PRINT: Rock Climb Sky Top Buttress, El Potrero Chico

Sky Top Buttress

5.9+, Sport, 260 ft (79 m), 3 pitches,

Avg: 2.5 from 34 votes
FA: Magic Ed & Ismael Garza
International > N America > Mexico > Nuevo Leon > El Potrero Chico > El Mirador

Description

3 pitches, they go 5.7, 5.8, 5.9. The second pitch is more sustained tho than the third. Head up and to the right from the belay on the third pitch for a harder variation.

This route gives you access to the Smurf Bowl

Lots of loose rock on the 3rd pitch.

Location

Go up the stairs at the pools to the scree slope, then up the slope to the base of the cliff and to the right.

This climb is located on the north side of the 3rd plancha.

Protection

Bolts. There are also some fixed draws that you'll want to use for directionals on the rappel, and also for pulling your rope to keep it out of the dirt.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Pitches 1 & 2 can be combined with a 70 and a lot of draws

Start of p3 after passing the crux.

Base of Sky Top Buttress, you'll know you've arrived by the handy nameplate

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Dan Africk
Brooklyn, New York

5.10a

Fun route, all pitches seemed stiff for the grade, and there were some exposed, committing moves on P2 and P3! The approach is tedious, and probably more dangerous than the climb, but you'll probably have the route to yourself.

The bolts for the P2 belay anchor are spread pretty far apart, so bring a cordelette or extra slings and lockers, unless you want to do a hanging belay. Mar 20, 2017

Idaho Bob
McCall, ID

5.10b

Four in our group climbed Sky Top over the last two days. Since we all thought the pitches were stiff for the grade, we did a blind poll of our grade evaluation. The four "votes" were quite close. We called P1 5.8-, P2 5.9+ and P3 5.10b. Our evaluation was in comparison to other EPC route, of which we have climbed more than 100. We did note that a the start of P3 there was a 30x15 fresh rock scar, so on that pitch perhaps a key hold has broken off. P1 and P2 were quite dirty and that may have been reflected in our P2 rating when steming in the dihedral was interesting. We found no loose rock on P2 or P3. Don't need to use the directional pulling rope on P3 if you pull from the left of the belay. Feb 7, 2018

Johnathan C
Missouri

5.9+

p1: 5.7
p2: 5.9
p3: 5.9+ - Definitely the hardest of the three, but only because of some committing moves off of the belay. It eases up quite a bit after clipping the first bolt. Feb 16, 2018

Chris Wright
Bend, OR

Nice route. I would argue that the grades are fair at 7/8/9, but the approach is indeed heinous, if somewhat short lived. Jan 15, 2022

Kevin Patterson
Lower Hutt, NZ

A superb multipitch climb, went at 5.8, 5.9, 5.10a I felt. It looks like someone has added extra bolts to the start of p3 which were really appreciated thanks. It's a further 10-15mins scrabbling from the Wonder Wall skating rink which I think puts off most people so that the climb is still in superb condition. Apr 7, 2022

Greg Hughes

5.9

The approach trail has been drastically improved as of December, 2023. It is still quite steep and coming down will require a slow pace but it is now totally free of cacti and other vegetation. Dec 29, 2023

George Humbert
New Lion

3 largos divertidos!! El segundo largo es muy bueno, es el mejor. la vista desde la base es genial!! Dec 2, 2024

Trey Morgan

Deserving of three stars. The second pitch climbs harder than the third IMO. Third pitch is really just the movement off the belay station and some nice exposure for the route. 1st belay station is fine, 2nd is kind of tight, and 3rd is fine. Approach is a short dose of scree and uphill trudging. 3 days ago