Mountain Project: Climbing Mt Elden

Submitted By: Will Cobb on Apr 21, 2006
Administrators: Greg Opland, James DeRoussel
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Description

The West Elden climbing area is made up of a 80' tall Dacite cliff which hosts a large number of traditional routes. This climbing expanse houses excellent crack, slab and face climbs of all grades. West Elden has morning shade and afternoon sun. The crag also sits at about 8000' making it a great summertime get away. It is climbable in the fall and spring, but don't' count on it as weather in Flagstaff is difficult to predict.

In his excellent and comprehensive book, A Cheap Way to Fly, Tim Toula breaks West Elden into Uptown, which is north of the fence, and Downtown, which is south of the fence. To aid in the use of his guide I have kept the same labels here.

Getting There

Drive north out of Flagstaff on Highway 180 for about three miles. After passing the Museum of Northern Arizona (which is on the left) look for a right hand turn on to Shultz Pass Road. Take this turn and drive about 1/4 mile to a fork in the road. The left fork continues on Shultz Pass Road while the right is Mount Elden Lookout Road. Take the right fork and drive about three and a half miles to the parking area. Approximately two miles of this drive is on pavement and one and a half miles on a well maintained dirt road. The parking for West Elden is in two pullouts on the right hand side of the road. There is a small kiosk at the first pullout.

The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for West Elden:

Five Easy Pieces 5.5 Trad, 1 pitch, 80 feet Uptown

Baxter Crack 5.6 Trad, 60 feet Uptown

Right Deception Crack 5.7 Trad, 1 pitch, 70 feet Uptown

Zit Slab 5.7 Trad, 1 pitch, 70 feet Uptown

Left Deception 5.8 Trad, 1 pitch, 70 feet Uptown

La Diosa (AKA Hacksaw Granny Gaper) 5.10 Trad, 1 pitch, 80 feet Downtown

Bold is Love 5.10d Trad, Sport, 1 pitch, 95 feet Uptown

Twilight Zone 5.11- PG13 Trad, 1 pitch, 70 feet Downtown

John's Jugs 5.12 Trad, 65 feet Uptown

Featured Route For West Elden

Twilight Zone 5.11- PG13 AZ : Mt Elden : ... : Downtown

The Twilight Zone crack sits in a small alcove about 100 yards south of the barb wire fence. Climb a moderate slab with small gear to the back of the alcove. From here powerful face climbing leads to nice hand and fist jams up the steep crack. The moves out of the alcove are difficult to protect.This route stays dry in a light rain.Rappel from a tree or take the walk down 100' to the climber's right....[more] Browse More Classics in AZ

Photos of West Elden

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Hepcat cruises Bold is Love, a new route at West E...

The Doctor gets the second ascent of a new age cla...

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