hey guys... just thought I would let all know the beta on this photo is incorrect... just the first pitch... the first pitch is actually the small crack just left of the line of the picture... I have seen people do the right (wider crack) but the line follows the first crack on the left of the cliff... the rest of the info is spot on!

Either variation works, and they are about the same difficulty. Choose what moves you.

Jason is correct; the usual first pitch to Birdland starts in a crack system to the left instead of climbing the wider crack to the right. I've revised the above beta photo to show this.

See Photo for a closeup of the first pitch.

I'd have to argue that both routes are Birdland. Nobody seems to really differentiate the two starts from one another when describing the route locally. About fifty-percent of the people climbing Birdland do the left variation and about fifty-percent do the right variation. Both variations were originally used to access Bighorn...so one could argue that Birdland doesn't really start until pitch three.

Jason

Thanks for the clarifications, Doug and Jason M. The Brock guidebook lists the first pitch as "the leftmost of three cracks on a black, varnished face". That's what my partner and I climbed; see Photo. That's what Gigi Miller climbed as well; see Photo. But it's good to know the right-hand crack is an equally viable alternative.

Perhaps the route description should be amended to include both starts.

The new Red Rock guide book by Roxanna also says the left most crack on the cliff... but the only reason that I said anything is I took that photo with me on the climb... I thought it was of great help! I showed it to Mark L. (who did the F.A of the climb) he was the one that informed me that it was incorrect... I was just passing it on.