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Northeast Buttress

5.11a R, Trad, 1000 ft (303 m), 8 pitches, Grade IV,  Avg: 2.6 from 18 votes
FA: Randy Aton, Mark Austin and Phil Haney, 1981, FFA: Conrad Anker, John Middendorf Early 90's
Utah > Southwest Utah > Zion NP > Angel's Landing
Warning Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures ***** RAIN AND WET ROCK ***** The sandstone in Zion is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN ZION during or after rain. A good rule of thumb is that if the ground near your climb is at all damp (and not powdery dry sand), then do not climb. There are many alternatives (limestone, granite, basalt, and plastic) nearby. Seasonal Raptor Closures DetailsDrop down

Description

Although this route has a 5.11a crux, the climbing is mainly runout face climbing on patina edges that sometimes crumble under bodyweight or less. Given this, the route will probably get harder over time as more of the holds disappear. You'll need a good intuition for route finding as well. This is a high quality climb with exciting moments that will definitely help you forget about the couple of less desirable pitches in the middle of the route.

This climb is far more committing than the trade routes in Zion; if you've only brought one rope, retreating after the first pitch will be difficult and costly. There are only 2 fixed anchors on this climb. Getting caught in the rain on this climb would be bad.

P1 (5.10, 35m) Follow obvious flake crack (starting wide then gets smaller) to a set of anchors. The crux of this pitch is turning the corner/roof of the flake.

P2 (5.9 R, 40m) Head right over loose blocks to a wide crack (you can see through it). A #4.5 Camalot is useful here. Layback with kneebars or offwidth up the wide crack (harder). The crack gets smaller and eventually peters out. Head slightly left once the crack disappears, on runout 5.9 face climbing (good rock) and past a bolt. Then head back right to a ledge and belay at bolted anchors.

P3 (5.9 R, 35m) Head up and right on face holds and moss past a bolt to a sandy finger crack. Watch out, some of the face holds crumble, and the moss does not hold bodyweight. The crux comes at the top of the crack. Then continue up mantling small bushes and such until you reach a sandy ledge and belay off a bush.

P4 (5.8/5.9, 40m) Climb up a loose groove filled with sandy, loose blocks while mantling bushes and the like. A flared, wide crack takes you up to a ledge and bolted anchor. This pitch sucks, unless of course you like sandy, vertical bushwhacking.

P5 (5.11a/5.9 R, 40m) There is a crack to your right (shallow left facing dihedral) with a bolt up high. Guidebook says this is 5.10. We'll call this a crux variation and we'll save the description for someone who's done it. Climb straight up above the belay through a small roof into a right facing corner. The rock is great here and there are some great face holds. Medium size stoppers and stemming get you through the 5.11a crux which is not too hard. Once the gear and holds disappear, cut left around the arête on a sloping horizontal break.

Continue heading up and left on face holds around several arêtes (5.9 R) until you reach a big ledge. Look left and there should be 5 bolts next to each other just above the ledge (perhaps a bivy ledge?). The guidebook gives the impression that you should follow the corner to the top and traverse left on a ledge to the belay. The corner, however , turns blank and there is no longer any gear. Go this way if you dare.

P6 (5.8 R, 30m) Follow the crack in a right-facing dihedral for about 20 ft. where it is possible to cut left on jugs to another right-facing dihedral (which does not reach the bivy ledge) with a bush. Climb over the bush and continue up this crack/dihedral to a ledge.

P7 (5.8 initially, then easier, 40m) Continue up this same dihedral/crack system to a big, broad, sandy ledge and belay.

P8 (5.6, 100m) Head up crack in the buttress (left of a big groove) above and into sandy, bush-filled groove (4th class). Scramble to summit.

IMPORTANT: Zion National Park rangers advise to take this climb very seriously. It is atypical of the area and contains longer runouts, more challenging route finding, and more questionable rock than you'll find elsewhere in Zion. It is home to every recent big wall rescue and the only actual climbing fatality in memory. Don't be the next.

Protection

Medium and large stoppers, double set of cams to #3 Camalot, one each #3.5, #4, and #4.5 Camalots, Lowe Tri-cams were also very useful, 12-14 runners, and 1 rope.

Approach

Approach from the south side of Angel's Landing. Cross the river and aim for the highest portion of land that rises up to the ridge between Angel's Landing and The Organ. Gain a high ledge that runs to your right (away from Angel's Landing. Follow this to just before a steep groove where the ledge tops out.

Start climbing here. A couple moves of maybe 5.7 lead to easier climbing to gain the ridge. Cross the ridge to Angel's Landing. A couple 4th class moves lead up the arĂȘte of a leaning pillar to the start of the climb.

Descent

Walk down the Angel's Landing trail and answer questions the whole way down like, "Did you climb up here?" If you've climbed in a National Park, you know the routine.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Crux pitch of North East Buttress of Angel Landing
[Hide Photo] Crux pitch of North East Buttress of Angel Landing
[Hide Photo] untitled
Dylan Cole enjoying the final pitches of Northeast Buttress.
[Hide Photo] Dylan Cole enjoying the final pitches of Northeast Buttress.
About to enter the wide crack on pitch 2.
[Hide Photo] About to enter the wide crack on pitch 2.
A fine way to wake up and get the blood flowing.
[Hide Photo] A fine way to wake up and get the blood flowing.
one of my fav routes
[Hide Photo] one of my fav routes
Dave enjoys the last couple of moments of climbing before the barage of questions from those who hiked to the summit.
[Hide Photo] Dave enjoys the last couple of moments of climbing before the barage of questions from those who hiked to the summit.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

George Bell
Boulder, CO
[Hide Comment] No need to wade the river if you don't mind a slightly longer approach. This is the farthest left route on Angels Landing, so is closest to the Angels Landing trail. Follow the trail up Angel's Landing until it starts going up steeply, then drop down bushwhack along the river. Apr 25, 2003
Michael Schneiter
Glenwood Springs, CO
 
[Hide Comment] A friend and I did this route recently and I thought I'd provide some additional beta. I think Jason's descriptions were good overall and I wish we would have had his information because it would have cleared up some of the confusion on pitch 5. On pitch 5, we climbed the crack to your right in the left facing dihedral. When we reached pitch 5 I started to lead up the right facing corner (directly above the bolted belay) because that's what our guide said to do, but it also mentioned a bolt. After climbing part way up I saw the bolt next to the crack on our right and traversed to that crack, thinking that was the way to go. The right facing corner looked harder and the bolt led us to believe that that was the way. The crack to your right is not very hard at all. There is one hard move right above a somewhat iffy fixed pin. Then you clip that stonker bolt and go up an ever-widening crack. A #4 Camalot is helpful here. Then you make a long traverse around a corner to the large ledge. We didn't think this pitch was that hard, but we also went into it thinking it was 5.11 due to our guide. There's just that one hard move by the pin, it's reachy but it's all there. Afterwards, we saw the original topo for the route and on pitch 5 the first ascentionists took the crack on your left, then stepped left at the horizontal break to a ledge called Lunchbox Ledge. Then, they climbed a short pitch to the large ledge that currently has five bolts. We talked to a guy at the local climbing shop about those five bolts. They are leftover from a rescue that happened last year and he said that he's been meaning to go up there and take some of them out. So, you may get up there and only see two or three bolts left. Hopefully this will help. We thought it was a fun route and easy to do in a day. Dec 2, 2003
[Hide Comment] I was wondering how hard the .11a pitch is and how runout the R pitches are. Is the crux pitch similiar in difficulty to ancient art? That seemed like a pretty soft 11, but the bolts were right there so my wussy-ass felt better. How about the R pitches? Oct 23, 2005
Mike Anderson
Colorado Springs, CO
  5.11a
[Hide Comment] The 5.9 R pitches could easily be called "X". I have little doubt that a fall on one of those pitches, in certain places would put you in a hospital, at a MINIMUM. I think death is not out of the question. If you get on that route, you better not fall on those pitches...so you better have your stuff together.

The 11a isn't bad and it's easy to A0 through. Oct 28, 2005
Michael Schneiter
Glenwood Springs, CO
 
[Hide Comment] As Mike said earlier, you wouldn't want to fall on those pitches, you could get screwed up. I would consider them to be "engaging." Nothing too hard, but you're very aware of the consequences of a fall. The first "R" pitch (pitch 2?) didn't seem quite as bad. My partner placed some small gear but I question whether it would have held much of a fall, especially considering the soft sandstone. At the beginning of that pitch there's a set of awkward wide moves protected by a bolt. If you blow it you're going to hit a ledge, not a long fall but it would still hurt. You can, as my partner did, clip a sling on the bolt for aid and reduce the seriousness of that part. The second "R" pitch (pitch 3?) seemed to be considerably more runout and it had less obvious route finding. It seemed like you could get really screwed by going off route. It's basically a slab with nasty moss on it. I remember the moss being an interesting part of the seriousness of that pitch. I climbed up, down, and side-to-side a bit to find the correct line (or what I thought was the correct line). There are a couple fixed pieces but I think they were old star drives, so they're probably questionable. Other than that, I don't remember much of anything for gear on that pitch. Up high there are some fairly serious pitches as well, so it's not over when you climb the crux pitch. Hope that helps. Oct 30, 2006
Joe Stern
Moab, Utah
[Hide Comment] Can't say we did much of the actual route, but we climbed the NE Buttress feature yesterday. Here's our route, in hopes that no one ever climbs it again (well, mostly).

P1: didn't see any obvious 5.9 OW, so we took a short face pitch close to directly under the main part of the route. one bolt about 20' up to tree belay, 5.9.
P2: standard flake pitch, fun 5.10 to 2 old bolts with american death triangle.
P3: also fun. loose traverse right to old bolt to big flake, then runout face (past one bolt at the 130' stance). belayed at a short vertical handcrack above a ledge.
P4: where it got interesting. went up and left through mossy runout slabs, past a good ledge with wide crack to small ledge with a tiny tree to sling.
P5: up right through flaring groove layback to slab to the white/dark rock contact. climbed a dark, right facing corner with small bulge at the bottom. mostly sandy handcrack, small roof at top to belay ledge a little over 100'. 5.10ish.
P6: scary one. up left on breakable, sandy, mossy jugs/face with intermittent bad gear placements. if the earlier on route pitches were 5.9 R, this pitch was 5.9 X. went to 5 bolt belay ledge mentioned above (all 5 still there).
P7: right from ledge to beautiful orange right facing corner. tips to OW to hands. easier than it looked. at top, traverse left to ledge. 10+/11- range. quality.
P8: easy long pitch up obvious crack/face to big ledge at the base of the gully that the normal route finishes on.

at the top of the gully, just when you think you're done, there's a short (30' or so) slab on the right that takes you to the trail. probably not third class, but there was a black static rope piece fixed to a pin and running around a tree that made this part mindless, thankfully.

my advice --- do something else! or at least find the right route. Apr 29, 2009
Nathan Brown
Wilson, WY
[Hide Comment] This route is top 5 in Zion for me. I've been up it about 6+ times. It always scares me a little. The runouts are real, the choss is there, and you get some vertical bushwhacking to boot! Go get some. Jul 9, 2009
Brian in SLC
Sandy, UT
[Hide Comment] I have the FA as Randy Aton, Mark Austin and Phil Haney in 1981.

Seems like I recall Conrad did a TR FFA of sorts. Dunno. Jul 10, 2009
Nathan Brown
Wilson, WY
zeGoat Banach
Springdale, UT
[Hide Comment] Conrad put in the crux pitch variation. May 12, 2010
[Hide Comment] Sad news on this route...

supertopo.com/climbing/thre… Oct 28, 2012
Mark Engibous
McCall, ID
[Hide Comment] Lyle was my best friend and climbing partner... I was on the other end of the rope with him that day. Words cant express how awful it was and the void in the lives of his family and friends that now remains. This is an amazing route and it now bears the memory of an amazing person...at least to me. The rock quality deteriorates toward the top...dont pass up pro no matter how secure u feel or how strong or experienced you may be...shit can go wrong in the blink of an eye. Thats my advice. Think of Lyle Hurd III when u top out... Nov 13, 2012
Ball
Oakridge, OR
5.11a
[Hide Comment] This is a great route. I led the original right-facing dihedral. I consider the crux to be protected well, but you shouldn't climb this unless you can handle run out 10- arĂȘte moves.

The left-facing dihedral is likely a lot easier.

We got a late start and probably didn't get on P1 until noon. Had to walk the whole way out.

I found a skull fragment and I'm really hoping, in retrospect, that it's from a bighorn sheep. Nov 11, 2013
Spencer Weiler
Grand Junction
BigNobody
all over, mostly Utah
[Hide Comment] Nice Vid Spencer. For anyone who has wrestled a bush or two in Zion check out 10:33. Made my palms sweat. Aug 8, 2017
[Hide Comment] FFA: Conrad Anker, John Middendorf Early 90's Feb 11, 2019
[Hide Comment] We did this route a number of years ago: so long ago, in fact, that I can't remember exactly when, but probably around 2006 or so. It sounds like our experience was fairly typical: we were unsure at several points of being properly on route; we found the third runout zone to be much more 'X' than 'R'; we missed key features of the route--for instance the offwidth(s) on p1 and p2 although it sounds as though we may have climbed an actual variation as I remember it had a bolt as mentioned above.

It was certainly an adventure at the grade. By my recollection I skipped the crux and did the 5.10 right variation for no particular reason other than uncertainty about which way was correct. What I remember most clearly, however, was the section after the crux. Although the topo shows it to be part of the crux pitch, I recall belaying above and a bit left of the crux on a ledge below a corner with an ancient bolt nearby as I had no idea where to go next. My partner climbed up the corner but ultimately climbed a bit further up, left, down and a ways further left before reaching the 5 bolt ledge. The climbing felt at least 5.9, traversing and downclimbing corners on friable sandstone edges with no protection whatsoever for most of the pitch. It was wild following it and I remember thinking it was a pretty solid effort on his part and a mandatory "no-falls" endeavor.

We might've gotten off route a bit to end up with such a dangerous pitch, but this climb is serious regardless and ought not be taken lightly even if .11- is no problem whatsoever. As a whole it was a pretty cool adventure and ending the climb right smack at the top of the popular Angel's Landing trail with a lot of people around was kind of surreal and fun. It was not, however, a climb I would likely do a second time. Apr 4, 2021
Stu Hopkins
Logan, UT
  5.10 X
[Hide Comment] Some thoughts after climbing:

1. You could bail from the route at any point before p5 with 45m raps or less. The only non-bolted anchor before here is the top of p3 but there are plenty of bushes to bail from. You could maybe bail from top of p5 but I don't know since it traverses so much how that would go.
2. Expect near every pitch to be R. Even p1 feels scary because you are placing behind a pretty hollow flake. Don't come into the route thinking it's only one or two spots. Holds crumble from bottom to top.
3. Do not expect to cruise the 5.8 pitches. Same thing as before, the holds will still break. Leave enough time that you can be careful climbing any patina you find. While they are 5.8, I pulled two "bomber" holds that nearly sent me flying. Thankfully I was cautious enough from p3 that I wasn't trusting them yet.
4. This is not the route to push yourself or your partner. Take the warnings seriously because it is very different from other routes in Zion and took us way longer than we expected to climb this due to caution. Expect at least an hour a pitch even if you normally climb faster.
5. The right facing dihedral on p5 is really pretty easy. We almost didn't follow the beta because it looks harder but I would rate it 5.10 or so. Only a few real stemming moves and then reach for a jug. Nothing fancy.

Loved the route. Not something I'll do again for a while due to the seriousness, but fun nonetheless. Feb 8, 2022
Ron Cloudwalker
Iron County
[Hide Comment] FA was Patrick Cordiet

3 listed here was from the third ascent! Dec 4, 2022
[Hide Comment] Notice that the climbers talking about breaking holds are climbing in winter months. Winter is fine until the first winter precipitation, after that the rock does not regain strength until it gets warm and dry again. I've climbed in Zion for 30 years and at this point I don't touch the rock through the late winter months. Embrace the heat and climb in the shade--Zion is not a winter climbing destination. Jun 4, 2024