West Point Crack 

The second pitch of this route is good. One can complete the climb by stepping over the chimney and going straight up OR rappeling down from the anchor at the top of the second pitch (need two ropes!).

Chimney is pretty funky and can be kind of a reach when placing gear--but overall, great fun!

Mr. Markis and myself climbed West Point Crack this past Saturday. I found the rock to be dirty and gritty, with an abundant amount of loose sand. I've climbed West Point Crack in the past and did not have much of a problem with dirt, but this was gritty stuff.

The first move off the deck is a litte awkward, but a tricam in a pocket on the underside of the overhang can provide some psychological protection. The rest of pitch one is one big jug-fest, and nowhere near the 5.8 rating, in my oppinion. I haven't done pitch 2 yet, but I would recomend pitch one highly as a good beginner lead.

The first pitch of this route has 3 nice new bolted anchors and a pair of bolted anchors at the top. This now makes it a very popular route for someone to lead and thread and then be toproped by the rest of the party.

Heads up on bolts and anchors: Of the two anchors on the first pitch, the right one is loose. The actual bolt can be unscrewed OUT OF THE ROCK. So be careful there. There are 3 old, old bolts at the beginning of the second pitch. Either way, theyre probobly the oldest bolts ive seen in the garden...and we all know how old the stuff is. Most importantly, the bolts on top of the tower need to be replaced!!! There are two old pitons up there, but last i knew the webbing only went through one, but they are really really old and are low quality even to Garden of The Gods standards.

The first pitch is great fun, if a little short; nice new bolts to the decently set anchor. The third bolt is spinning, and I didn't have a wrench on me. The second pitch still has three old, nasty pitons, and they're not looking too good, all low on the pitch. Without big bros, it's a chore to protect the second pitch's last half; kinda nasty and sandy, and there are some loose rocks in some of the huecos that need to be watched for. The anchors on top of the pillar are ancient, but as solid as they can be; take some new quicklinks and sling material for the climb. As we only went with one rope, we were intent on heading up; the third 'pitch' starts with a step-across to another nasty piton, poor footing, and a long, long swinging fall if you blow it. Instead, we rapped down to the ledge behind the pillar and went up the water gully in two short pitches, unprotected. The second is the scarier of the two, although both disintegrate as you touch the rock. At the final moves, it's apparent that there's not much there that would hold you; instead of ripping down the water-dissolved features, I would recommend going up the left wall to the cave with big horns, and then gently, nimbly, stepping across to the top. Or, not bothering. Instead, take two ropes and good luck with the anchors on top of the pillar.

First pitch is way better than the second, and decently protected. Except for the first move, which will land you thirty feet down in the dirt if you blow it and your spotter misses.

04-20-03 Take some new quicklinks and sling material to rebuild the anchor on top of the second pitch. You won't like what's there today. :)

I wouldn't place any big bros in the 2nd pitch. They would be annoying to climb with, and would shred through the soft rock. There's a bomber hex placement, #10 or 11 I think, in the middle of the runout part on the latter half of p2 if you really want it.

I have rapped off the p2 anchors a dozen times. They aren't wonderful, but they aren't horrible. Certainly not the worst in the Garden though. Try some of the anchors on the upper pitches of the Inferno, or Fuzzy's Farce!!

The 3rd pitch is harder than the guide shows, at least the old one I have. First time I was up there, the guide said it was 5.7, but some holds have broken. Now it's more like weird 5.9.

Tradkelly, sounds like you guys had an adventure getting down with one rope! I'd suggest everybody bring two, even if you plan to go over the top. Just to be prepared.

I was in the Garden one day last summer. I was just going for a run, and I saw two guys finish the 2nd pitch with only one rope. The leader was either bold or stupid - he didn't place a single piece from the p1 anchor to the top of p2 on the pillar! Why he didn't at least clip the pins down low I couldn't figure out.Worse yet, the sun was setting and they didn't have headlamps or shirts on!

I stuck around, curious as to how they'd get down and anticipating that they might need help. They set up a single rope rap, which of course didn't reach even the p1 anchor. They clipped into one of those manky pins at the start of p2. When they tried to pull their rope, it wouldn't come, so they just let go and it swung out of reach. Then to my horror they clipped all of their draws together, clipped the chain of draws to the pin, and lowered themselves hand over hand to the anchor!

By this point I was yelling up, offerring help. But they kept telling me they knew what they were doing. Now they were standing at the p1 anchor, unable to reach their rope which was dangling 20 feet above and left of them, with no gear, no headlamps, and no shirts!

After about 30 minutes of intense discussion in the complete darkness, they yelled down to see if I was still around. I told them not to move (as if they had a chance) while I went back to my truck, where I grabbed my gear and called my friend Shannon. He came down and met me a while later, when we proceeded to do the route and retrieve their gear for them.

It turned out they had actually TIED the middle of their rope to the anchor with an overhand loop and a biner. I'm not sure how they planned on unclipping the biner or untying the knot from 100 feet below, and they had no explanation for that one. We rapped and helped them down. They were shivering and embarassed, but otherwise fine.

As it turns out they were cadets at the Air Force Academy. They had rapped out of a helicopter once or something and apparently figured it couldn't be too hard to set up. I admire their boldness, but that's about it. What really bothered me was that they never really humbled themselves at all. We tried to offer a little advice, like how to set up a double rope rappel, etc, but they just wanted to get out of there. I think one of them may have muttered a "thank you" once.

In any case, it makes for a good story. I don't know how many near deaths I've witnessed in the Garden. Often it's cocky military guys who think they know everything. The Garden is a serious climbing area once you leave the paradise of a few well-travelled routes. The climbing is loose, dirty, and poorly protected, generally speaking, and many get in over their heads without realizing it.

One other thing that's interesting as far as the history of th route goes. The first pitch, which is nicely bolted now, is fairly new. I'm not sure when those three bolts were added, but it was sometime in the last few years. Anyway, before it was retrobolted, it was a completely different pitch. Instead of going up the juggy face, you climbed farther to the right, chimneying behind the big body-sized horn and running up the ramp. There was no real good protection, just weird cams in potholes in the wrong places. I'm sure the face was done a long time ago, as the holds are so obvious, but to the best of my knowledge the line was completely changed when it was retrobolted.

Dude, two things about this route: one, it's frickin' tragic how they jacked this thing up with the retrobolting. What right does some bastard with a bolt kit have to change where a route goes? It had a huge adventure factor before, with the ancient pins and funky offwidthing on the first pitch - now people are sport climbing on it. Seriously, we need to respect how the first ascentionists climbed these things. Second, to get down from the anchors on the second pitch with one rope, I'm pretty sure (it's been a couple years) you can rap to the first anchor on Kor's and then to the ground.

I have always climbed the first pitch to the left of that funky off-width flake. The direct was always more fun and there was adequate natural protection although it has degraded considerably over the last few years. The route gets too much traffic now and has long been an accident waiting to happen. The Garden sees considerable traffic on only a few routes and "West Point Crack" is one of them because it is easy and fun. So a retrobolting was in order, although I don't know who did it. It's been on my to-retrobolt list out there for a few years! The route also needs new anchors atop Kor's Pillar. Those pins up there are total mank and again an accident waiting to happen. As an aside I have blanket permission from both Ed Webster and Leonard Coyne to rebolt or retrobolt any of their Garden routes. They both realize that the stuff we used back in the 70s to bolt routes was wholly inadequate compared to the new gear.

Good call, Stewart. I, like most people, love this route. Always interesting. Always fun. But every time i set on top of that damn pillar and look down at those bolts I flip out. Cause those things are flippin old. They arent anything that should deter anyone from sending up the route. But, one of these days they need to be replaced. -Cheers-

Find the many underclings that riddle the first pitch and keep your rack on the right side of your body for the second pitch. And that's it.

The last bolt before the anchors pulled out with two fingers about two weeks ago. I noticed that it looked funny and I pulled out on it with very slight pressure and it pulled out about halfway. Not being sure of what I am supposed to do with that, I left it there.

So, Terrence let me get this straight. You loosened a piton making it (yet more) unsafe, but did not remove the piton. Dude, someone is going to take a big ride when they clip that piton - which is going to happen to some poor beginner.

Could the next person to climb this please pull the afore mentioned piton and save someone's ass.

I did this climb about a year or so ago and believe this it be a near waste of time. Lots of pigeon poop and dirty. When reaching for hand placements watch out as I had to clean my hands several times.

Otherwise, I don't climb here anymore. To many tourists and too many climbers. I like the peacefullness of the backcountry.

About all these loose pitons around the beginning of P2. It's obvious, now, that these 2 pitons are getting too mank and are way too dangerous. I've been having a bunch of discussions with climber I know that think those 2 should be replaced with some 3/8" bolts that would make that section safer. It's up to the local climbers to decide if it's right and if it should be done. What do people think?

David, I am less concerned with the two pins at the bottom of P2 then I am with the runout towards the end of P2. The inside of that crack is difficult if not worthless to protect so a lot of people end up clipping those first 2 pins, then running it out to the top. Replacing one of the pins with a bolt would be great, but I say there should be one about 3/4 of the way up that second pitch.Also, there were chains at the top and now its just one really old pin. If you're replacing, that one would be a candidate as well.If you decide to replace, thanks for your help

A group of local climbers organized by Bob Hostetler, the climber representative for the Park & Rec's Garden of the Gods, are working on designated access trails to various cliff sections at the Garden. The group is also going to be replacing some of the currently bad anchors and fixed pitons with beefy glue-in 1/2" bolts. West Point's pitch 2 as well as the upper anchors atop the pillar are on the list for replacement in either June or July.

Regarding David Danforth's comment above, yes they need to be replaced, but only with the thickest and best hardware possible. Avoid placing or using 3/8" bolts in Garden sandstone as they just don't last and can quickly work loose.

On 07/9/04 Stewart Green and friends installed a three bolt anchor on the top of the pillar. So, the top of P2 is now safe to anchor into, and lower off of (with two ropes if you want to reach the ground).Thank you Stewart, Steve, and Chris! However that pitch is still a squeeze chimney and if your not o.k with that type of climbing, you're not going to like it no matter how safe the rap anchors are. Also, P1 and P2 are short enough to be combined as a single pitch if you're so inclined.

Just to throw in my two cents- I also used to always climb far to the right then back across on this climb. We looked at the direct route, and there was a dangerous teetering block above and to the left of the bolt, so we decided to go right. Fun, and a warm up for above.

And even though I have mixed feelings about some of the retrobolting, I really appreciate what you guys (the trail work crew) are doing for my back yard. I've lived literally three houses from the park my whole life, and have been climbing there for 7 or 8 years, so the Garden is really a special place to me. Too bad I'm moving to [Boulder] tomorrow, otherwise I'd be out there with you now that I know about it.

Pancho

Thanks for the anchor replacement and cheers to the decision NOT TO PLACE A BOLT IN THE CHIMNEY.

Got to love the unique experience of Garden climbing.

I have to say that this is a Garden classic. The first pitch is a little sporty, or as sporty as 5.7 Garden gets (excluding Big Sky). The second is worth doing if you have the gear. Despite talk of bad anchors and huge runouts, it is a great climb. I used 1 Metolius TCU, along with .75, 1, 2 , and 5 BD cams. It felt plenty solid and enough gear. I did not try the last pitch, but the rap off from the top of the tower was fine, though there was some nice rope drag when pulling. Whoever retro bolted the anchors did it pretty well, appears to be epoxied, and they used the red (camo) fat Metolius hangers. Nice job on that.

Oh yeah... there is no reason to put any bolts on the second pitch. If people want to run it from the old pins to the top, let them do it. Who is going to fall out of the chimney anyway? But let it go as is for those of us who still like to throw in the cams, nuts etc. There is no question that the line is plenty protectable if you want it to be.

FYI: Climbed this route yesterday to the top of the second pitch. One of the fat, red, Metolius hangers on the top of the pillar is missing. There was just one red Metolius and a bolt hanger. Added a rappel ring to the bolt hanger. Does anyone know if the other Metolius was removed for a good reason, or just stolen?

So Alex, can you please clarify - is this now a 2-bolt anchor, with a third bolt that is missing the hanger?

Yes, being my first time up it, I'm not completely aware of what was up there before, beyond reading previous posts. It sounded like Stewart Green had added two large red Metolius hangers (the kind you rap off and pull a rope directly through since it has a very fat edge on it). However, when I topped out on the pillar there was just one of those there, and an obvious threaded hole where the other one used to be. In addition, there was also a regular bolt hanger (which may have been added recently but not sure since it was my first time up) the kind you can't rap directly off with out damaging your rope. We added a rappel ring to that hanger to allow for the rappel off on both bolts.
I was just curious why the other Metolius had been removed. Hope that clarifies.

Does anyone have any current beta of the third pitch and the down climb from the third pitch?

Alex, thanks for the update on those anchors atop West Point Crack/Kor's Korner pillar. Myself and a couple other climbers replaced the manky anchors atop there 3 years ago. Two big bolts with Metolius hangers and later I added chain. Someone took the chain shortly afterward and put slings on the bolts. I will go back and replace the missing bolt, maybe with a big glue-in and add chain again. Brad Saren also wants to go up and replace the anchors on the top of Kor's Korner's first pitch, so maybe we will do both at the same time.

As far as the third pitch. From the top of the pillar, step across the gap above West Point Crack and climb past a drilled angle to a finishing groove. Kinda scary and kinda hard moves up there so it's not done often...belay to the south on a ledge system behind the main wall. Scramble south down the big gully to the end of South Gateway to get off.

There is a new bolt and chains on top of the tower.

If rapping off the 2nd pitch with the new chains, when pulling the ropes, we found that if you walk north to the top rope area the ropes pull much easier (we couldn't pulled them closer to where you end up on the rap), and then if you want you can rap to the ground from the top rope anchors.

The new chains are great, but since the chains are long enough to reach over the edge and there really is no footing on the face be prepared, getting over the edge is a bit sporty.

When I rap off the tower, I use a single 60M rope. It can be a little tuff to get started to pull but well worth leaving that extra rope in the car.
Also, if you look off to the north side of the tower, you will see the manmade trench from pulling ropes! Therefore, the chains must extend past the lip so as to reduce further unnecessary scarring of thr rock (the top of Pot Holes is also pretty bad as well). Also, the chains on the back side of the tower help to keep them outta sight and outta mind of the non-climbers who like to enjoy the park as much as we do.
I just clip a biner on the left bolt and use it for a hand hold until I am able to weight my ATC. I suppose you could use a sling on that biner tho like an aider and bam you have a foothold. Another great option is to just lead the last pitch whitch is very short and feals like an 8+.
I'm sorry if you have to spend a little extra time getting off the tower. But it is our responsibility to reduce unnecessary scarring to the rock and mantain a high level of safety so as to retain our right to scale these lovely rock formations.

Drusch. The "3rd pitch" is OK. Scary but OK. You can put some medium size pro after you step over the gap & pass the piton. Descent from the top is mostly a walk off with may be a class 4 move to reach the gully. Of the several times I climbed WPC I did the 3rd pitch twice (as recently as Spring '07), and I think it is a nice way to finish the route.

Don't attempt to rappel down the face you just climbed. The friction of your rope running over the rock on top will make it impossible to pull. Always rappel off the back the way the rap anchors were meant to be used.

So Nelson, do you rap off the back and downclimb the slab? I'm not sure how you are getting off with one 60m.

I felt fine doing P2 with just a full set of Camelots to #3, although I did place a #4 once. The #3 is the last gear before you run it out to the anchor, which is only sporting once you leave the tight confines of the chimney.

The Third pitch IMO is a ton of fun. Much harder than the rest of the climb, probably 5.9 or so I would guess. Just be sure you get that drilled angle clipped!

P3 is pretty stiff at the at the start.