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North Tower AKA Son of Putterman - Mexican Gravy Pants
Easy 5th YDS 1+ French 3 Ewbanks I UIAA 5 ZA M 1c British C1
Avg: 3 from 2
votes
Routes in Family Butte
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Fifth Tower from the South (Second from the North) T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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Fourth Tower from the South (Third from the North) T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Middle Tower – Daughter T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c |
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Middle Tower – Northwest Face T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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Mother Tower - Rising Sons T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a C2 |
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Mother Tower – Northwest Face T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b |
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North Tower AKA Son of Putterman - Mexican Gravy Pants T Easy 5th 1+ 3 I 5 M 1c C1 |
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South Tower – North Face T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b |
| Type: | Trad, Aid, 80 ft (24 m) |
| FA: | Cameron Burns, Benny Bach, 1993; re-equipped Jason and Noah Stevens April 2023 |
| Page Views: | 234 total · 12/month |
| Shared By: | Jason Stevens on Apr 1, 2023 |
| Admins: | Perin Blanchard, GRK, David Crane |
Description
'Mexican Gravy Pants' was first climbed as a C1 bolt ladder in 1993 by Cameron Burns and Benny Bach. Some of the anchors were removed by the FA team on their descent. In Camerons words, "When we did Son of Putterman we didn't have enough drilled angles for the bolt ladder. So I used some 3/8 inch wedge-it bolts that I slipped into drilled holes. They wouldn't catch upon tightening. They just pulled straight out. In use, they were like the dowells I've heard of some climbers using in Yosemite. So we took them with us. We left any drilled angles we had; we just didn't have enough to leave in every hole. We shoulda come back and replaced them, but I guess we just forgot about the thing and moved on".
A few subsequent ascents both added and removed bolts, and all of the drilled angles eventually pulled out. In the spring of 2021, with permission from Cameron, Jason and Noah Stevens started to re-equip the entire route with glue-in bolts. They were turned back by and emergency on their first attempt, then again a year later by frigid temperatures and high wind. They completed the project in April 2023. The total number of bolts was reduced by two and most of the drilled angle holes were patched. All fourteen bolts on the ladder were replaced. Removing the old bolts was alarmingly easy; four bolts required light prying with a hammer, five were removed with a pair of mini Channel-Locks. The rest were removed by hand with no tools.
The route and the descent are now bomber, and this should be an enjoyable outing for any budding aid climber or a team wanting to bag a desert tower.
Location
Location: Ascends the south face of the north tower. The route is easily visible with binoculars from the Red Canyon Road.
Approach: Park on the Red Canyon Road directly south of Family Butte. Look for an east-facing gully that breaks the escarpment between the road and the tower. There is only one break – this is your approach route. From the top of the break hike up and north across a few benches and gain the base of the butte. Circumnavigate the butte. Either side (east or west) will get you there, they are about equal in distance and difficulty. Make your way to the north side and scramble up to the north-west corner.
A low-angle fifth-class chimney/ramp marks the beginning of the route. Some may want to rope-up here. The rock is completely rotten and loose at the base of the chimney. A crumbling foothold could send you off the east face. The scrambling is really easy...it's just loose.
At the top of the approach chimney you can belay from a ledge on the right, or scramble up and left and belay from a two-bolt belay station directly under the bolt ladder.
Descent: Rappel the route from fresh and sexy 8" glue-in bolts. And I do mean sexy.
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