Northwest Face 

Did this pitch today, and although I wasn't expecting much, it turned out to be one of the best pitches I've done in Boulder Canyon. Steep, continuous, interesting moves, a good mixture of crack and face, and occasionally thought-provoking pro and route-finding.

This is a fun and challenging route. We TR'd it and had a great time with the various route variations. The TR setup is very straightforward with many blocks on top to set up your anchor system. You will need a 60 meter rope to reach the pipe. The tunnel is dry and provides great access to the east side of the buttresses.

Steep, continuously interesting, varied climbing; one of the best 5.8s in Boulder Canyon. Three stars. Make sure you have Aliens or TCUs to protect the initial vertical section; offset Aliens would work really well here. Watch out for poison ivy on the descent; the worst of it can be avoided by angling left onto rock instead of going straight down toward the tunnel. The tunnel was dry, with one small wet spot, on 8/10/02. A good summer climb since it's in the shade until mid-afternoon.

A quality, good length pitch that offers positive holds, good stemming and placements.As mentioned above, a few slightly flared cracks down low can be protected with small aliens if you don't own offset cams. Most of the climb is 6 or 7 until above half way where the angle of the route increases. Here a section of hand and foot jams takes you thru what I felt was the 8 crux not too far from the top. Many different variations are possible on this face as cracks are galore. This climb is fun and well worth your time.

Set a good anchor behind the belayer so that a leader fall on the first traverse move won't pull them off the pipe and over the ledge. A small nut high in the crack after the first traverse move will protect the second from a ground fall. A tri-cam works for the start of pitch two. Very satisfying climb!

Climb this last night after work... AWESOME climb. Started off to just do a quick climb, and think I ended up on the 9 portion..Nice. Definite must do climb! Like others said TCUs and or Aliens are good down low. WATCH your rope drag if you protect the starting traverse and head straight up.. cheers

Awesome climb. Red tricam is best for protecting your ass after the traverse which is best left unprotected. Three stars

Did his today. Great climb on a mild January day. Mental crux (especially for shorter folks) might be the step across from the pipe to get onto the rock. The holds are there but it takes committment. After that enjoy the sustained nature of the climb. Lots of variety with some thought provoking areas. The tunnel was dry as of today and made for an easy return.

A must do in the area for the grade. We started from the ground below the pipe. It's a touch chossy, but it adds a few fun moves that are consistent with the difficulty of the climb.

Great route. It doesn't look like much from a distance, but it's really quite interesting, with some excellent jamming near the top.

Really fun climb. A couple of notes: pro up to the detached block in the middle of the climb is a little sparse. This could be very scary if you're just breaking into leading 5.7/5.8 trad. Be prepared (guidebooks never seem to prepare you for this stuff). Also, the traverse into the climb (starting at the pipe) is a little sketchy. Do your best to protect the second, as a fall here could result in quite a ride.

It's also fun to start this route up the left-leaning splitter of Zolar Czakl (also a great climb) just above & right of the step off the pipe. Climb to the overlap/roof of ZC and traverse right across nice flakes, with occasional good gear. Then link into the 5.9 variation of NW face. Cool wall! Don't forget to boulder the tasty 30' 5.7 splitter in the short wall above the 4th Elephant.

I think if you're breaking into 5.8, this one will be scary. Gear is sparse and tricky in spots.

The 5.9 variation of this route is sweet! This is definitely one of the best 5.8/5.9 trad routes in Boulder Canyon.

I disagree with previous comments. This route protects very, very well, particularly once the traverse is completed. The difficult sections can all be sewn up appropriately. I would strongly recommend this route to those breaking into 5.8. The climbing is straightforward, the gear is great, and the rock is pretty steep! Furthermore, the climb is varied and sustained; what else could one ask for?