incredibly steep for the grade, but good holds keep it moderate.

This route is perfect for the one last push of the day, or if you are really good it's an awesome warm-up.  It's located next to the Amphitheater The Morning Thunder rock makes up the south side of the Amphitheater.  It is very easily seen from the road.  From the trail, head right across some scrambling and up through a narrow gap onto the large belay ledge. Start on the left side of the face following the crack for about twenty feet.  Continue up and right following a diagonal crack with some tricky moves.  Finish about 15 feet below and right of the top of the rock.  This route is a strenuous climb, don't expect an easy one-pitch 5.9.  It pushes the limit of being a 10.  Great climb, short, and fun!

A good pitch with some wild moves if you read it wrong... and pretty good climbing if you read it right. Climb one corner until it ends, move left with a fixed sling and some small cams for pro, then start into the harder climbing. Top out on a ledge that is just around the corner from the slabs in the Amphitheatre. There is gear for a belay, but you can also clip the first bolt on the sport route just above, (

Wild Turkey

).  To descend, clean your anchor and scramble around left onto the Amphitheatre.

This route starts with the first two bolts of

Wishbone

. After the second bolt, trend up and left towards a series of overlaps. The first overlap will protect you if the RP at the second overlap rips. At the second overlap, clip a fixed RP, and make a big move to a good rail (crux). One more hard move and then you can look left for a jug and gear options. Keep climbing upwards, and after you plug your last piece of gear, stay on the face left of the

Wishbone

anchors. Climbing more to the right is possible, but the lichen will add to the excitement.

There is a lot of runout climbing, but there are a few spots for gear. It is easily toproped from the

Wishbone

anchors.

High Anxiety has nice stemming in the crux dihedral that keeps your attention.

P1. 5.8. Begin at a tree on a ledge as for

Clean Freak

/

Crow's Landing

. Climb a slab up and right then over a rotten bulge to a shelf. Move left 20’ and belay.

P2. 5.11b R. Climb a corner to a stance, then stem the crux dihedral with scanty pro. Continue up somewhat broken rock and a hand crack to the top.

The second and third pitches of this route are easier to see from a distance than is the first pitch. If you can not locate the first pitch initially, try locating the upper pitches and working your way [down] to find the beginning.

The Initial Route begins just left of

Allosaur

and goes left (West) just around the corner just after beginning. The route's third pitch meets at the top with the end of the [route]

Allosaur

as well.

Find P1 by scrambling up onto the main ledge of the amphitheater. Just left of the start of [Allosaur] is a left-leaning rotten band. Pass this to the left to a second left-leaning band, which forms a bulge/overhang at the top of the band. You are standing just left of a small shrub, looking up at a left-facing flake in the overhang which creates a "notch" in the band, where the roof is smaller. Still left of you just a few feet more is another left-leaning band that goes around the corner into a large and much more ominous overhang... and you can see the gaping start of "

Initial Hangover

" cutting through it from here.)

P1: from where you stand, climb up and left on the face to intersect the overhanging band, and then even more left and up to reach a left-facing corner.  The underclings around here are key. The pro is not great or quite where you want it, but this is easy climbing (5.5?). Climb up and left around the corner into a left-facing system which is more solid than it looks. Work your way up to build a belay for P2 after 60 feet total. You can continue on P2 if your drag is OK, and the next pitch does not look intimidating.

P2: look up into the flaring [squeeze] chimney. Step up on the ledge now behind you to reach up in and place a 0.5"- 1.0" cam where you can, without filling your fingerlocks. Now execute the crux of getting into the slot (5.8-5.10, height-dependent). This is very hard for short people, because they can not reach into it before they lose their footholds. Use the fingerlocks and armbars to get up into the crack. Rest and set gear, then struggle for the top of the crack this is easiest for me with my right side facing inward. Top out on a ledge with a fat juniper with a rap anchor. Belay at the tree or walk back to the obvious, clean, acute dihedral, which goes from vertical to low angle after 30 feet or so.

P3: climb the aforementioned dihedral for 60' or so (5.7?) to reach the top. The last few moves practically merge with the last moves of

Allosaur

, which came left from under the roofs to join your route.

There are multiple options for descent, as listed for

Allosaur

.  Perhaps the best option to take if you've left packs up on the Amphitheater ledge is to scramble east, then South around the back side to arrive at the rap anchors above the amphitheater roof.  Rap a single rope to the ground. A 50m cord should reach, but I've only tried 60-70m, so I am not 100% sure.

This route can be found on the SW Face of the

Morning Thunder

wall on the lower West Ridge. Approach as for

Morning Thunder

, but this climb is around the corner "left" of M.T., just past "

Thunderbolts From Hell

." A broken system of far overhanging flakes (mostly solid) goes up and left through an alcove. Most of the protection is 2-2.5" and most of the holds can be jammed. The rock is rough and sharp, so it grips well, but also cuts/abrades. Tape up. Place gear at the lip and mantel up. [Reaching] the bolt from the lip will be nearly impossible for those under 6'0" and difficult for those who are. A reasonable move with a cam in a horizontal at your waist/knees protects the move to get on the face, then clip the bolt. Ascend while traversing to the right past the bolt (crux) past a slanting, slightly sloping, BROKEN(*) hold, diagonaling up to an incut "bucket" on a rail near the arete. Easier moves are made to reach the summit, near the right hand arete.

Belay from the top on whatever gear you can wrangle. Descend as for

Morning Thunder

.

(*) A 4" by 6" flake has obviously been broken off, just right of the bolt, this is crux hands, then crux feet. It is apparent from the print left [on the] rock that the top of said flake was once flat relative to the earth's plane, and also inches higher, [definitely] providing a higher hand and foot and presumably one less insecure. The grade felt more difficult than S.D.'s other routes near that grade, IE,

Saturnailia

, (11b) and nearly as hard as

Thunderbolts from Hell

, (12a) I wondered if the hold was broken off after the grade was assigned, and perhaps even recently?

Jam Con is a good finish to

Morning Thunder

but not much of a route otherwise. Short overhanging jams are cool... for 20' of climbing.

Morning Thunder

runs directly into this with no belay required. The route requires the judicious use of slings and pro placement, but it makes

Morning Thunder

a bit longer and more fun, perhaps, then bordering on 3 stars as a single pitch.

From the top of

Morning Thunder

, continue up and right under a pod/roof and climb up and out from that to the right of a huge boulder. Overhanging jams are key. Belay up over the top of this, perhaps with some rope drag.

Territorial Integrity will never see too many ascents.  The rock is rough and broken, runout and somewhat non-descript otherwise. It is not a beckoning line. Still, some of the moves are nice and it will keep you thinking on your feet.

On the Allosaur Wall, you can use a cordalette to hang a toprope from the rap anchor on the juniper tree on the wall's left edge. To reach this tree climb the Initial Route or Initial Hangover.  Territorial Integrity goes up the left side of the Allosaur wall to this tree, but as a TR, you can really pick any line in this vicinity. The difficulty will be between 5.8 and 5.10b, depending on where you are. By picking the least broken and cleanest line, it seemed to check in at 5.9. Some wandering for gear or to avoid cruxes could knock this down to 5.8.

With wandering taken into account, a creative and experienced leader will likely find this to be a reasonable lead (S, not VS). That said, it is still no place to test your limits.

To descend, rap from the tree on a 70M rope to the huge ledge below Allosaur or a 60M rope to a small ledge, and then down-climb 10 feet to the main ledge.

This route is a good climb, but heady. It lies on the 'Morning Thunder' wall, and, in fact, climbs the first few feet of the namesake climb before breaking left to a bolted arete. Endurance crimping and stable footwork are the keys to making this climb go.

Start up Morning Thunder and place a few good stoppers with a long sling (a litte strenuous), climb left to reach the arete and soon thereafter clip a bolt. Continue past a few more bolts and some tough moves on some flexi-flakes to reach the top of the arete. Keep moving, because endurance is a factor and the holds are small. Top out and build a belay.

This is a pretty stout route- and a few of the little flakes you will yard on are flexing and dubous at best. Be mindful that a fall from the wrong place will result in smashing your face into the rock. So think in terms of doing solid 5.12 while a little pumped and also with a bad fall pending. I talked with Steve about the bolt placements at some length, during which discussion he mentioned that G.R. broke some teeth out on a failed lead attempt, and also conceeded that the 12a grade might be a sandbag, but also stated that was GR's rating, not his. I'm not strong enough at that level to make clear distinctions, but it was quite hard and certainly in the 5.12 range.

Wishbone climbs the vertical and exposed, south-facing wall overlooking the creek at the very end of the West Ridge.  The route was originally attempted as a headpoint and can be led by the bold with minimal and hard-to-find gear at 5.11b/c X.   This is a safe, Eldo-style bolted route with exceptionally technical face climbing and a thought-provoking finish. From the belay, step down and right to an instantly exposed start and the first bolt around the face.  Climb up and right through 3 bolts to the big flake, place a piece then move right then up to the 4th bolt.  Climb up through the technical vertical face clipping the 5th and 6th bolts, followed by the crux and the thrilling finish.  This is a wonderfully exposed climb with classic, technical face and one of the most scenic belays in the canyon.  Enjoy!

The Initial Hangover is a more direct and much more challenging start for the similarly named "

Initial Route

."  There is essentially no warm up, so the route gets and stays in your face for the first 25'. After that, you merge with The Initial Route.  Taking the Initial Hangover to the Initial Route will give you two overhanging slots to fight through.  If that is not enough showing off, step left after the second belay and finish on the roofs of

Allosaur

, for a total of 4 overhangs.

This route begins just left of

The Initial Route

, but is best started in a different way.  Instead of going up under the amphitheater onto the main ledge, continue to walk up the West Ridge Trail keeping an eye on the left-hand edge of the

Allosaur

wall. Just before you find yourself just around the corner to the West, you will be able to look up and see a big, rough overhang of dark, gritty stone, about 40 feet above you. The Initial Hangover is the gash that splits the roof. The rock here is more solid than it looks, save for a few chips of rock which will be at your feet getting started. Rack up near the trail and scramble up and right on the low angle rock to just below the gash. The scramble is 3rd class with a few 5.3(?) moves.

P1: 5.10, 50' Set a belay by slinging the huge horn just south of the start with a cordalette. Set some protection overhead and cruise (bruise?) up through the overhang to jugs up above. Merge with a corner system as on

The Initial Route

. Finish this pitch just below another big roof with a flaring squeeze-slot through it.  Belay below this or continue climbing up it.

P2-P3: Finish as for

The Initial Route

. (P2 through the slot above, 5.9. P3 through a nice acute dihedral, 5.8, to the top.)

There are multiple options for descent, as listed for

Allosaur

.  Perhaps the best option to take if you've left packs up on the Amphitheater ledge is to scramble east, then South around the back side to arrive at the Rap anchors above the amphitheater roof.  Rap a single rope to the ground.  A 50m cord should reach, but I've only tried 60-70m, so I am not 100% sure.

Twenty feet right of [Allosaur], near the base of the [West Ridge] locate a large flake detached from the wall. Climb on top of this and the route will become apparent. Moving above first one undercling then another following thin seam tending right to ledge that is followed left  until the tree at the top of the first pitch [Allosaur] is gained. Rap 100 ft. This is a face climb protected by large friends in the two underclings (plus one obvious thread at the strart). On the first ascent the seam was not utilized for gear but a 00 cam , rp or slider might add comfort but not reduce the overall seriousness much. Have fun on this little headpiece.

Start at a left-facing flake on top of the 5th class approach wall.  Climb the flake to a textured wall with sparse protection, then ascend more left-facing flakes to a gnarled tree.  There is a two bolt anchor here.

Continue up and left across a well-pocketed face, with few opportunities for protection, into a VERY TIGHT squeeze chimney.  I'm a 32" waist and had to take my rack off and hang it between my legs to fit through.  It was still pretty tight.

Did this many years ago, after deciding that we didn't have enough small pieces to lead Morning Thunder. It's a bit of a thrutch, and I'd be very surprised if we were the FA - but since I've never seen it described elsewhere, I thought I'd add it. If nothing else, it makes an interesting alternative approach to the Allosaur amphitheatre.

Start just to the right of Morning Thunder (just left of the large block). Head straight up on decent pockets to an S-shaped crack.  Continue up to the obviously, left-angling shelf and wallow up to the hole under Jam Con.

This route is somewhere between a bomb and a single star.  IT gets the bomb for those intolerant of loose rock and a star from those who feel OK just avoiding it, which is easy enough to do.

Like its neighbor, Something Blue, the position of this one is such that one can not jettison the loose rock from it, for fear of who else may be near on the trail, but out of sight.

Start up under the left end of the big roof, traversing out and left under it, placing gear where ever available and using long slings. Watch out for bad rock! It can be avoided, but attention to doing so is necessary. Continue past a V-shaped slot (named 'Something Blue, (5.9). comtinue to the right to the end of the roof and cut back right in a crack/corner as the roof finally ends. Finish to the top of the rock, where a cordalette and a few pieces of gear can protect the belay.

To descend scramble down and right to the fixed sling raps above the roof routes 'Blues Power' and 'Office Girls...'

Pork Chop is a nice, long, and diverse pitch in the Alcove area of the W. Ridge.  The route follows a left angling crack/break system ~40' R. of the start of Allosaur and ~20' left of the large corner dihedral start to Blind Mouse and Something Blue. This crack/break eventually turns into the obvious ramp leading to the tree belay atop p1 of of Allosaur.  The route is obvious from the start if you look up, it follows face straight up to two 20' L. facing dihedrals then up the steep face to the L, topping out just above and R. of Allosaur.  Climb the initial face ~15' to some pro and follow the hand crack left to where the new route, Ranger Danger intersects the break (~35' of climbing).  Instead of following the break left, continue straight up the blocky face above.  This face section is slightly run out and there is some suspect rock but its fun straight-forward climbing.  Climb the face to the R. of two L. facing dihedrals with a 20' hand to OW crack in it.  Climb this crack and move L. over a bulgy roof onto the steep face above.  It would be easy to escape to 4th class terrain to the R. from here.  Instead continue up the steep face to the now obvious L. leaning crack system. Follow this crack up and L. using face, fists, and off width techniques to the top of the summit ridge fin feature.

I think this is a fun, long, and intersting pitch with a diversity of climbing, similar in quality and grade to Allosaur.  There is some loose rock in the middle of the route, though its very manageable and should clean up well with a little traffic.

Allosaur is located near the bottom of the West Ridge in an area called The Amphitheater. To reach the start of the climb, hike a short ways up the West Ridge trail just pass the bouldering traverse. From there, scramble (4th/lower 5th class) up and right across some slabs to reach an area above the trail. Allosaur starts at a juniper tree at the base of a south-facing wall.

P1: move up and gradually left toward a fixed pin at 25 feet or so. From there, continue up and left across the face. The pro is runout and small (offset Aliens/RPs). The topo in the Eldo book calls this section .7s, but it may deserve .8s. The first 30 feet are fairly steep and continous. It ends at the band of purple broken rock, 80 feet.

P2: go up and right into an obvious, left-leaning corner protecting with small to mid-size cams. The 5.8 crux comes at end of corner. This pitch ends at ramp above the corner and below the next corner. The belay takes medium cams, 40 feet.

P3: go up and right again into left-leaning corner/roof protecting with small cams. The 5.9 crux comes near the end of the corner and is well-protected. This pitch is only about 40 feet and ends at the top of the ridge.

Rap rings are located about 30' to the west of the top of the route. Rap about 50 feet to a ledge and another set of rings then 100 feet (60m rope highly recommended) to end up about 20 feet left of the start of the climb.

Allosaur is fantastic. Just beware of the runout first pitch, although the rock is mostly solid and of good quality.

My partner wanted to climb this because of the name -- we both were hoping for something along the lines of Over the Hill.  Boy were we wrong.  Not only is this climb a pile of chossy rock with few fun moves, but the approach is tedious & tricky to find.  Get there by going to the end of the Streamside Trail -- where the West Ridge rock runs right into the creek (as far south as you can get).  If approaching from the other side, scramble over this southern buttress above the water.  You'll see two ramp systems (and lots of things that look like ramps) -- take the most obvious one that is furthest east.  This is marked by a model-looking Christmas tree.

Climb up ramp 50 feet or so until another twisted tree blocks your way up the ramp.  Go around this tree and begin looking for a hard-to-see bolt on a shallow, left-facing dihedral about 20 feet over your head.  Climb up here (or just go home -- the climbing is bad).  The hard moves are 10 feet above the bolt and well protected.  Pull over the top onto a ramp and scramble all the way up this ramp to set up a belay.

Rap off on the far west side of the West Ridge or perhaps go back down the ramp.

This route probably doesn't get climbed a lot, but it should as the first pitch in particular was quite interesting.

The first pitch follows the flakes up the middle of the slab. Contrary to appearances there is good gear in the flakes. Continue up the slab to a small, gnarled tree and then go straight up corners and bulges to a large ledge with a tree on the left. (5.8 pg-13, 110 feet).

The second pitch goes straight up from the ledge and follows a thin crack to a bulge in a right-facing corner. Get over the bulge (crux of the pitch) and continue straight up to the rotten band. Traverse very gingerly to the right on loose blocks and rotten rock and then downclimb easily to a large tree with rappel slings. (5.8, 50 feet).

This spectacular route has steep, fun climbing on mostly good rock with great position overlooking the creek and the Milton Boulder.  I use a severity/spiciness rating based upon hot chilies with three grades: i) Jalapeno is serious enough to require attention and can easily burn you if not careful; ii) Habanero is the famously hot pepper that can easily spoil one's day if not treated with proper respect; and iii) The Peruvian Rocoto pepper is the spiciest and most flavorful of the hot peppers, failure to overcome the associated risks will be regretful.  I think the Chicken is a Jalepeno spicy route, with the added intro bolts.  Were it not for some crumblies in the roofs, I, and others who have been on it would consider this route four star worthy.

Kickin' Chicken climbs the obvious crack system moving up and left through the roofs right of Wingshot and left of Wild Turkey in the amphitheater/alcove area at the bottom of the West Ridge.  The route climbs the initial 40' of Wild Turkey then moves left through the large roofs to access the steep crack continuing for 40' more up and left to the ridgeline.  From the alcove at the base of Blues Power and Wingshot, follow the ledge/break below the blocky magenta band ~ 40' right to a small exposed ledge, the turkey perch, overlooking the creek where Wild Turkey and Wishbone start. It is a good idea to set a belay here.

Climb the first 40' of Wild Turkey (5.11-) past four bolts added after the FA, to the underclings below Wild Turkey's crux bulge.  Hang a long sling here and instead of climbing straight up over this bulge (as for WT), move left around the bulge and then up through an exciting boulder problem to access the left-angling crack system.  Continue up and left with small cams along the steep crack to tricky moves escaping onto the headwall, then up 20 more feet of nice 5.8 in L.-facing dihedral to the ridgeline topout. A difficult to place nut (fixed) protects the boulder problem crux as you leave the bolts of Wild Turkey en route to the well protected crack proper.

It is very difficult to top rope this route because of the left angling nature of the line.  However, if one wishes, a natural toprope anchor can easily be placed 20' below the ridgline in the crack just above the roofs at the bottom of the headwall. However a RP ascent should definately continue to the ridgeline as the last couple moves around the corner out of the roof and onto the headwall  can be quite tricky when pumped!  ENJOY!

Start as for

Ernest Extended Way

.  Pull through the roof (5.9+), and continue up and right past questionable flakes.  The name is a play on Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast", a novel chronicling the author's years in Paris as part of an American expatriate circle of writers in the 1920s.  The route still has some loose rock, and the flakes are indeed moveable, so proceed with caution.

An interesting climb that would get more stars if it followed a straight line.  But it doesn't, it wanders.  Still, it is a fairly intuitive line and can be nicely done as a single pitch. Start just right of the base of "Morning Thunder" and finish up on the East Slabs of the West Ridge and belay there.

To retreat, go up and West on the slabs and down to the raps as for the Amphitheatre routes.

From the trail that winds around the start of the West Ridge, you cross over a ramp heading up right. Run up the ramp to a left-facing dihedral with a pin in it. A belay can be set up here. P1 runs this 30 ft dihedral on wired stoppers. The tight crux comes in stemming past the fixed pin. Belay on the slab above and walk off left or continue with two pitches of 5.7/5.8 juggy face climbing. I did the upper pitches 20 years ago and found them enjoyable but out of character for the first, very interesting, problem. 11b is probably a bit generous for P1. Clean stone with a good sequence.

This route is in the very overhanging, west-facing alcove at the base of the West Ridge, just below the sector of the wall containing

Washington Irving

,

The Unsaid

, etc. To get here, scramble east up via slightly exposed corners and ramps (Class 4) from the West Ridge Trail.

Blues Power is the leftmost crack in the alcove and trends right to left, ending at a fixed anchor below the lip of the alcove. Proceed with caution -- the beginning of the "crack" is actually a huge, hollow flake cammed up into the rock. Once you establish a good piece past this flake, you'll feel much better. Continuous, strenuous and bizzare.

This climb was previously unreported and is suspected to have been a FA, but it appears to share most of its line with Blind Mouse and was named The Farmer's Wife. The name was given after doing the start of

Blind Mouse

and finding a "Butcher-knife" hold or two... where upon a certain nursery rhyme about '3 blind mice' came to mind.

To climb this route, start up under the alcove of

Something Blue

,

Blues Power

, etc., considerably right of

Allosaur

. Climb a ramp of mostly poor rock, placing gear overhead where available, between the main wall and the 'roof' formed overhead by the alcove. I believe this to be the beginning of

Blind Mouse

. Continue on this line until the roof ends, whereupon

Blind Mouse

escapes to the right on a slab/corner. From there, continue up left past this point to some shallow, left-facing crack and corner systems. Climb up the first of these into a hand and then fist-crack (4" protection optional), step left to the second of the two cracks and then up to the top of that. Continue up to a diagonal band, which is followed up and left over the roof making the "hand" over

Allosaur

, continuing until the feet would otherwise drop off under the roof above the "finger" over

Allosaur

, then go up and left, directly across the face to hit the summit ridge. Improvise a directional and then go out to a belay where possible. I retreated back some distance and belayed as for

Allosaur

.

Addendum: the top 1/2 of this line appears to have been followed by the line "Pork Chop" although that climb was approached via a different system than the corner for the first 30-40'. The best climbing on either route is quite precisely the same.

[This] sunny route lies on the lower portion of the West [Ridge] below the High Anxiety area, and just above the [Amphitheatre]. The start is just right of "Crow's Landing."  Hike up past the [Amphitheatre], past "Super Scooper" & "Up the Downclimb."  After another 50 yards or so you will see a [huge] boulder leaning against the base of the wall.  Set the gear on a flat spot [against] the wall just below (west of) this boulder and gear up.

The route is by all rights two pitches, and perhaps three if you want to place a lot of gear and avoid rope drag.  We did it as a single pitch with no big problem, however.  We used a 70M rope, but I believe a 60M may have worked.

Climb the wall up a clean slab from the ground or junky corner, some 5-10 feet to the right of this boulder for 30 feet and then continue up and right on easy moves for about 60 more feet to a belay (optional) on a long ledge system. Continue up and right to a ledge below a very long overhang with bad rock.  Scramble right on this ledge to a bulge in the wall where the ledge pinches into the overhang at a rounded bulge with good holds. Climb up through the bulge watching out for bad rock. Continue on the slab above some distance left of the junky right-facing corner, perhaps 6 to ten feet left of it, where a small tree grow out of the face.

You will reach the broken red overhang (optional belay) and then climb up through this on one of the many possible options from there.  The [Rossiter guidebook] suggests a "groove" what we did not find was a "groove".  Instead we climbed a left-leaning, overhanging crank-and-jug line through the top overhang, being mindful not to grab loose rock.  The belay on top was from a solid and reasonably sized pine tree. (6" [diameter] trunk in stone.) Refer to [Rossiter's guidebook] if you have it. This tree is shown on [Rosister's] p228 topo as being just to the the right of the tree atop of "Auntie [Perspirant]."

To Descend: There are several ways. One option is to scramble South on the ridge about 50 feet to a big boulder, then downclimb from the boulder to a very large pine tree, the first in a set of two raps (one single rope rap with a 70M rope or two raps with a single shorter rope).  This involves 5.6 solo downclimbing and a fall would be deadly.  You can down-lead/down follow a pitch if this sounds bad.  Option #2, a rap could be built on the belay tree.  Option #3, rap from anchors at the top of the Ampatheatre area.  Option #4, you can go up the ridge to the High Anxiety/ Vershneidung area and find one of several other descent anchor systems.

This route would probably deserve one star if it were clean, but it will never get the requisite traffic to clean up or stay clean. As well, the position is such that one can not jettison the loose rock from it, for fear of who else may be near on the trail, but out of sight.

Start up under the left end of the big roof, traversing out and left under it, placing gear where ever available and using long slings. Watch out for bad rock! It can be avoided, but attention to doing so is necessary.  Continue until you reach a V-shaped slot to the right and pull up into it and place a few stoppers in the back of it (long slings) and head up to the top of the slot on hand jams (2" cam) until you can pull up and around the top, where a good spike of rock is passed to get out and around to the right (crux).  Place a large stopper or small hex at the lip of the slot to keep the rope from feeding back into the crack from above. Finish to the top of the rock, where a cordalette and a few pieces of gear can protect the belay, or walk right to the fixed sling raps above the roof routes 'Blues Power' and 'Office Girls...'

The topo as shown in the Eldo guide (p.228) is right on for this route, but the rating was a long way off and it can easily be done in two pitches.

Pitch 1: Start as for Crow's Landing, climbing over the initial bulge. Continue up and cut right across a slab on obvious holds and mantle on to a large, sloping ledge (this is the same large belay ledge as for Crow's Landing).

Pitch 2: There are two crack systems separated by an arete. Climb the left one. The climbing is around 5.8, but the rock is pretty loose. The right crack looks even easier and just as chossy.

Scramble off the back or hike up the ridge and rap Verschneidung.

One powerful and steep crack climb. Located at the bottom of the West Ridge in a high alcove. Scramble up some 4th class to reach basecamp at the base of this route. Start up "Wingshot" and place some good gear before heading left into "Office Girls". Work into a slot (knee-bars), and jam your way up the powerful crack to an obvious undercling.  Fight  your way past a pin to a good shake before one more hard move must be negotiated. [Voile] you are at the anchors. The routes "Wingshot" and "Blues Power" also end at this anchor. The wall is a little crumbly so only two stars but the climbing is brilliant and the gear is good.

Start as for

Wingshot

. The 11b grade given here is for that first pitch- the rest is considerably easier (5.10?).

Cross the stream near the Milton Boulder to reach the big amphitheater on the West Ridge, just up and across the stream. The broken rock hanging in the amphitheater makes it look daunting. [Nonetheless], there are a few good lines through it;

Wingshot

is one of them, with the best option on

Wingshot

being the Shot and Chaser finish. Head up the trail until a foot-worn path leads up and right, as for the approach of

Allosaur

. You will walk and scramble to the slab below the amphitheater. If you arrive at the base of

Allosaur

, traverse down and right to reach the slab below

Wingshot

.

Wingshot

and Shot and Chaser are at the very right hand edge of the attached photo, although the routes are obscured by shadow.

At the lower right end of the amphitheater there is a broken overhang that goes to a few underclngs, then to a thin hands and finger crack on the left side of an inset, past fixed slings on a chockstone (now yellow and red).  From this point Shot and Chaser deviates from

Wingshot

.

After clipping the slings on the chockstone with a runner, move up and left to place a 2" cam or brown tricam in a 4" by 1.75" feature/crack/pocket on the left (solid).  Now move out and right through the second bulge at the right hand side of the inset.  The climbing is steep and it is a struggle to keep your weight on your feet.  Hit and undercling or a sharp fingerlock to get over the bulge and around a corner.  From there go up to a slightly less than vertical wall and hand traverse to the right 6 feet to the left-facing dihedral former by a wall and the huge flake at the right hand side of the [amphitheater] roof.  Climb this dihedral for 10 feet and then finish up and left for gear at the summit.  (stoppers + cord-e-lette on a huge horn)

To descend, lower from the anchors below just over the lip of the roof, ~80 feet.

This route is somewhat of a mixed bag. It starts easy and a little junky, has solid rock through a steep, airy, and fun bulge to a ledge, and then goes up a pretty crappy chimney. At the ledge after the bulge, there is a two-bolt anchor where an optional belay could be made. I would recommend finishing the route there as the chimney above is not worth the effort. If you decide to do the whole route, climb the chimney to the large tree with rappel slings.

Description

Protection

Routes in West Ridge - part A - Verschneidung to base