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The Steeple

5.12c, Trad, 600 ft (182 m), 5 pitches, Grade III,  Avg: 2.8 from 6 votes
FA: Chris Righter with help from RP, BG, and JP
Colorado > Grand Junction… > Unaweep Canyon > Main Canyon: Un… > Access Fund Tra… > Sunday Wall

Description

This is a 5 pitch route located to the left of Echoes. It is a combination of crack and face climbing protected by gear and bolts.

P1. 5.8. Start on Bantido or traverse in on easy 5th class ramp on left side of buttress to an obvious dihedral. Go up dihedral that finishes on a ledge. There is an anchor on the top left of the dihedral that is used for rappelling on the way down. From the top of the ledge, you will need to 2nd class past some bushes up and left to a dihedral with twin cracks. You will want to put your anchor here. Once you get through all this BS, everything else will be worth it. 200 feet.

P2. 5.12. Start up the twin crack dihedral into a right-arching crack. Clip one bolt, then traverse right a few more feet to a crack system that goes straight up with 5.11- climbing to a ledge. Clip a bolt and then bust the 5.12 crux to another bolt, then trend right to a 2 bolt anchor on the ledge. (At the first bolt down low on the route, if you keep going right on the arching crack, you are now on Smear Campaign 5.13+.  So be sure to go up after clipping the first bolt.) 150 feet.

P3. 5.12-. Face climb with bolts to steep twin cracks that has a 12- crux, then continue up the crack system to a ledge. 100 feet.

P4. 5.10. Go up the right-facing dihedral to the left onto a ledge that has a one bolt anchor that is supplemented by a finger-sized cam. A short pitch has to be done to aleviate rope drag. 50 feet.

P5. 5.11+. Go up the left-facing dihedral to the top of a pillar, then go up to a small ledge with a dihedral. From here, you want clip a bolt and step right into another crack system that will take you all the way to the top that finishes on a giant ledge. 120 feet.

Location

You can rap the route with a single 70m. If you have a 60m, you will need 2 ropes. The first rap is short, about 50 feet to a small ledge that is not on the route. After that, you are rappelling from the anchors on the route.

Protection

One green and red c3, singles #0.3-0.75 Camalots, doubles #1-3 Camalots, medium stoppers, 10 draws, and 5 runners.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

BG leading 2nd pitch.
[Hide Photo] BG leading 2nd pitch.
Skyeler exiting the traverse on P2.
[Hide Photo] Skyeler exiting the traverse on P2.
Sunday Wall.
[Hide Photo] Sunday Wall.
Blue line=Steeple 5.12, red line=Bandito 5.8, yellow line= Smear Campaign 5.13+, green = Echoes 5.12+.
[Hide Photo] Blue line=Steeple 5.12, red line=Bandito 5.8, yellow line= Smear Campaign 5.13+, green = Echoes 5.12+.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] This is a good route. I thought it was similar in difficulty to Echoes, perhaps just a touch easier. Doing Echoes and this route makes for a nice day of climbing. Who knew?...there is some good climbing in Unaweep after all! Mar 20, 2015
Lenore Sparks
Bishop, CA
  5.12c
[Hide Comment] Nice route! Hopefully it will see some traffic. I would put it around 12c (I fell a LOT), agreeing with Josh's evaluation. Small people: bring a very long, very stiff draw to clip! Both 5.12 pitches have a dangerous fall-to-ledge potential because the bolts are extremely difficult to reach and thus must be clipped mid-crux. The second 5.12 pitch (it is NOT 5.11+/5.12- if you are little) can take a very small wire to protect before the first bolt off the anchor. May 22, 2017