Rewritten 

Great route, but quite a bit of loose rock on it.

Nolteboy - p.4 is one of the best 5.7s in Eldo.

Warren Teissier - I found the first pitch to be rated correctly but tough to protect (marginal placements and sparse). The closer you get to the traverse into the crack the sparser the pro.

Did this again on 5-9-01 and guess who was climbing one pitch ahead of us? The one and only George Hurley himself! What an honor to climb with the FA on a classic route.

I also forgot how much I love the 4th pitch. It doesn't get much better than that.

At the top of p4, if you don't like the looks of the loose block, you can continue 20 ft up and belay on a nice ledge to the right of the arete. There is a good horn above the ledge to sling, and a nice crack at your feet. Fun route!

In addition to the better belay spot, George's suggestion also has the added benefit of allowing you to combine the next two pitches as one with a 60m rope. Rope drag is not an issue as long as you either stay on Rebuffat's Arete (recommended anyway), or don't place any gear in the V-slot and pass the tree on the right.

This is a great route. The hand traverse on the 4th pitch looks harder than it really is. I agree that the first pitch isn't one you can really sew up. I'll have to try out that alternate belay after the 4th pitch. I've always stopped at the large ledge about 10 feet up and left from the loose block. From there, continuing up the Arete, you can run the last two pitches together without too much rope drag.

Be careful at the top of Pitch Two. The large eyebolt has some play in it in May 2001 and might not hold a significant load on the anchor unless it has been replaced.

The eyebolt is fine (9/01). A little rattle gives it character.

This route has amazing exposure and steepness for the grade. On the upper Rebuffat's Arete (pitch 5), one should really stay on the arete to the pinnacle summit (the ten feet of 5.8 off the belay is easily avoided to the right if wanted); regaining the arete for the final 10-15 meters gives some fine exposure not unlike the top of the Yellow Spur or the Tiger Balm, steeper but it's only about 5.4. Avoid any temptation to go into the gully to the left - this detracts from the route, and the arete is all there, right to its bullet summit. Slinging (or rope-lassoing) the top of the spire provides a memorable and safe belay.

Does anybody know the origin of the "Rebuffat's Arete" moniker? I don't believe Gaston ever came to Eldo.

Did this route on 10/21/01. Lots of loose rock on p1. It freakin' sucked. Led 3/4 of the pitch and then let my partner do the rest. There's a runout section with crap pro beneath it (nasty fall) for about 15-20 ft. I would classify it as 2-3 moves of 5.9-5.10 "Dream Canyon sport climbing without a bolt". He climbed up it and the rock basically moved and a couple of pieces fell out. "shudder"

P2 was much easier but still had loose rock. P3 was easy. P4 (crux pitch) was a super super nice lead. Hard, but the rock was solid and there was great pro up the hand crack. the traverse over to the crack was nice too. Only downside is your partner can't really see you when you're climbing the crack / at the belay station. Radios might be in order? You can hear him though.

bring lots of smaller cams (#0.5 Camalots). I wish I had like 3 yellow Aliens on this climb. I also wish my partner didn't keep using the yellow Alien for his anchors. Use a freakin' nut on the anchor! :) There's a fixed friend in the middle of the crack. My partner spent about 10 minutes messing with it until he discovered it was in fact fixed. :) Serves ya right for using my yellow Alien on the anchor!

P5 had super nice exposure on the arete. Totally sweet. P6 was a one move wonder followed by stitching up the rest of the crack. Extend the last #2 Camalot to lessen the rope drag.

Eric,...seriously, you must have been off route. The pro isn't too good, but the first pitch is fairly graded at no harder than 5.7, but anyone who likes good gear and better climbing should start with Great Zot.

Or, if you don't like the first pitch of either Rewritten or the Great Zot (neither of which even approaches 5.10), an even better start is to climb the Green Spur. The Green Spur/Rewritten/Rebuffat's Arete linkup is a fantastic outing.

At least 1 person has died leading pitch 1. I led it once, I lead a bit harder than 5.7. I don't think I'll lead the first pitch again. A bit harder to the right but Great Zot is a much better choice unless you don't mind Red Rocks.

The first pitch is tricky to protect, but it does protect well if you are reasonably experienced at hunting out and making solid placements. People who are inexperienced with placing gear can get in trouble on this pitch, because the placements are tricky and can pull out if not done with care (i.e. using quick draws on wired stoppers). I do not know the details behind the fatal accident on this pitch, but I do not think that alone is a good reason for avoiding it (there has been an accident on nearly every popular climb at Eldo, I would think).

It's also possible to traverse in the wrong place and make this pitch harder than 5.7. But the "5.7 start" is definitely quite a bit easier than the Great Zot start.

Agreed this is a *** route. Doing the Great Zot start and keeping gear to a minimum it was possible to link P1 and P2 to the eye bolt. Even with that there was a lot of drag. Did P3 and P4 in the traditional manner to the base of Rebuffet's and again linked the last 2 pitches climbing the Arete, stepping across to the crack and to the summit. Using a supple 9.7 rope and a lot of slings it was very doable in 4 pitches and leaves you more time to play in the park.

Small nuts are the key to making the first pitch work out...save two to place right before the traverse

Started the route on the Great Zot and met up with Rewritten after P1. The entire climb was excellent. The holds clear to the top were very consistent. It was interesting to see the second on the party before mine on P4 traverse with his feet as opposed to his hands. The exposure up there rocked. Wish I would have remembered to bring my camera!

My buddy and I climbed it over Memorial Day weekend. Its a very cool route. The bolt at the end of pitch 2 is fine. You can back it up if you are worried. I think we got a little lost after the 4th pitch, we went up a gully with a couple of big trees but then found the 6th pitch to the summit. Amazing views and exposure.

Climbed this yesterday, what a phenominal route! Couple of things: we did the route in four pitches pretty easily and safely--had double 60M ropes, so it helped a lot--esp. on the first pitch.

You can protect the first pitch just fine as George says. For the traverse, theres a good small nut at eye level, and I found a good #4 BD micro placement right at my feet (I traversed pretty low).

The end of pitch two now has a double bolt anchor equipped with chains and a rap ring--looked very new as there was still rock dust all over. They're set about a foot above the eyebolt--I was pretty surprised to see this as the eyebolt is bomb-proof already!

Also, I had to leave two nuts at the belay at the end of P3 (L facing corner and chimney pitch). My partner couldn't get them out. If anyone gets them and feels the need to have some good karma and return them, email me--#3 DMM and #4 BD, with yellow tape.

Hey Scott - was your partner the one who knocked down the rocks sometime around the 4th pitch? I was one on Yellow Spur and heard a female quietly shout 'rock!' and I watched nerviously as two football-sized rocks were headed toward someone on the first pitch. He (on the first pitch) didn't hear her but heard me shouting like crazy and ducked just as they flew by about 10-15 feet away from him. Everyone should be EXTREMELY CAREFUL OF LOOSE ROCKS because they are abundant on this route and all the rocks will be funneled down to the base. If you do knock a rock down SCREAM LOUDLY AND REPEATEDLY so if someone is below you are not responsible for their death. The large eyebolt is not bomber because if you check it it is loose and many people do not know to back it up. The cemented eyebolts should never wiggle in their holes because it is a sign of a) the cement is failing or b) the rock is failing. I am glad to see that they but some good bolts in.

Casey: yup, that was us. yeah, my partner's voice doesnt carry far at all. she was trying to extricate my nuts (and must have put her whole body into it) and knocked off a couple of blocks at that loose belay niche (end of P3). i heard you yelling, and i thought they came from folks rapping the dirty deed. i gave a good "ROCK" once i heard you (i didnt hear my partner yell anything) and then heard the crash. im glad you heard her; i was pretty scared because they sounded rather large, and i knew there was people racking up below. the loose stuff at eldo can be very scary and dangerous, and care is required nearly everywhere--i believe my friend was rather frustrated with the stuck pro, and let her guard down a little.

Funny how Eldo is probably the one place where a helmet should be a complete necessity with chossy ledges traversing above almost every route (and people walking those ledges constantly). Funny how almost nobody wears one (myself included).

Climbed the route today and don't recall seeing anyone without a helmet on anywhere in the park. Of course if you don't like helmets, health insurance and a good term life policy are recommended for Redgarden wall climbing. As for the route, for me the crux on P4 is above the vertical hand crack. The first move off that high corner in that last 15' to the ledge was a high stretch with a few thin crimpers but not much else. As for the start of P4, the feet on the horizontal hand crack are there. Two of them, which I stemmed from one to the other without any problem. The vertical crack that follows, is a beauty, but not that difficult. Its all right there, and placements are solid. Amazed at the number of poorly placed pieces left behind on this classic.

On P5 climb the arete all the way to where you'll find a beautiful flake 4-5 feet below the point of the pinnacle on the west side of the very top section of rebuffet's. The exposure here is spectacular. Traverse to the flake, and use it (5) to get onto the north side and do a short, easy 10' down climb on this knife edge to a small alcove. Ben describes the final belay from a tree in the large V on the left, which I recall is a little farther down in the gully. I recommend avoiding that L bailout off the arete, continuing as described (only another 12' on the arete), and belaying from this upper alcove.

The first pitch of this route is difficult to find and those who are using the first pitch to get to Swanson's should be careful in route finding. In my climbing of the 1st pitch, I have ended up on Grandmother's Challenge 2nd pitch crux and the Great Zot crux (5.8+ move above the piton). The latter is a common mistake; however, the Grandmother's roof is quite a serious move and is probably considerably less uncommon. Just make sure after you start you look for the features mentioned in the books, website, etc. This is a great climb and well worth pursuing.

Happy climbing :)

Climbed this route on Saturday in 4 pitches by combining 2, 3 and 5 ,6 without much rope drag at all.

Did this climb this weekend, and last weekend. Haven't done much climbing in Eldo yet, but this climb is by far my favorite. The first time I climbed it we did the Great Zot start, and the second time we did the Rewritten start. I would have to agree with the other comments saying that the Great Zot is a much better start. It's harder but better protected. [The protection on the rewritten start ISN'T awful but] it's no way near as good as the Great Zot start.

Also, on pitch 4 after doing the 5.8 variation we went up and left of the normal belay and headed up to a better ledge with a dead tree. From here we combined the next two pitches. Rope drag wouldn't be too bad if you didn't sling the horn at the top of the arete (like I did).

Again this is a great climb with amazing exposure. While climbing the arete we saw Denver, it was pretty cool.

Found gear on Rewritten 10-5-022 small Aliens, a sling, and a locking carabiner were hung from a dead tree at the top of the 4th pitch. It bothered me to remove them as they were obviously placed, but it was getting dark and I could detect no one behind us on the route. If they were meant to stay I am sorry, but I could not think of a reason why they would have been, and I intended to try to find the owner. The Aliens each have an inscription, if they are yours, or you know whose they are, let me know the inscription and we can make arrangements for their return. Carson

Browsing for some good, easy climbing I notice that many people are 'scared' of the traditional Rewritten start. I've climbed this start probably a dozen times and would definitely agree that the protection is sparse. However, I found the climbing [immensely]enjoyable as one never knows what is to come, and also easy routefinding. That said, I also agree that the start to The Great Zot is a better start. Many people, though, are scared away from this start because it goes at a 'hefty' .8+ (I think). I find this to be sort of an unfair grade, which is the reason I am posting this here. For those who would rather lead .6 than .8+ but find the Rewritten 1st pitch a tad spicy there is another option. The reason the crack up the middle of the wall classically known as the 1st pitch to The Great Zot goes at such a grade is because of the crux-one or two moves jamming the crack out of the nifty cave in the middle of the pitch. This crux is easily avoided by placing a red or orange alien slung long in the crux crack above the cave, and then by climbing left around the cave on remarkably gigantic jugs, running into the end of the traverse from the Rewritten start and joining up again with the easily protected Great Zot crack where a purple or orange alien safely guard one from an injurious or perilous fall. Quite simply put, it's too easy to even worry about, and so straightforward it would scare your mother into thinking she had done everything right in raising you. Of course, you and I know far better ;)

happy climbing

This route can easily be led in 3 pitches with a 60m rope by combining pitches 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 *if* you are very careful of ropedrag with runners and location of gear placements. For linking, it would be better to take the origional gully pitch on pitch 5. You might want doubles of gear if you are linking pitches.

gear: nuts (.4 stopper-med. hexes) cams (green Alien-3 Camalot).

Climbed rewritten for the first time in years and was a bit surprised at the number of stuck pieces up there. Be careful on the last pitch there is a number three trango flex cam jammed. This looks bomber but it's broken, one of the wires is ripped off the cam. Anyway, great climb...

Oh my! I have done this route five times and yesterday was the first time I had done the Rebuffet's Arete. Previously I had climbed just to the left in the rotten band of trees - like an idiot! Don't miss this exciting section as it has some of the best views. I must say, I had a bit of difficulty getting off the arete and back on the wall for the final pitch. Perhaps I made this harder than it is.

As for the first pitch, my partner Will led it and sewed it up. Like others have said, if you are good at placing gear, there are a lot of placements. It appeared there are two places to traverse right near the top of P1 to get the the Zot crack, both a high traverse and one about three feet lower. I am not sure which one is easiest.

I did this route last week. I didn't realize that the route went to the left of the shallow cave so I ended up jamming up the cave which was fun. The belay station at the end of P3 is dangerous. I got hit in the head by a loose rock that fell about 50ft. straight into my helmet and then punched a hole though it. Just a minor injury but the moral of the story is to hide in the shallow cave as much as possible while belaying for P4.

Hey, AC! Bummer, man! 'Way to wear your helmet, though! This concludes our lesson on "What to Expect On Your Climbing Day in Eldorado".

The Zot start, together with the 4th pitch traverse and the airy last pitch make this climb one of my all-time favorites!!

BTW-If you choose the Great Zot's P1 to start your Rewritten adventure, I wanna mention that the huge block you'd REALLY want to use below the roof is gonna pull right out soon. 'Careful. (AC, a helmet wouldn't help much if THAT thing came whizzin' down on ya!)

Also, can anyone confirm that the eye bolt at the top of Pitch 2 has been replaced/added to? I heard a rumor...

Finally-Tonya, Good to see your posting! I'm glad you've seen the light! The arete, as opposed to the bushwhack gully, is the way to go!!

Comments on Rewritten's first pitch: Just do Great Zot start. Somewhat harder climbing, but good gear. As one commenter pointed out above, you can place gear in the crux offwidth section of Great Zot and then move out left and up, then back right to the crack above the offwidth on good holds if you need to. Yes, you can find quite a lot of pro on Rewritten's start, but in my opinon the rock quality was not adequate to trust that gear in a fall. Many of those flakes and blocks you are putting gear behind flex when you pull on them. I would not recommend the Rewritten start to any fledgling 5.7 leader. The upper pitches, however, protect well and offer beautiful and generally clean climbing.

I climbed this route about a month ago and did the standard 5.6 start. P1. I thought this was easy and did not understand the other complaints. It is standard eldo climbing nothing big if you climb in eldo frequently. I had two ropes and it portected fine. I ran this first pitch all the way up to the red ledge.P2. A nice pitch up to the start of the traverse. P4. I stayed in the flake system (I think the book gives this a 5.8 rating). Felt around that and ended this pitch on a niceledge with a tree.P4 CLimbed the arete and stepped over to the face and finished. Great climb.

I led pitch 1 again recently, and I can see why it might be considered dangerous.First, the rock is not that solid. Worse, it is to some extent "booby trapped". There are a couple of really good stopper placements that upon close inspection are actually wedging against loose blocks on one side - hence completely worthless. You can get decent pro but not really every 6' (more like every 15'). Also, the best handholds appear fragile and about to snap off. More savvy climbers will use smaller but more solid appearing handholds. Also, if you go too high before doing the traverse it is harder than 5.7; if you do the traverse low it is probably not even 5.7, and you can sink multiple bomber cams once you get to the crack.

Anyway, for Eldo veterans this pitch is nothing to worry about. However, I would not recommend this pitch to someone leading at their limit, and certainly not to someone learning trad leading. For such climbers it is actually much better to do the Great Zot start. Although harder, this has the advantage of better and more straightforward protection. Also I believe below the crux one can move left and then back right to bypass it.

...With my 70m cord we had about 20' of rope left after combining the first two pitches; it is longer than 50m. The route can be done easily in 3 pitches with a 60m, but it might require a short simulclimb at the start.

Rack: small and narrow cams (possibly doubles in green to orange Alien), singles in hand-sized cams up to #3 Friend, nuts from micro to 2.5".

casey

I loved climbing this route. Nice views, great exposure. The 4th pitch was the best part of the overall climb. (Climbed it on 9/16/03).

I've heard attempts to clean the huge detatched refrigerator block above the 5.7 traverse pitch were made but failed. Any info about that available?

I am responding to Matt Robertson's querry regarding the moniker, REBUFFAT'S ARETE. In 1968 Joe O'Laughlin and Steve Turner traversed left from the fifth pitch of the Great Zot and climbed the upper part of the arete. They belayed at the top of the pinnacle and called it a "Rebuffat summit." This was published as the TOWER VARIATION in Pat Ament's original High Over Boulder (1976) and included the conceptual term, a "Rebuffat summit."

As it turns out, the real Gaston Rebuffat had been photographed straddled between some buttress and a narrow pinnacle in the Alps of Chamonix. I don't think he ever visited Eldorado Canyon.

In 1978 I climbed the whole arete from the fourth pitch of Rewritten to its tiny summit with Tim Hogan and Linda Willing. When I published this outstanding variation in Boulder Climbs (1981) I called the pinnacle REBUFFAT'S ARETE.

Well there you have it Matt: the history of REBUFFAT'S ARETE as best I know it.

Have fun and be safe. Richard Rossiter

Just did this route for a second time yesterday. Even though pitch 4 is great, I have to say that Rebuffat's Arete is my favorite part. Looking over to the right all the way down that face is just spectacular. So if you were thinking of staying in the gully to the left because it was easy, move your butt right onto the arete. Mucho gusto.

So, can anyone offer up an account of taking a lead whipper in the first 40 ft of P1 and not getting hurt?

Wow, 5.7 doesn't get much better than this - everything above p3 is solid gold. My buddy lead Green Spur as an alternate start, also an incredible route.

I'm glad to see people mention the loose rock of Eldo. I've heard many people over the years say they came from out of state with the impression was Eldo was going to be all solid and the led them to occasional carelessness. We should all be adding helmets to our routines and be mindful of rock vigilance. As this is an ultra-intensive climbing-use area i am not opposed to a 'ledge chossing' day in this area. (here come the comments). I agree the ratings are correct but no one has mentiones the tricky (for this rating) little hand traverse on P1 not apparent in the photo. Also, this and Great Zot are the SAME crack for the top half of P1 though Boulder area climbers are very share-oriented. Thanx people - YOU are what brings me back to Eldo!

I've led this line a couple of times and found that if you have a 60m rope, you can almost reach the Red Ledge and get a somewhat decent belay in some blocky munge. From here a short simul, or easy 3-4th class stretch brings you to the eye bolts. Take the third pitch as described. With long slings(really long) and thoughtful gear, and a 60m rope, you can link pitch 4 and 5 and just barely get to the top of the pillar (Rebuffat's Arete). From here a very short pitch with good pro goes to the summit. This seems pretty quick as it eliminates two belays (kind of) it ends up being 3 really long pitches, 1 short, and about 50 feet of ledge traversing on easy ground(my partner doesn't lead, and he was comfortable bringing us to the eye bolts, technically his first trad "lead").

We tried the raps once, a bit to the north, got our ropes stuck because the slings/knot were above an edge. I had to climb back up the ropes, and then pull them, drop them to my partner below. Even after the knot was past the lip he still couldn't pull them. I then had to walk off while he rapped the rest. Lots of loose rock in the rap gully, which also pulled loose. We opted to walk off on a subsequent ascent (further north, look for slings for a shorter rap, or the downclimb is easy) This saves you from carrying two ropes and the walk off seemed faster than the raps.

I guess we've always done the start from Great Zot instead of the real start. pretty cool jamcrack , just a few feet away to the right through a bulge.

On 9/23, Thursday, a biner with a few nuts fell well over 100' between Green Spur and Rewritten from the finger crack above the left angling traverse on the "4th" pitch(above Red Ledge). They didn't make it to the ground. I'm not looking to get them back but want to warn whomever finds them to use at your own risk. I'm not totally versed on the policy for using dropped nuts so am playing it safe. They took quite a fall.

Does the 4th pitch normally end at the detached block? If it does end there could someone give me some gear beta for the anchor? I didn't find a whole lot there.

The next ledge up (dead tree) seemed like a more appropriate ending for the pitch but I honestly didn't know where the route went upon reaching the block so I stopped there.

It was dark fast and nothing looked easier than 5.8 so we bailed to the right along a very rotten band and quickly scooted up a right angling gully/ledge sytem (original Great Zot finish?). Needless to say it was a crappy way to finish 4 awesome Eldo pitches.

Helmets are sooooo recommended on this popular climb. Beware the loose stuff.

I've always connected pitch 4 and 5, if you use long runners, a 60m rope will get you from the hand traverse, just barely to the notch after Rebuffat's Arete. Really airy and a cool 200 ft pitch. Make sure to save some finger sized stuff for the anchor if you go this way. (I think I used nuts where possible on the arete to save cams for the anchor) Nuts will probably work as well(or better). Also, if you connect the two, make sure you still have your rope ends, and that the rope is not involved in the anchor, it's a stretch. A cool short pitch puts you on the summit.

Few more comments to add to the high volume here. On the second pitch (from top of Great Zot) it is possible to climb a fairly direct line to the big bolt by heading left at a greenish area of rock. This avoid hitting Red Ledge below the bolt and having to traverse loose rock with great potential rope drag to knock down rock. This of course adds a couple of more 5.7ish moves to a 5.2 pitch but if you are leading a 5.7 route this should be doable? There is a big pile of loose rock up the gully to the right of belay station and the end of pitch three. Advice belay as far into the little enclave as possible. The traverse on pitch four is actually quite straightforward. There are a couple of fixed pieces on the vertical hand crack above that if you clip with long slings and only used one piece half way across the traverse your rope will run in a pretty nice line! As mentioned several times, the arete on pitch five is fantastic and imho the funnest part of the climb. I found it to protect quite adequately with a few mediums cams a couple of nuts. Of course slinging the pointed summit is also too hard to resist. Then downclimb into the safe enclove to belay. The walk off is not straightforward - it is a long ways north (farther than you would think) to find the well worn steep descent trail (if its not 100 obvious you are not at descent yet). (There are some cairns along the way to help.) If weather is encroaching, remember that it is probably a good hour back to your car for descent. Finally, great great climb. Wear a helmet and enjoy!

Gary, I tried going from the top of P1 on the Great Zot to the bolt on Rewritten (top of second pitch), it sucks, just go to the ledge and traverse left. It's not all that protectable and is pretty broken. Plus on a busy day you'll most likely cross ropes with someone else coming up. FYI - took a look at Rebuffat's the other day and it looks pretty protectable (looking up from the "detached refrigerator"). I haven't lead it but can't wait to go back and do so.

Jason, hey good to see you're out on the rock. As to pitch 2 it is hard to say exactly where you were. Always i guess a bit hard to describe where I went, but I do remember heading right from the first belay for a bit then pretty much straight up. It was a little run out but solid and definitely not 5.2 (5.7 friction in spots?) there were some people on the Green Spur to the left of me at the same time and no problem with ropes crossing. However like I said, it's a big rock and maybe you're right, people should just stick to the standard way. If anyone else out there has any thoughts always glad to hear other peoples experiences. I am certainly not the expert on Rewritten.

Moral of the story: Faster is better, get up at noon, lounge poolside until it cools down, get out to crag once everyone is high on the wall, and then blast to top of whatever route you want to, catching up to the other parties as they start the downclimb...

I was at the base of [Rewritten] around 7:45 on a Saturday, and there were three parties of three ahead of us for the first pitch. Luckily, they were all headed off to do Swanson's or Icarus. Rather than scramble up the West Chimney and cross over all the ropes of these folks, my partner and I did the first pitch of Green Slab Direct (5.8). Then you can traverse over right in a pitch to the top of the second pitch of Rewritten (through a tunnel with loose rock galore).

Did [The Geat Zot] start. The first 2 pitches weren't that [memorable]. The third pitch was fun, the 4th was stellar steep climbing for the grade. Went straight up the arete for the fifth pitch with was as good as the 4th. Belayed from the pinacle and got some killer photos then cruised the last pitch. could have easily linked pitches but it was a casual day.

Did this 1st time last week, 4 pitches with alternate routes. The "crux" for me was a chimney on P3!For P1 did ZOT route. The traverse and crack are awesome! But I didn't think too difficult.The best part (fun, exposure, views) was the last pitch Rebuffat's Arete. Definitely a repeater!!!www.colorado-hiking.net/rewritten1.html

If you start with Green Spur, you can climb this route in 3 pitches.
With a 70m you can do the original start to the eybolt and still get it in 3 pitches.

Pitch 1 to the eybolt on the Red Ledge.
Pitch 2 to the belay at the top of the crux pitch.
Pitch 3 to the summit (via the exposed Rebuffat's Arete).

Followed Rob on all 4 pitches. Amazing climb!

PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL TO NOT DISLODGE ROCKS WHEN DOWNCLIMBING THROUGH THE NOTCH BETWEEN TOWERS. My stupid ass started a rockslide that swept down to South Boulder Creek. Fortunately no one was injured.

Very cool route. I was surprised at the amount of loose rock on it for such a popular climb. I'd be wary of climbing directly below anyone up here. I was even more surprised at the number of people I saw in the canyon NOT wearing helmets. The group next to us on the Great Zot had the leader drop a cam 75 feet onto the head of his belayer below. Better than a rock, I guess.

Casey,

How big was the cam. If it's under a size #2 Camalot, it isn't usually a problem, but anything bigger I'd hate it if I got hit by it the wrong way....or is that the right way?

Jack

That was me doing the dropping, Luke's head and helmet doing the blocking and Chuck's chest doing the stopping. .75 Camalot came off the biner as I was placing the other cam on the same biner.

QUESTION:
I've always been intrigued by the P5 alternate "5.8+ wide crack that makes up the right corner of the [Rebuffat's] arete". Anyone ever made the mistake of/had the pleasure of trying it?

Yeah Clint, it climbs pretty fair, has ok pro spacing, doesn't really offer a clean crack climb though but does have some fun moves, & can take a right variant to finish the top-out at about that same 5.6 level. Overall, not as difficult as P1 Great Zot, or P1 Werk Supp, but 5.8 & 2 stars was what I thought. I was glad we gave it a shot just to say we climbed it.

Another good thing, you get to use that BFT & shade for the start anchor.

By far one of the best 5.7s in Eldo. Way better than the polished Bastille Crack. With good rope management, you can certainly tie together 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, for a lusciously, classic, exposed, vertical experience. Watch the loose rock though in places, it can be scary for the folks below if the leader is careless.... Follow the cairns for an easy 4th class hike off to the north west.

Great route! The walkoff is way north. I initially tried walking along/near the ridge- bad idea. Stay on the east side of the ridge walking below some slabs (between 25 and 125 feet from the top). Just keep going and you will eventually see the cairns start up.

Zot 2 Rewritten 2 Rebuffat = 4 star moderate.

Took a nice 15 ft. fall from the Zot cave today when a fixed piece blew. BTW the fixed pin below the cave is bomber!! Rest of the climb is stellar.

One of the best routes in all of Eldo....yeah it has some junk on it, but what route doesn't. Can't count how many times I've climbed this gem.

Tied this baby together again 4/19...what a nice sunny climb. Use a 70 meter rope and lots of runners.... 1st pitch all the way to the eyebolt. 2nd pitch to the flat just below Swanson Arete, and a short 3rd up the arete and back onto the wall.... Remember, lots of runners!!! Don't forget to straddle the arete on top and just take time to reflect where you are in the world.... You just gotta love Boulder on days like this....

Great route. Here's another vote for the Great Zot start; also a vote for linking pitches 2 & 3 (bypassing the eyebolt belay) and 5 & 6 (putting a double runner on the arete horn and climbing a ways up the final headwall before placing pro.

Awesome route. I'll repeat others recommendations for doing Great Zot to Rewritten to Rebuffat... and for linking pitches 2 & 3, as well as 5 & 6. I'd also recommend setting a belay at the top of pitch 4 about 15 feet above the large detached block, there's a nice ledge for the belayer to stand/sit on. It's on the face of the arete, so you can watch your second for most of the pitch as well, which is nice. And bring lots of long runners.

Climbed in 3 pitches with a 60 meter rope. 1) Second with have to simulclimb for about 20 feet to reach the eye bolt at the red ledge. 2) Belay just below where the arete sharpens -- almost the full rope. 3) Just over half the rope will get you to the top of the wall.

I just tried this climb for the first time yesterday and it was great.

A few comments about the first pitch. There wasn't any "loose" rock in the sense of rocks just lying on edges ready to fall off, but most of the rock sounded very hollow. Many times I touched flakes that were fairly loose (large flakes the size of dinner plates). Someone could easily pull one of those off.
That being said, even avoiding the loose flakes there were plenty of big holds and the climbing stayed mostly in the 5.4 range. I would say the crux was making the hand traverse to the right to rejoin Great Zot (maybe a 5.6 move). Prior to that traverse I found a place to put one bomber small nut down and left as well as slinging a horn (I was at least 15 feet above the last piece before I placed those and a fall before placing gear would have been bad... fortunately there are gear placements prior to making the traverse. Because of that 15 foot run out section on hollow rock, I found this pitch to be the most intimidating section of the climb).

As soon as you make the traverse into the easier top part of the Great Zot crack, there is great pro to be had for the rest of the climb. The arete was an amazing pitch and definitely worth the climb.

Do the last two pitches in one and do the first two pitches in one. We easily did this climb in 4 pitches.

Topped out right at sunset after taking a variation due to congestion on the hand traverse pitch. Good even if a little loose. We'll have to come back for the money pitches.

Found one party at the top with only 1 headlamp and very little clue about the descent. Another party finished up after us, but asked us to stay because they had no headlamps or idea about the descent.

We ended up hiking in the dark and sharing headlamps with the other two parties. People need to come prepared because this is a longer route with much traffic and a convoluted descent. It's easy to get benighted.

Also, loose rock on the route and descent mean helmets are a good choice.

I have effectively made the 4th pitch as sport climb as I managed to fix a C3 #2 at the base of the splitter crack. Don't get too excited as this thing is very difficult to get out. I worked on it for 30 minutes and made absolutely no progress whatsoever. If you are feeling nice and are able to get it out and want to return it to its owner, my number is 916-601-0712. If you want to keep it feel free as it was my stupid ass that got it fixed in the first place and I deserve to lose it. Thanks.

Watch out for loose rock. Also, if you knock a rock loose, yell "rock", not "ahhhh". It is easier to get the hell out of the way when you know something is coming down. Pretty sure Joe will be ok, he got pretty bloodied up though. Maybe next time we can actually start climbing this one instead of getting grenaded on the trail.

Hi Scott,

I was the climber that knocked off the rock on you and your partner on May 9th. I was traversing the ledge from the top of the 2nd pitch of Rewritten towards the top of the 2nd pitch of Green Spur (since we had caught the party above us). I knew the ledge was dangerous and I was trying to be careful, but I screwed up. I stepped on a rock that was well embedded in the ledge (some dirt here) and it moved. When I stepped off it, it went. I screamed bloody murder. "ROCK! ROCK! ROCK!" I screamed immediately and as loud as I could possibly scream. I was terrified at the time, as I knew there many people below and I knew two large rocks were headed their way. I also knew that if these rocks hit someone, they were dead. After screaming until the rocks hit the ground, I waited and listened. I heard someone cuss up at me, as I would have done. I yelled down to my partner, asking if everyone was okay. He said they were, but he was at the top of the first pitch. We were climbing on a 30-meter rope and had no way to descend easily without climbing off the top, which is what we did. We hurried down and I admitted my mistake and apologized to everyone still there. I heard about Joe and we hustled down the trail to try and catch you guys, but you were long gone. So I say to you now, "I'm extremely sorry for my mistake and I am very glad you two weren't injured worse." I take it very seriously and I can assure that I was screaming, literally screaming not just yelling, down a warning. I am deeply sorry that this wasn't loud enough down below, but I was doing all I could up there.

I'd love to meet you two in person, buy you beer and apologize to your face. I've since climbed the route twice more and the Green Spur. I love the climbing there. I can assure that I will not make that mistake again and I will always remember that mistake whenever I pass this area.

I am an experienced Eldo climber and I still made this mistake. I wasn't complacent at the time, though, as I said. I knew it was a dangerous spot and tried to be careful, but I wasn't careful enough.

Deepest regrets,
Bill

I applaud Bill for his apology. A 30 meter rope????

Thanks for that Bill. No worries though, these are the risks we take to be in the mountains at any given time. I'm all healed up and climbing again, had nothing more serious than scrapes and bruises. I do now have a new rule for places like Eldo though from this incident: be first on the route or don't be on the route at all.

I was on pitch 4 and the party above me yelled down that the block was loose, I have climbed "Rewritten" before and I knew the infamous refrigerator block balanced on the ledge. I didn't think too much of the warning, and I kept moving up. When I got to the block, I carefully traverse around it, but when I came on the right side I stepped on a rock and my foot sank. The "refrigerator" block was nudged just enough that it shifted off. I thought it might miss me, but then it hit my rope and yarded me off the ledge head first. I ended up falling the entire pitch and was about even with my belayer when the rope stopped me. I yelled "rock" as loud as I could, but "rock" sounded like the understatement of the century. I knew Mark and Jeff were directly below me, and was VERY relieved that they were ok. The route was completely covered in dust, pebbles and even some good size chucks of rock. After walking down there, I found tree limbs and exploded rock everywhere. My partners pack was destroyed along with some of the contents of the pack.
Thanks for everyones concern. I am super thankful that nobody got seriously hurt and that I was wearing my helmet.
Please be careful on this route as it is still littered with rubble that is just waiting to come down.

taken from forum post here

The hardest pitch was the descending pitch. When descending, don't go down to the back side. Stay on the ridge. There were several cairns that led us to the back, lost, hiked back up to the ridge, and found the 4th class downclimb.

In the description, the block that moves on top of P4 is now gone. This block fell in 2009 (see Micah's post above) and left a larger ledge, although I felt there wasn't a great spot to build a belay there.

The ledge above the traverse where the 'fridge-sized block USED to be. Submitted By: Mark Cushman on Jul 12, 2010

Hey, maybe the route description should be changed. I was in the park last year when the rock fell. Scared the *&$^ out of me even though I was bouldering elsewhere it was SO DAMN loud. Headed up to do Rewritten and noticed the route still mentions the no longer existing rock. I understand if it stays for historical purposes, but a (no longer) mid sentence would work, too. Cheers.

Just climbed this for the first time since the refrigerator block fell. Now that the block's gone you can easily belay on the ledge just around the corner climber's right in the photo two posts above. It's a semi-hanging and really airy belay that (as Ron pointed out earlier) allows you to watch your second on the traverse. It also allows you to climb directly up off of the belay to gain Rebuffat's Arete.

The 4h pitch of this climb is a classic; one of the outstanding single pitches in Eldorado Canyon. It's worth the effort expended during the approach and more!

This route was incredible. Compared to Gambit, which we did recently, this one seemed to be longer, more continuous, and had less loose rock. The Rebuffat's Arete variation is full value and was way better than the standard 5.0 tree gully finish appeared to be.

We followed the Levin guidebook description (which was spot-on overall) and belayed P5 from the dead tree ledge. Makes for a roomy belay ledge, and you can see and hear the leader for the Rebuffat pitch real easily. Just wanted to note: there is a large section of rock immediately to climbers' right of the dead tree that appears to be solid in the ground. I initially thought about slinging it, but after giving it a bear hug, it shifted a little. I would avoid using it at all costs. Same with the dead as a doornail tree. There are abundant solid anchor building opportunities in the crack systems recessed back a little from the edge.

Climbed this 5/30. At the belay for the fourth pitch, the wind picked up and started blowing a small hailstorm of rocks onto me and one of my climbing partners (we were a team of 3). We got pelted with some smaller stuff but nothing serious - just a word of caution as there's a lot of stuff directly above that can be dislodged by wind alone.

Also on the descent - there are sections where literally everything is loose. My friend dislodged a block the size of a microwave. Be very, very careful.

One must do the arete and not the gully. Would be a shame to miss out on an amazing ending otherwise.

I climbed this route a few weeks ago and cleaned a cam for a couple from Louisville. We were slow coming down and never caught up with you. If you want your cam back, PM me with the description. Thanks, Scotty

The arete is no way 5.8 or 5.7 PG as the book says. 5.6 and the gear is all there (small cams mostly).

Yeah, so I had to leave a BD 0.75 at the very top of the last (6th) pitch. I'm sort of hurting for cash these days, so maybe you might take pity on me? I'll buy you a 6 pack and you can feel really good about yourself!

Found this to be a good solid 5.7, and it makes the Bastille 5.6 as I think it should be.

The 5.8 Zot start is the way to go! It protects well at G rating and is 2-3 moves on all positive holds to the crack... almost like doing it on top-rope.

Found the 5.7 traverse easier than people talk... and the rest of the pitch excellent solid 5.7.

The arete was not as hard to protect as I thought as well... and the final pitch was fun short 5.6.

Will link some pitches next time now that I have done it original.. 1 & 2 for sure.
3 &4 maybe? and 5& 6 ? will see...

Pitch 2was a little undefined but obvious where you are going to ... if you aim for the chains and go up the steeps it's fun protects every 10 ft. or so maybe solid 5.7 .

P1-3 are not all that interesting but stay in the shade throughout the morning. P1 is a little spicy. 4-6 are stellar, combine 5-6 and do Rebuffat's.

Honestly, listen to others advice and climb Zot instead of P1, and Rebuffat's Arete.

I think with those two substitutions, this is a four star route. However, without them it's not nearly up to the same "every pitch is fantastic" standard of say Ruper.

Wow, lots of comments. My $0.02....

Some more history. Ament & McCarty make no mention of this route in any of the three editions of 'High Over Boulder' I have (1967, 1976, & 1995). Descriptions are offered in Ament's 'Eldorado: A Rock Climber's Guide' and Erickson's 'Rocky Heights' (both 1980). Ament specifically refers to the P4 traverse as a "foot-traverse", and Erickson blithely directs one to "traverse 15 feet left." Considering the manner used to tackle the traverse today and the attendant aura/reputation ascribed to it, those descriptions now seem curious and understated.

Reading Ament's and Erickson's text descriptions, I would have been hard-pressed to find the correct line. But I'm also a moron. Amazing what the 'topo' drawing has done for route descriptions. Thank you, Richard Rossiter.

I climbed Eldo with a new partner last year, and he was stunned to see my guidebook was Rossiter's 'Rock Climbing Eldorado'. I actually believe he thought his glossy, full-color Levin guidebook was the first and only Eldo guide. Amusing. I guess my point is that we owe a HUGE debt to these men for the passion and care they've put in over the decades cataloging route info for the generations that followed. I hope newer climbers realize this, and appreciate their efforts, and the rich history of these climbs.

Regarding the moniker 'Rebuffat's Arete', I will, of course, defer to Rossiter's comments on its origin. But what came to my mind was a photo of the legendary Gaston Rebuffat I first saw in his beautiful book 'On Ice and Snow and Rock'. The photo is of him standing balanced atop the 'Pic de Roc'. Google it, then imagine yourself trying to stand atop Rebuffat's Arete when you get there climbing Rewritten. Perhaps that photo was the subconscious inspiration for its naming. I had a much easier time standing on the very top of Tower 1 than on Rebuffat's Arete.

As for the climb itself, I understand the reasoning behind starting on P1 of Great Zot as the first pitch, but if one reads the first few chapters of 'Moby Dick', but finishes with the last 3/4th's 'War & Peace', has one read 'War & Peace'? Just wondering....

Anyway, Rossiter describes P1 well - it is awkward to protect but not impossible to reasonably protect. I did this pitch twice in 5 days, and I traversed too soon into the Zot crack the first time. Fight this temptation. You'll find yourself at the corner of the P1 arete on a comfortable stance/rest. Straight up looks less appealing than shooting straight right to join the Zot crack immediately above the crux 'cave', but it's not. Make a move or two straight up from this stance -- I believe this is the roof Rossiter describes -- THEN move right to the crack.

On P4, as of two weeks ago there were two fixed pieces about a foot apart in the vertical crack above the traverse, then another fixed small wire in the steep section after you step left around the arete, before the belay at the old fridge block ledge.

I thought this ledge was fine for the belay. Look around to the right (south) of the start of the P5 arete and you'll find a good crack. I think a previous poster mentioned a "semi-hanging" belay could be had here. I was able to lay back quite comfortably on this ledge without hanging.

As for P5, the arete is a must-do. Since the original, historical line is the gully to the left, it may seem contradictory for me to say this. But the arete is a variation to, not a different climb than, Rewritten. And IMO it is a far more logical, direct, and aesthetically pleasing line. Having climbed both, leave the gully to history.

Hands-down the most difficult part of P5 is the first move or two up through the crack at the old, fridge block belay. After these moves, go left and gain the arete proper. You'll find holds a foot or two on either side of the edge just where you need them to allow you to stay right on it to its point. You can get a piece or two in, and sling some stone along the way. Careful, though - one of the blocks on the arete felt like it may have been a little less than solid.

P1 & 2 combine well with a 70m rope, as do 5 & 6. One could easily combine 3 & 4 also, but it just didn't seem 'right'. Anyway....

Sorry for the length. Climb on, and climb safe.

This is a 3 pitch climb with a 70 meter rope....

Just sayin'....

Did this route (kind of) for the first time today. We started on the Great Zot. Awesome. Linked p1 and p2 to the eyebolts which only left about 4ft of extra rope out of our 70m. P3 was so-so. After the 4th pitch traverse/crack thing (which was pretty incredible), we somehow started the 5th much too far to the left and accidentally got on a different arete (about 40ft left of Rebuffat's) with some loose rocks. The arete was spectacularly scary, sharp, and runout but proved to be one of the coolest parts of the day anyway. I was able to sling a few horns on the way up, but there wasn't much in the way of gear. We ended up in an extremely windy notch, just to the left of the summit, pants filled with poop and huge grins on our faces. What a day! P.S. Does anyone know if this arete is even considered a route? It had a fair amount of lichen on it and felt like pretty solid 5.8 or harder. Sling placements every 20ft or so. There was a newer bolt toward the bottom of it in a seemingly illogical blank spot.

Skip the first belay set up and go to the I bolt if you have a 70m.

One of the best 5.7s I've ever done, along with Corrugation Corner and Bear's Reach at Lover's Leap. The exposure and movement on the traverse/crack pitch are as good as it gets.

Nice route overall. We did a wrong traverse up on p3 which leads to a harder p4. We had to pass a kind of roof, which fun. There is chalk in the route :D Anyone know about this variant?