While Easy may be in the name of this gully's buttress, easy is not the main adjective to describe the established lines here. With no route under 5.9+, it's clear that it is not a destination for inexperienced climbers (if the additional complications of the alpine-esque experience of Smuggler's Notch were not enough...) The rock is generally sound and is similar to the nearby climbing in the Bolton area. However, since these routes see little traffic comparatively do not expect the same experience as a developed and trafficked crag like Lower/Upper West. Holds will be dirty, there will be loose rock, etc.
Getting There
From the main parking area and the stone hut at the left (towards Stowe) end, hike steeply uphill for 5-10 minutes trending left of a clear gully and veering to avoid the steepest areas. This will eventually spit you out on a platform of large boulders in a wide open gully. From here you will have a clear view of the cliff. Hike up the loose scree/talus in the gully picking the easiest line (generally staying to the left). One you're approximately 150ft from the right side of the buttress, look for a boulder about the size of a couch on the left side of the gully. Immediately before the boulder you should find a faint trail that leads up through the vegetated ridge that extends down from the right side of the buttress. this will lead you to an exposed slide and the cliff in the area of Leaver Beaver. Contour the cliff to reach the lines to the left of this.
[Hide Comment] Nope. There are several fairly unpleasant ways to get somewhat close, but the easiest way to get to the top would almost certainly be to climb one of the routes and then finish up P3 and P4 of The Deep End. Going up Easy Gully in the summer would probably be sketchy, wet, loose, and vegetated 4th classing with significant consequences if you made a mistake. It might be possible if conditions are very dry, but it wouldn't be very fun or particularly safe. Another option is to go up the old Bear Pond Trail (which goes under Bloodthirsty Herbivore) or up the Bedouin trail, then bushwhack left until you're over the buttress (which will be difficult to find, but maybe with Google Maps it could be doable). Unfortunately, I think the top of the buttress is quite detached from the main part of the mountain by some loose, wet, ugly 4th and 5th class terrain covered with flesh-eating krummholz. Long story short, no, to the best of my knowledge there's no reasonable good way up there. That was no small factor in why Dave and I did The Deep End ground-up...
Mar 23, 2024
[Hide Comment] To second Travis' comments and for explicit clarity in this thread (i.e. to prevent people from wandering around in areas that are objective hazard zones), it's not really feasible to access the cliff from above (I know because I tried). The natural anchor options are sub-optimal (small trees in shallow soil) and orienting yourself at the top is much more difficult than it might appear from the ground because there isn't really a cliff top edge. Instead there are a series of tiered ledges at the top that all push the fall line in less than ideal aspects.
To be explicitly clear (and this is outside the OP's question but I'm stating for future readers), trying to get to the top of the Diving Board from above is ill-advised. Nothing is impossible but one would have to make a series of bad choices in order to accomplish the feat.
Mar 23, 2024
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To be explicitly clear (and this is outside the OP's question but I'm stating for future readers), trying to get to the top of the Diving Board from above is ill-advised. Nothing is impossible but one would have to make a series of bad choices in order to accomplish the feat. Mar 23, 2024
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