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Routes in Crescent Crack Buttress
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3 Amigos T 5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a |
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A Kat That Grumps T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
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Back to My Roots T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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C.P.O.S. T 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c |
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Closet Lycra T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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Crack in the Woods T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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Crank in the Woods S 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a |
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Crescent Crack T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
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Crescent Crack Direct Variation T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Fairweather Variation T 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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Final Link T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Genuine Risk T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c PG13 |
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Great Chockstone, The T 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
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Grind, The S 5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a |
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Grunting Gringos T 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c |
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Hand Jive T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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If Looks Could Kill S 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a R |
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Interplanetary Voyage T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c |
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Journey to the Moon T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b PG13 |
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Kutcorner T 5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b |
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Lazarus T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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Less Than Zero T 5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b |
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Lunge or Plunge T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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Mexican Crack T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
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Missing Link T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b R |
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Moon Boots S 5.12d 7c 28 IX 28 E6 6b |
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Multiplicity S 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b |
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No Jive Arete S 5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a |
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Paraplegic Ward T,TR 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a A0 |
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Razor's Edge S 5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b |
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Ross Connection, The T 5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b R |
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Ross Route, The T 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c PG13 |
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Rotert's Rooter T 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a |
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Short Corner T 5.6 4c 14 V 12 S 4b |
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Slam, Jam, Thank You Ma'am T 5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a PG13 |
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Spanish Fly T 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a R |
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Unknown left T,TR 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Unknown right S,TR 5.7 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
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Waterslide S 5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a |
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Who's On First S,TR 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b |
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| Type: | Trad, 300 ft (91 m), 2 pitches |
| FA: | FA: Rick Reese, Ted Wilson, and Milt Hokanson, 1963.FFA: Rick Reese, Jim Gaddis and Wilf Bruschke, 1963. |
| Page Views: | 91,540 total · 350/month |
| Shared By: | John J. Glime on Jun 18, 2003 · Updates |
| Admins: | Perin Blanchard, GRK, David Crane |
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Access Issue: Gate Buttress Area Recreational Lease: Climbs on Church Buttress above vault remain closed
Details
Climbers Partner with LDS Church on Stewardship of Little Cottonwood Canyon Climbing
June 1st, 2017:The Salt Lake Climbers Alliance (SLCA), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and Access Fund announce the signing of an unprecedented lease for 140 acres in Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). The parcel, known as the Gate Buttress, is about one mile up LCC canyon and has been popular with generations of climbers because of its world-class granite.
The agreement secures legitimate access to approximately 588 routes and 138 boulder problems at the Gate Buttress for rock climbers, who will be active stewards of the property. The recreational lease is the result of several years of negotiations between LDS Church leaders and the local climbing community.
Access Note: The climbs on the Church Buttress above the vault as well as the Glen boulders that have been traditionally closed will remain closed.
Please help us steward this area and leave no trace.
Read More:
saltlakeclimbers.org/climbe…
June 1st, 2017:The Salt Lake Climbers Alliance (SLCA), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and Access Fund announce the signing of an unprecedented lease for 140 acres in Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). The parcel, known as the Gate Buttress, is about one mile up LCC canyon and has been popular with generations of climbers because of its world-class granite.
The agreement secures legitimate access to approximately 588 routes and 138 boulder problems at the Gate Buttress for rock climbers, who will be active stewards of the property. The recreational lease is the result of several years of negotiations between LDS Church leaders and the local climbing community.
Access Note: The climbs on the Church Buttress above the vault as well as the Glen boulders that have been traditionally closed will remain closed.
Please help us steward this area and leave no trace.
Read More:
saltlakeclimbers.org/climbe…
Description
This is a pretty great route on the verge of being two stars due to a kind of lame traverse on the last pitch. However this can easily be remedied by the Crescent Crack Direct Variation plus or minus Final Link (although this increases the grade to 5.9). Overall I still give the climb three stars as the rock and moves are just so good for a relatively easy climb and it puts you in a great position to finish the climb in a much better style.
When you hit the buttress from the trail hike left until you come to a well worn dirt "platform" below an angling groove gully.
Pitch one:Climb left up the chimney in the gully through to some trees. There are some great easy crack moves here, very well protected. Probably 5.6 climbing. If you only have a 50 meter rope you may need to belay at the trees as I am not sure if it will reach the chain anchor above. (This would cause the climb to be three pitches.) A 60 meter rope will reach, so continue up past the trees to the belay anchor. There is a move of 5.7 perhaps as you pull a bulge reaching the anchor.
Pitch two:Climb the crux offwidth above the chains (5.7), kind of hard to protect. I don't want to give the answer away, but there is an easy way to climb this and a hard way. See what happens. This only lasts 10 feet or so and then you are on an angling crack moving up and right. You will come to a point where you will have the opportunity to traverse down a sloping slab to the right. BE SURE to protect the second here as you traverse down. Belay at the big ledge.
Descent:Scramble up right and then down the gully. It is a walk off.
FYI: To put this climb in perspective, the first time my partner and I roped up to climb this classic we were joined by a guy who was soloing the route at the same time. I think he lapped me about 5 times while I methodically climbed the 2/3 pitches. It was impressive, and I am sure he was doing laps before we even got there.
When you hit the buttress from the trail hike left until you come to a well worn dirt "platform" below an angling groove gully.
Pitch one:Climb left up the chimney in the gully through to some trees. There are some great easy crack moves here, very well protected. Probably 5.6 climbing. If you only have a 50 meter rope you may need to belay at the trees as I am not sure if it will reach the chain anchor above. (This would cause the climb to be three pitches.) A 60 meter rope will reach, so continue up past the trees to the belay anchor. There is a move of 5.7 perhaps as you pull a bulge reaching the anchor.
Pitch two:Climb the crux offwidth above the chains (5.7), kind of hard to protect. I don't want to give the answer away, but there is an easy way to climb this and a hard way. See what happens. This only lasts 10 feet or so and then you are on an angling crack moving up and right. You will come to a point where you will have the opportunity to traverse down a sloping slab to the right. BE SURE to protect the second here as you traverse down. Belay at the big ledge.
Descent:Scramble up right and then down the gully. It is a walk off.
FYI: To put this climb in perspective, the first time my partner and I roped up to climb this classic we were joined by a guy who was soloing the route at the same time. I think he lapped me about 5 times while I methodically climbed the 2/3 pitches. It was impressive, and I am sure he was doing laps before we even got there.
History
Some ancient history from the walls of Little Cottonwood via Rick Reese and Ted Wilson:
While working on notes for the Marriott Library climbing archive, Rick and Ted discovered the notes Ted had made in the 60's—for what was then hoped to be a guide book to the LCC granite. The book never happened, but the notes document the first ascent of "The Bulge", the route that shortly came to be known as "Crescent Crack". The first ascent was done by Rick Reese, Ted Wilson, and Milt Hokanson in May, 1963. It was 5.6, A2 because they nailed the bulge.
When Rick returned a few weeks later with Jim Gaddis and Wilf Bruschke, they did the bulge free as Rick was able to place a bong-bong deep in the crack, affording the protection needed to step out and around the bulge to the right. Rick said that this probably sounds ridiculous by today's standards, but that was long before sticky rubber, and the old Vibram soles on mountaineering boots made some of those moves a bit more scary that they are today.
When Rick climbed the crack in more recent years, he noted how nice it would have been nice to have a big Camelot that could be slid into that huge crack to the left of the bulge itself. In the old days, one had to bury oneself up to the waist to place a bong in that crack.
—Allen Sanderson
While working on notes for the Marriott Library climbing archive, Rick and Ted discovered the notes Ted had made in the 60's—for what was then hoped to be a guide book to the LCC granite. The book never happened, but the notes document the first ascent of "The Bulge", the route that shortly came to be known as "Crescent Crack". The first ascent was done by Rick Reese, Ted Wilson, and Milt Hokanson in May, 1963. It was 5.6, A2 because they nailed the bulge.
When Rick returned a few weeks later with Jim Gaddis and Wilf Bruschke, they did the bulge free as Rick was able to place a bong-bong deep in the crack, affording the protection needed to step out and around the bulge to the right. Rick said that this probably sounds ridiculous by today's standards, but that was long before sticky rubber, and the old Vibram soles on mountaineering boots made some of those moves a bit more scary that they are today.
When Rick climbed the crack in more recent years, he noted how nice it would have been nice to have a big Camelot that could be slid into that huge crack to the left of the bulge itself. In the old days, one had to bury oneself up to the waist to place a bong in that crack.
—Allen Sanderson
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