The start is a fun, 10 foot boulder problem that might be the most difficult climbing. At the first rest, there are several good spots for finger-size gear. Run it out to the roof, and put in a bomber #4. It is pretty chossy but still fun.

Descend from the “

Smiley Face

“ anchors.

Sticks and Stones

Blerg

Haircase

In Two Deep

Cake Walk

Persistence

Arch Rock Route

Smiley Face

Frown-E Face

Duck Face

Zorro's Cave

Arch Rock Direct

Pride of Sweden

Middle Meanie Crack

Sprout Route

Obscura Direct

Dorsey-O'Donoghue Direct

Prow'd Monkey

Waiting on a Resolution aka Unknown

Kansas Honey

Greetings from Butchers Hill

Slab n' Grab

Zendance

Waiting on the Staircase aka Unknown 2

Death by Drowning

Zamboni Man

Waiting for Staircase 1-3

The Staircase

Hollow Flake

Fun-E Face

Middle Dihedral

Obscura

Mighty Young Joe aka Captain Fist

Village Idiot

Right Meanie Crack

Blackjack

Start in the center of the wall, taking advantage of the big holds and good stances. Pass a low crux on good fingers and a smear that you just have to trust. Continue up and slightly right, headed for the big roof. After clipping the bolt below the roof, fire up and left for a great square edge of quartz that may or may not have squishy moss on it. Work your way into the corner and clip from a bomber hand, then pull a sketchy move onto the ledge. Smear up the lichen-covered face to the anchor.

Start on the shark fin (yes, ON the shark fin), 10' to the left of

Greetings from Butchers Hill

. You can instead grovel up the chimney to the left of the shark fin, but why? the shark fin is easy and way cool ;-) Once on top of the fin, step left above the chimney then back to the right to clip the first bolt. Fire up and left over easy terrain to the third bolt. The crux is the slab you're on, smearing on those delicate edges that will eventually crumble. Once on the good holds again, run it out a little to a great ledge, then continue up and left past the last few bolts, and finish up and right to the anchor. Try to avoid those questionable flakes on the left.

The crux of this one seemed to be right off the belay ledge. There are some serious crumbling flakes to deal with here and there, and the gear is sparse.

This offwidth roof starts just right of

Captain Fist

, in the back of the cave, taking the crack that goes out the roof.

Start as far back as you can in the cave and  chimney your way up to wedge your body into the offwidth roof.  Place all the big stuff youve got, I mean REALLY big, and work your way out the roof jamming your whole body into it.  When you get to the lip, undo your contortionist position and follow the wide crack (which gradually narrows) up to the anchors on

Captain Fist

.

It's hard to believe this hasn't been climbed before, but stanger things have happened, especially because it's an offwidth.

From the top of

Hollow Flake

, this route goes horizontally left past a hanging boulder across the face of Arch Rock to the top of the first pitch of Upsidedown Staircase.

This route is directly above the anchors on Hollow Flake.  [Leonard Coyne in 1977. He led it with only a couple bolts and got bits of gear in the cracks. Very bold lead, considering it now sports 10 bolts. It's almost 120 feet from the belay on top of Hollow Flake to the anchors so plan on rappelling with 2 ropes or use a 70-meter cord. A third pitch, a short 5.9ish lead, goes over the headwall above past a bolt and then works up cracks to the summit.] From the top of hollow flake, clip the first bolt about 8 feet up.  Continue up over a small overhang (protects well with a #3 TCU under it and another bolt on top) past 10 more bolts and a number of horizontal "ribs" to the anchors.  Probably a little over-protected, some of the bolts are less than 6-8 feet apart.  There is a bit of a runout on easy rock between the last bolt and the anchors.  From the anchors, either rap back to the top of hollow flake with one rope, or continue to the top past a single bolt on the headwall above.  Fun climb.

The route starts on a ledge on the right side of the Tilted Tower. It's a crack that angles right, then up. You can belay at the first large ledge. Then follow the crack(s) system up to the large off-width crack at the top. Once your at the next large ledge its up and over the OW crack to the summit. You can belay from the very top of Arch Rock.

You might want to do 3 pitches if communications are a problem. It can be very hard to hear with the river noise, wind etc.

Climb 20 feet to a ledge. Head left and up 10 more feet to the first bolt. Continue up and left clipping three more bolts. Continue on low-angled slab for another ten feet to a two-bolt anchor.

Start 10’ to the right of the start for

Fun-E Face

and

Duck Face

, working up the insipient seams then right to a large boulder on the big ledge, 20’ up. Pull over the boulder on the left side, fighting through the bush to gain the big ledge. (Update: the bushes are gone and look chopped; shame on whomever did that :-(  From this ledge, follow the quartz intrusion up and right, utilizing whatever holds are to be found in the quartz and the trough to the right, until it joins up with

Duck Face

around the third bolt. Finish on

Duck Face

to the anchor.

From a  point more or less directly below

Smiley Face

, scramble up and right, aiming for the bushes that are between the two boulders on the big ledge, 20’ up. From this ledge, move maybe 10’ to the right. Start heading up and left, following the series of left-facing flakes, aiming for the right side of the overlap. Move up and right to a good stance for the last bolt, then scramble another 15’ or so, up and left to the anchor. Rappel to descend.

You can also start more directly below the bolt line, but pulling unprotected over that boulder to the big ledge is kinda sketch.

For toproping, you will want a directional on the last bolt, preferably with a 2’ sling.

A study in barndoor underclinging,especially turning the corner to finally go up.

From the top of the Tilted Tower, climb about 6 feet down the back side to the wall.  Clip a bolt about 10 feet from where the tower and the wall meet, and continue up the fun face over sculptured granite to the second bolt.  Pass a set of anchors on the right and aim for the low point along the overlap (runout).  The moves through the overlap protect well with a couple of medium camalots.  At the low point in the overlap, step up into a small bowl and pull up through.  Continue toward the summit through a series of curious water basins.  The route ends near the top of the Regular Route.  Walk off to the right.

A crux start eases slowly as the holds take shape higher up. This has quality climbing on great rock.

A somewhat awkward, high step gets you established in the steep crack. If you know how to jam and have relatively large hands, you will probably find this climb trivial. If you suck at crack climbing and/or have smaller hands, you will probably find it challenging. The crack was too wide for me to find many good hand jams and sometimes also too wide for my fist.

Sprout Route is approximately 10' right of

Zamboni Man

.  Climb thin face moves to 2 bolts protecting the crux moves into the incipient crack then past small tree to the larger tree on the ledge. You probably want to stick clip the first bolt as there is no gear below.

This is a fun route as long as you don't fall well into the second pitch.

P1: Easily protected and easy crack.  When it dies out, head R.  You can protect this traverse with the smallest Alien.  Then, set an anchor below the R-facing dihedral.  About 80 feet.

P2: 40 feet of fun climbing in the dihedral, then about 70 feet of very easy climbing -- with absolutely NO PRO -- to the roof.  You can put pro beneath the roof (cams #1 and up), but once you're over it you've got another 30 feet of no pro, with one 5.7 move above the roof.

Bottom line: a fun route with the potential of a 140' fall.

P1: climb

Captain's Fist

. Use the excellent beta on that route's page.

P2: layback the pretty good corner to the top of tilted tower. For rope drag it's best to avoid placing gear, but it sports some excellent cams. Then from the top of the tower, clip the first of bolt of the 5.7 R that is part of a couple of different routes.

P3: from the bolted anchor atop the R runout, scramble up to the arch (a heart pounder if your limit is 5.4) There is a section with a sloper half way on the overhanging face of the arch. Stand right in front of the sloper to find two jugs and pull a bouldering style top-out move. If you must place a piece, extend it as much as possible, because the crux comes later.

This is where Dorsey-O'Donoghue begins.

Instead of scrambling off right. continue straight up where there are two adjacent slightly overhanging cracks. The left slightly right leaning, right almost horizontal. Take the right one. From the no hands rest beneath this short but taxing section, place several small cams and nuts at the base of the crack, and plug in one piece over your head (somewhere between #0.75 and #1 in depending on how far you can reach). Then proceed to crank out right through 5.10 moves. Pull around the corner and build your anchor from gear, as far back as possible (the gear is better and it's easier to belay from there).

Use the horizontal, angling crack and/or the vertical crack to the right to surmount the small roof. Follow the bolts up and slightly right, staying on the slight prow between the crack/flake systems to get full value from the climb. Moving either right or left into the weaknesses makes the route noticeably easier (booo!), and never mind that runout between bolts 3 and 4 - the climbing is not that hard and the hardest moves are just past bolt 3. Continue up on better holds, and finish up and left at the first big roof.

This is the first route to the right of

The Staircase

. The first bolt is 20 feet off the deck.

The first pitch is bolted. **

Use 2 ropes to lower or rappel

. Pitch 2 & 3 are both trad and summit the rock.

This short but sweet route goes up the slab and over the small roof through the right crack. The slab has some challenging moves, but the crux is getting over the roof. After you get the 3rd bolt, run it out 20 feet on 5.6 to a 2 bolt anchor.

This excellent face route is up the face just right of "

Village Idiot

." Climb jugs up a steep slab past 2 bolts to a bolt at a left-diagonalling dike. Fun climbing leads up left along the dike past another bolt to a 2-bolt anchor shared with "

Village Idiot

." If you're a competent 5.7 climber, you will have no problem with the protection. If you're not, you may have a problem with mind control, since it is somewhat runout.

This has easy climbing on a rippled slab.

This fine route, hand-drilled in a rainstorm, ascends the steep face left of "Captain Fist."  Pitch 1: A short easy waltz up the right side of the Hollow Flake to a tree belay. Pitch 2: Climb up right on the steepening face to the base of a quartz dike. Climb the dike and then move out right on steep face climbing (5.10c/d)and follow a thin crack (TCUs) to easier climbing and a 2-bolt belay below the arch. Rappel from here with double ropes or climb Pitch 3: Pull over the arch above (5.8)and scramble up right to the cliff-top. Walk-off south from here.

This is the sport climb on the arete/face to the right of

Hollow Flake

that Roger Wilkerson mentioned.  Climb the right side of the pillar just to the right of the

Hollow Flake

start.  The cracks at the top protect well with small gear.  Swing onto the face, and follow the line of four bolts to the top.  Belay/rap from the anchors above Hollow Flake.  The crux is just before the fourth bolt where the face thins.  It has good friction.

These three bolted routes are started at the same location as

Staicase

and go up the face to the right of

Staircase

. None of my guidebooks have them listed, and they are to fun not to be on this website, so if anyone knows who put them up, please let me know so I can correct the names.

Follow any one of the three well bolted routes to a pair of anchors with quicklinks attached directly below the overhang (you can not see them until you are right on them).  The routes are pretty consistent 5.8- but the top two bolts are pretty well spaced out and a 1.5 tricam fits perfectly into the rock on the right two routes.

The leftmost route, closest to

Staircase

, has a bit of distance up to the anchors from the last bolt without anywhere to put pro, but it is solid rock.  The hardest moves on all three routes seemed to come within the first two bolts.  There are only two anchors for the three lines and the routes themselves are a combination of face climbing and smearing.

It is important to note that these three climbs are all over 100 feet long, so two ropes are needed to rap off or if you want to set up a toprope.

This great moderate route goes up the prominent notches on the North side of Arch Rock.

Start the climb by finding the low angled dihedral below the notches.  This first pitch is interesting, with actual moves and great protection.  Hold up a nut and the crack will swallow it.  Make a belay on the prominent ledge below the steeper, upper part of the climb.  Take heart, the climb is easier than it looks.  Enjoyable stemming, and crack climbing takes you up the obvious "steps".  Above the steps, step left onto easier ground or follow the 5.8 OW section to the summit.

Follow directions to the main rock & hike up the short, steep obvious trail.  It is maybe 75' to the right of

The Staircase

.  This route is very obvious - sorry I'm not more specific (look at attached picture).  This is a good climb to do while waiting for folks to clear off

The Staircase

.

It is one pitch (80' or so) with a 2 bolt anchor / rap station.  The start is a bit awkward, and then a combo of lieback, stemming, and face moves brings you to the top.  There are not as many finger / hand jams as you'd think.

It is very fun and a bit thoughtful for the grade - I plugged way more gear than I had anticipated.

There is a harder sport climb on the face of this 'hollow flake' that can easily be TR'd from the anchors....

From a  point more or less directly below

Smiley Face

, scramble up and right, aiming for the bushes that are between the two boulders on the big ledge, 20’ up. From this ledge, follow the obvious weakness up the headwall on positive holds to the small overlap. Work the flake up and right to the last bolt, then pull up and left and scramble another 15’ to the anchor. Rappel to descend.

This route climbs a dihedral up the center of the Tilted Tower.  From the ledge above the Meanie Cracks, climb the face to the dihedral.  Near the top of the dihedral, you can either pull over the face to the left, or continue to the right and work up an arete (easier) to the pointed "summit" of the tower.  Either rap off a pair of anchors just below top, or belay and continue up Arch Rock Direct directly above.

This route starts 30 or so feet to the right of the Meanies, atop a large block.

P1- follow a fun crack thru overlaps. At its end, follow a thin seam up and left, traverse right then up to a right-facing, hanging dihedral to its top. Then thin face to a belay at the far right end of the arch.

P2- Follow hand/fist crack thru roof, followed by a bouldery move thru a bulge, then a chimney to the summit.

To find this route, hike up to the hollow flake route on arch rock.  From here, look right approximately 40 feet to the large chimney/corner formed by an enormous flake leaning against the wall.  This is captain fist.

Either slab or use a slab/chimney combination to pull up into the wide roof/slot (crux).  Place your big piece here (#3 or #4 Camalot), and pull left out of the slot and into the corner proper.  From here, climb up the corner on excellent jams and ledges.  Great rest stances to place pro.  About 60 feet up is a fixed anchor to rap from.

Start on the right side of the ledge that sits above a short chimney.  Climb past five bolts while moving to the left occasionally to locate the next one.  The bolts are quite spacious, but for a solid leader, it should not require extra gear.

If you have any doubts, bring an extra light rack of trad gear since a fall could be upwards of 35' or so.

Along the base of the tilted tower are three short cracks that lead to a ledge about 30 feet up.  This is the right most crack, and the widest of the three.  The start is awkward, and takes large pro right off the ground.  The climbing eases a little at the top as the crack narrows.  Any of these three cracks can be used to climb to the start of

Middle Dihedral

or

Village Idiot

.

Awkward climbing off the ground leads to an easy middle section to a nice, left-angling hand crack. Follow the nice crack to a 2-bolt anchor; 5.8. You can toprope this with a 50m rope or climb the second pitch, a low-angle finger and hand crack (5.4) to a large pine tree, and belay or walk off to the right.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Arch Rock