PRINT: Rock Climb Butterballs, Yosemite National Park

Butterballs

5.11c, Trad, 80 ft (24 m),

Avg: 3.9 from 194 votes
FA: Henry Barber, May 1973
California > Yosemite NP > Yosemite Valley > Lower Merced Ri… > Aj. Cookie Area > Cookie Cliff

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Description

Splitter fingers straight up the center of the Nabisco wall. Vertical on strenuous fingerlocks, with the occasional diorite bump barely protruding for feet. Sustained and classic. Think about Bachar or Croft soloing this thing when you're on it.

Location

On the Nabisco Wall, just left of Wheat Thin. Access it by Waverly Wafer or Beverly's Tower.

Protection

Both the bottom belay and the top belay are bolted, all thin to 1" gear in between. Remember this was originally led on all nuts!

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Security

Butterballs, one of the best finger cracks in the Valley

totally *****

Henry Barber on the FFA of Butterballs (5.11c), Yosemite Valley<br>
<br>
Photo by Jib Knight

Henry Barber on the FFA of Butterballs (5.11c), Yosemite Valley Photo by Jib Knight

Mark Wilford on Butterballs.

looking stylish on butterballs

Nearing the end of Butterballs

Butterballs is very sustained and splitter the whole way

Jake Ramsey on Butterballs

The classic finger crack: Butterballs

Me and Troy Corliss on Butterballs circa 1990

Dave Sessions on Butterballs. (May 1983)

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Michael Sokoloff
Spokane, WA

If this pitch is not 4-stars, then I don't know what is. May 17, 2007

Brad G

The upper half of this route will feel hard if you have thin fingers. This is defintally one of the best finger cracks in the Valley. Nov 5, 2008

chuck claude
Flagstaff, Az

just a great finger crack Jan 14, 2010

Aaron Livingston
Ouray, CO

^ last I checked i can't tape for size when my fingers barely fit in a .3 c4 crack up to my cuticles, .5's are pretty perfect and you don't see most people with big fingers like me taping up to make .75's locker. Don't get fixated on making the crack fit the grade, if the size is hard then it is hard and you should just practice it. Chances are the hardest it becomes is 2 MAYBE 3 letter grades harder if your fingers are small for the crack. Remember, tape is aid ;D Jul 11, 2015

Adam Stackhouse

In 1979 John Bachar climbed this ropeless Jul 16, 2015

Michael Dom

The .75 is very fiddly at the top, if you have 4 .5 bd I would bring that instead. Oct 6, 2017

Adal Bermann
San Diego, CA

EDIT: thank you to MtnProj moderators for removing the comments that were pushing ego a little too far.

PS: Aaron, if "tape is aid", so are shoes. Just cut the fore-play and go naked-solo I guess :-D Oct 23, 2017

FrankPS
Atascadero, CA

^^^
Apparently, the comments you're referencing have been removed? Oct 24, 2017

Sirius
Oakland, CA

Has a clear crux, but holding down the pump to the top also a rp crux.

Brief story for anyone hunting the onsight: Once while belaying a friend up Wheat Thin next door a couple of climbers came up from Bev's to share the belay. They were from Squamish, first time to the Valley. They'd just driven into the Valley 30 min before, and had come directly to the Cookie for the storied Butterballs.

About 12 ft off the belay, the leader called down their disappointment: "This is one of Yosemite's best finger cracks? Not pure, overhyped, so many locker bottlenecks for the fingers, so many footholds outside of the crack. Maybe Squamish .10+..." Etc etc etc. But! then they moved up past that stance, and it got quieter, the breathing got heavier and the knees shakier, and the rest of the lead was dogged into oblivion (similar to what my onsight attempt looked like a few seasons before). I learned that day never to say out loud the stupid thoughts I'm thinking until I've finished a pitch and had a chance to reassess those thoughts. Jul 10, 2019

Crack Climber

I love how many of these fantastic pictures *almost* make Butterballs look easy. It is SO not! What a fantastic, butt-kicking pitch. May 30, 2021

Tom L

I found what Brad G says to be true - if you have thin fingers, the bottom has solid jams, but they become progressively less secure on the upper section. A little like Red Zinger - there's a thin-finger crux and a thick-finger crux, and if you have thin fingers, the crux comes later after you've gotten a good pump going. May 23, 2023