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South Face
Washington
> South-W & Tacoma
> Southwest Cascades
> Pinto Rock
Access Issue: Access to Pinto Rock is OPEN!!! Mmmm cobbles...
Details
Pinto Rock is located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. For up to date access alerts and road conditions visit: fs.usda.gov/alerts/giffordp…
Description
The mulipitch climbs on this wall follow the ribs, gullies, and points that make up the South face. All belays are in relatively safe locations but these routes have seen very few ascents so expect rock fall and loose holds. Helmets are absolutely required. Just go for the biggest and best cobbles you can find and have fun! This aspect receives all day sun but the high elevation can mitigate warm temperatures.
Getting There
Easily observed from the parking lot and the shortest approach at Pinto. Simply walk up the obvious trail and make a left at the lowest toe of the formation. (1-5 minutes)
[Hide Photo] From where you top out to where the approximant area of the rappel station is.
[Hide Photo] After rappelling, this is the hike out route back to the parking lot
[Hide Photo] Rappel Anchors, your going to want to rappel in the direction of the red line. Start by rappelling straight down about 40 feet till you hit the ground directly below the rap station, then start you…
[Hide Photo] More perspective of Pyroclastic start - see the free standing pillar/tower on the left
[Hide Photo] Standing at the base of Pyroclastic - the route starts where the climber is standing.
[Hide Comment] If you've noticed, the photo topo Brenden provides shows a multipitch called Pyroclastic. We climbed it last week. What fun! Loose . . . hold blew off at the crux. So be careful if you climb this. Here's my route description (that I sent to Brenden for confirmation, but he is probably busy route developing elsewhere). Feel free to correct/edit.
PYROCLASTIC
5 pitches (even though it looks like it's 4 pitches in the photo)
This climb is a bolt finding adventure taking all your muster and prior knowledge of what might be a better safer cobble to grab versus an okay cobble that might loosen after you weight it. It might then break off!
Location: Second bolted route on the main face to the right of free standing tower, up a little knoll. Look for a tree on the trail immediately below. Next route to the left of Cobbles 101, about two “spines” over.
Pitch 1: About 7 or 8 bolts (I lost count as I was focused on finding solid holds!) to chain anchors. Pretty straightforward up a narrow and shallow gully. First bolt faces right, second faces left. Be aware of cobbles that break off even after you check for looseness! The photo diagram/topo shows one long pitch of 12 bolts. It’s actually two pitches. This is the most straightforward normal vertical pitch.
Pitch 2: 5 bolts to two bolt anchor. At the pillar, go up and left. Use of slings advised. Go up, then down into flat sandy gully and up about 15 feet to bolt anchors. There's a tree at the sandy gully below the anchor bolts. Nice spot for a quick break.
Pitch 3: 9 bolts. Climb the arete. Enjoy the airiness of the pitch! Stay right of arete near the top. It’s runout to the anchor chains. Expect to use long slings, especially at the last bolt.
Pitch 4: 8 bolts to one link each anchor bolts. Cross over a wide gully up to the vertical bolted face. Note the ash band. At the overhang, find the good holds behind blocky cobbles. Holds can loosen here . . . Once surmounting the overhang, keep going up even if you don’t see a bolt . . . it’s there.
Pitch 5: 9 bolts to the summit with anchor chains. Start by stepping across mini pillars, cross a gully to the bolted face that criss crossing a seam and go towards the right and then up to the top. Carefully cruise the low angle section to the anchor chains. Expect rope drag. Sign the summit book and enjoy the view!
Sep 1, 2020
Access Issue: Access to Pinto Rock is OPEN!!! Mmmm cobbles...
Details
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Vancouver, WA
PYROCLASTIC
5 pitches (even though it looks like it's 4 pitches in the photo)
This climb is a bolt finding adventure taking all your muster and prior knowledge of what might be a better safer cobble to grab versus an okay cobble that might loosen after you weight it. It might then break off!
Location: Second bolted route on the main face to the right of free standing tower, up a little knoll. Look for a tree on the trail immediately below. Next route to the left of Cobbles 101, about two “spines” over.
Pitch 1:
About 7 or 8 bolts (I lost count as I was focused on finding solid holds!) to chain anchors. Pretty straightforward up a narrow and shallow gully. First bolt faces right, second faces left. Be aware of cobbles that break off even after you check for looseness! The photo diagram/topo shows one long pitch of 12 bolts. It’s actually two pitches. This is the most straightforward normal vertical pitch.
Pitch 2:
5 bolts to two bolt anchor. At the pillar, go up and left. Use of slings advised. Go up, then down into flat sandy gully and up about 15 feet to bolt anchors. There's a tree at the sandy gully below the anchor bolts. Nice spot for a quick break.
Pitch 3:
9 bolts. Climb the arete. Enjoy the airiness of the pitch! Stay right of arete near the top. It’s runout to the anchor chains. Expect to use long slings, especially at the last bolt.
Pitch 4:
8 bolts to one link each anchor bolts. Cross over a wide gully up to the vertical bolted face. Note the ash band. At the overhang, find the good holds behind blocky cobbles. Holds can loosen here . . . Once surmounting the overhang, keep going up even if you don’t see a bolt . . . it’s there.
Pitch 5:
9 bolts to the summit with anchor chains. Start by stepping across mini pillars, cross a gully to the bolted face that criss crossing a seam and go towards the right and then up to the top. Carefully cruise the low angle section to the anchor chains. Expect rope drag. Sign the summit book and enjoy the view! Sep 1, 2020