Escalante Canyon

To the best of my knowledge, the earliest "modern" climbing in Escalante Canyon was done by Rusty Baylie and partners. The route called Easy Crack was done in the Seventies by Rusty and Jenny Goldberg. I believe they called it Pony Express. The route called Cave Route was put up by Chuck Grossman in the Eighties and he named it Interiors. Chuck really helped in establishing Escalante Canyon. In fact, he put it on the map. In the days before camming units and sticky-rubbered shoes, Chuck would push the envelope on the cracks in Escalante Canyon. Leading to the end of his rope with long run outs and minimal pro he would set up anchors by stacking tube chocks, hexes, and Forrest Titons. On occasion, these ad lib anchors would fail once the rap [ropes] got pulled. Chuck would drag any willing or unwitting partners out to what must have seemed to be his own private climbing playground. More than one "wanted to be" would return from an Escalante adventure with Chuck wide eyed and shaken with horrific stories of their own epic experience just trying to follow on top rope what Chuck had just sent.

Thanks for sharing this information. I certainly would like to give credit to first ascentionists and use their route names. I added this area hoping that others would come in and contribute more routes for me to climb - all very selfish! There are hundreds of route in this canyon and it would be nice to have at least a few described here.

John

Is there any information about decents for routes with-in Escalante Canyon? Rap anchors, slung naturals, anything thanks

All of the routes in the Interiors area seem to have good rap stations on them. NOLS uses this area - maybe they are the ones keeping the anchors in good shape.

Escalante Canyon is a special area. A patch work of private, and public land... A fun place, but nice to stay low key..
There has been no real guide book, which I think is a good idea to keep it like this! Full on adventure, you walk up, eye the line, and either go for it or not.. I do believe this helps keep the area like it is/has been, and does not turn it into an Indian Creek zoo!

Over the last few years, anchors have appeared below the top of previously established climbs. The parties adding the anchors were probably not aware of the existing route status due to the dearth of readily available information, and as such this is somewhat understandable. However, higher anchors are visible and some information has been published in the original "Desert Rock" guide by Bjornstad, which could have been used to clarify the status of the routes noted. These climbs do not end when the crack gets wide!

Although information has not been published, there has been extensive exploration and climbing in the canyon. I have been surprised on numerous occasions to find evidence of previous ascents even in remote and obscure locations, such as a sling around a chockstone or a tree, a bolt anchor, stray gear, or simply rope grooves in the rock.

The majority of the climbs do not have plaques. Many of the lines top out, sometimes with a nearby tree for a rappel anchor and sometimes not. For the climbs that do not top out, there has been an effort to make the anchors unobtrusive, and they blend in well.

In summary, please be conservative in anchor placement, and assume the line has been done when in doubt. Also, please respect the historic precedent for the routes and avoid adding intermediate anchors.

I climbed with Chuck a number of times out there and Phil's stories are true. We even named a route the "Blowout Cracks" after the stacked anchors we rappeled off and left fixed for the next day were blown out by the wind leaving the ropes in a pile at the base.

It's sad to hear this area is being developed and bolts are being added. Chuck must have done at least fifty routes and never placed a single bolt or pin. All the routes topped out. Descents were often sketchy to say the least. The overwhelming sense of doom only ended back at the cabin. But even then if Chuck had driven a whole new adventure was awaiting you on the way home. I say leave the bolts at home. Chuck's still alive and kicking as evidence that real adventure climbing in the four corners region can be survived.