All Locations > Washington > Northwest Region > Hwy 20 & N Casc… > N Cascades > Washington Pass > Liberty Bell Group > S Early Winters Spire

Southwest Rib

Name: Southwest Rib
Rating: 3.5

5.8 YDS 5b French 16 Ewbanks VI- UIAA 15 ZA HVS 4c British

Routes in South Early Winters Spire

L › R R › L A › Z

	Backseat Driver T 5.13 8a 29 X- 30 E7 6c
	Boving Roofs T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
	Direct East Buttress T 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c A0
	Dolphin Chimney T 5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a R
	Free Mojo T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c
	Hitchhiker, The T 5.11- 6c 22 VIII- 22 E3 5c
	Mojo Rising T 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c C1+
	Northwest Face (Boving-Pollock) T 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
	Nothing S 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a A0
	Passenger, The T 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a
	Rubbernecker, The T 5.14- 8b+ 32 X+ 32 E8 7a
	South Arete T 5.5 4b 13 IV+ 11 MS 4a
	Southern Man T 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a
	Southwest Couloir Mod. Snow
	Southwest Rib T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c

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Type:	Trad, Alpine, 900 ft (273 m), 7 pitches, Grade III
FA:	Donald Anderson & Larry Scott, 1964
Page Views:	56,397 total · 309/month
Shared By:	BenCooper on Apr 27, 2009 · Updates
Admins:	Jon Nelson, Micah Klesick, Zachary Winters Page Updates (admin only)

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Access Issue: Washington Pass Fire Closure Lifted Details

Washington Pass Climbing was closed on 8/15/23 due to the Blue Lake Fire until further notice. On 9/7/23 this closure was reduced in size. On 9/22 this was reduced again, opening all WA Climbing Routes. For remaining closures, see:
fs.usda.gov/alerts/okawen/a…

Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closure at Newhalem Crags March 1st to mid-July Details

Peregrine falcons select nest sites on cliffs in the Upper Skagit Valley, including the Climbing Management Areas of Newhalem West (Ryan’s Wall) and Newhalem East. As required in the NPS Superintendent’s Compendium, these areas will be closed to all public from March 1st to July 15th of each year, or until the young falcons have fledged or NPS staff have determined that nesting will not occur on a specific wall during this period. Access Fund, Washington Climbers Coalition and NPS partner on a volunteer raptor monitoring program to determine nesting activity. Contact the NPS and/or WCC for updates.

Description

This a great route on very good rock, with good pro on the harder sections, and some easier and spicier slab runouts. Definitely a step up from the Beckey Route in length and commitment, but not as committing as say, the NW Face of Liberty Bell. P1 can be skipped by traversing in from the right, but this is not recommended.

References: Beckey Bible (Cascade Alpine Guide, Rainy Pass to Fraser River) has a good topo.

P1: Scramble up the easy ledge that starts in front of the Y-shaped Larch tree. Belay off of a sturdy tree and follow cracks straight up through an awkward bulge with great gear to an awesome ledge at the base of the Wavy Crack. 5.8+, ~160 feet.

P2 (wavy crack): climb the nice, wide, 5.8 left-leaning crack. Belay at the top of this crack at a tree. 5.8, ~80 feet.

P3: Continue up and left to a tree, then up and right to a belay below the Boving Roof and the West Face route to the left. 5.6, ~60 ft.

P4: Step out right around the corner then go up to the base of the obvious dual offwidths, past some delicate, unprotected 5.6+ slab moves. ~100 ft. This can be linked with the next pitch.

P5: The bear hug pitch. Climb the very fun dual offwidth crack. From the top of the cracks, move up and right below a white wall into a corner and belay. 5.7+, ~80 ft. To find the "bolt" and the start of the next pitch, either simul or scramble past the big block to a second ledge, continue up and left from here to another ledge which will take you to the arete. Look around the left side of the arete for the bolt.

P6: clip a bolt, then climb easy slab (5.5 or so) to the arete. Continue following the slabby arete with no pro, and belay at the 'Rabbit Ears,' two bouldery towers with rappel slings. Watch rope drag. ~165 ft.

P7: Either rappel or downclimb into the gully, then climb up from the gully on easy crack systems to the summit blocks. 5.5, ~80 ft. Watch your rope line here if you combine the downclimb with the cracks to the summit. I remember doing this as a short downclimb pitch, then a short pitch to the summit.

Location

The route is located on the south/west side of the WA Pass group, on the west face of South Early Winter Spire.

Hike from the Blue Lake TH for ~1.25 miles until you reach a clearing. From here, follow climber trails (step lightly and around the fragile alpine meadows) to the base of the route, marked by a Y-shaped larch tree. The SW Rib is the feature to climber's left of the SW Couloir.

The first ascent of the route was done by climbing a short distance up the SW Couloir and traversing left on ledges to reach the start of Wavy Crack.Descend the South Arete route with some class 3/4 down climbing and a couple of rappels.

As an alternate start, scramble up the couloir past the giant chockstone and for another 50 feet, looking for a decent spot to traverse left across some ledges. Go across the ledges and through some trees on the face. A very short rappel gets one to the beginning of the 5.8 left-leaning crack.

Protection

1 60m rope. 1 set of stoppers, 1 set of cams to #3 camalot, with doubles in the 1" to 2" range for extra comfort, though it's not really needed. Also bring a large cam (approx. new #5 camalot size) for the Bear Hug pitch.