Some of this area is subject to seasonal closures - Ridge 2, 3, & 4 (typically Feb 1- July 31) MORE INFO >>>
Ridge 1 is not subject to closure. Note, the area is rather full of poison ivy, for those who are sensitive. Also, there are bears & mountain lions known to habit these parts.
Andy Moore on the tricky moves of Pitch 1. Above ...
Description
This is the longest climb in Skunk Canyon and took us 8 full pitches with a 60m rope. The name is from Rossiter's guide. It is a bit runout in places, but mostly where the climbing is easier. It is not as serious or unprotected as the East Face route (called Purgatory on this site).
You can begin in two ways. Either start a few feet above the lowest point of the rock, which is just where the gully between Ridges 1 & 2 hits Skunk Creek, or about 100' farther up Skunk Creek. Getting between these two starts involves complex bush whacking and going around a large boulder. In either case you are heading for a belay under a huge, obvious roof 200'-250' up.
P1: From the lowest point, head up a slab (tricky moves near the start, then easy but unprotected), stretch a 60m rope to a belay 30' under the roof (fixed piton). If using the higher start, climb a slab past a tree to the same belay at only 50m or less.
P2: Head up towards the left side of the roof. Clip 2 pitons (neither looks great, you can back them up with a cam) and crank over the left side of the roof. There is maybe one 5.8 move (well protected). Head up and left until an undercling crack leads back right to the ridge crest (5.7 tricky). Run up an easy (5.4) but unprotected slab to a belay to the left of a small roof. I climbed higher to a second (larger) roof, but there isn't much gear to belay from.
P3: Head up to the left of the next big roof. This involves 5.7 friction climbing with sparse pro and requires careful routefinding. The rest of the route is now easier.
P4: Either climb a weird flarey crack right on the crest, or bypass this more easily on the left. P5: The East Face route joins the ridge here. Continue up easy rock to the top of a bulbous tower. P6: More easy climbing leads to a headwall that can be climbed directly (5.8) or bypassed easily to the right. Unrope and scramble a few hundred feet past a huge boulder to the base of the summit tower. You can bypass the summit pitches by scrambling down the gully heading west from the giant boulder to a 50' dropoff, where there is a sling for a short rappel.
P7 & 8: Move out to the right onto the east face and climb to the top. These pitches can also be done more directly via a cool crack 50' west of the crest. The crux is about 50' up, climbing a black face which leads to the start of this crack (5.8+ s).
To descend from the summit, climb down into a chimney, and exit west onto a ledge which leads north to hiking terrain.
To get off the ridge from the vicinity of the house-sized boulder, sneak west through the gap just north of this giant boulder. Climb down an easy gully to a drop-off, then do a 40' rap over this drop-off to reach the gully between Satan's Slab and Angel's Way. You can scramble down (or up) this gully.
This is a really cool route, it has clean rock an almost mystic atmosphere and feels like mountaineering towards the top of the ridge. I descended a chimney to the West near the top of the 6th pitch, it involved 1 rap and some easy down climbing...........
Rossiter's description is a little off. He says to climb this in 4-5 pitches...it took us 6 to reach a gully that we descended to the east. Downclimb to a tree with rap rings, be careful on the downclimb a fall would be very nasty. There are 3 raps off of the east gully until you get to solid ground between Ridge One and Two.
A few comments based on further experience with this rock: (1) Generally closed Feb 1-July 31. (2) With the high start, pitch 1 is quite short, 100' at most, and follows a crack with a tree about 20' up it. (3) Be careful where you belay at the top of p. 2, there are really only 2 places where you can get more than one piece in (lower one is better). (4) Better protected than the east face route (called Purgatory on this site), but still expect 20-50' runouts on 5.5. (5) The last pitch done the easiest way is also very runout, but only 5.4 or so.
I feel that neither Roach nor Rossiter describe the route that we naturally contoured to, but it is the one in this picture. It is my least favorite Flatiron route and the most runout. With a 50m rope, we had to simulclimb about 30 feet at around 5.6 on friction. Better to just turn around and explore more of the terrific backside of Stairway.
Interesting to read all these comments on Flatiron routes, thanks for the feedback. Your experience here sounds more like mine on the East Face route (called Purgatory on this site). The main problem I've had with this route is it falls within the bird closure, once I hiked all the way in just to read the sign.
I found the crux to be different than described here, more where Rossiter shows 8+ on his topo, that is just after you haul yourself over the first roof. I think I traversed at back right at the appropriate time, there was a small undercling like crack, but for me this was tricky and balancy. If I were an inch taller, or had longer arms, this may have been trivial, but I was way above my last piece thinking, damn, don't fall! The rest of the route is great, spicy enough to keep you on your toes, and just keeps going and going......
I agree with the comment by Shad; the trickiest move is 10' after you pull around the roof, and the pro is lacking at that point. I remember that either a pink or red tri-cam came in handy there.
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Aug 28, 2006 rating: 5.8 R
Made for 60m or 70m ropes. The best belays are more than 50m apart. Great rock and great position though. A favorite.
Ridge 2 aka Satan's Slab
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