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Dome Boulder, The 
Elephant Boulders 
First Buttress 
Fourth Buttress 
Second Buttress 
Third Buttress 
Topknot 

Elephant Buttresses 


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Lat, Long: 40.0125, -105.308 Map
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Administrators: Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: Michael Komarnitsky on Jan 1, 2001

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BETA PHOTO: The Elephant Buttresses. Most routes start off th...

Description 

The four blocky towers known as the Elephant Buttresses lie just to the right of the Dome. They are numbered one through four from left to right. Almost all the routes are trad; no sport routes here. Some routes have old fixed pins; not many have bolts. An irrigation water pipe runs along the base of these crags.

Be careful of poison ivy; this area has it in abundance!

Some of the classic routes include: Tough Situation (9+) and Classic Finger Crack (9) on the Second Buttress; Standard Route (7+), Left Wing (10), and FM (11) on the Third Buttress, and Northwest Face (8) on the Fourth Buttress.


Getting There 

Approach as for the Dome. Park in a small pullout on the right 0.5 miles up the canyon, or in a large parking area on the left. Cross the bridge over the creek and turn right. Follow the new climber's access trail up to the aqueduct. Turn right and walk along a trail to the water pipe; watch out for poison ivy! Continue along the water pipe to the crag you want to climb. The pipe ends at a water tunnel between the Third and Fourth Buttress.


Descents 

There are several ways to descend from the top of these crags:

  • The easiest walk-off is to head left (north) toward the Dome, and descend a trail down to the aqueduct just left of the First Buttress.

  • You can scramble down between the Second and Third Buttress to a tree atop Pine Tree Route, and rappel 90' back to the water pipe.

  • If the water level is low enough, you can descend to a tunnel between the Third and Fourth Buttress, and walk through the tunnel back to the water pipe. Be prepared for darkness and wet legs/feet!

  • You can downclimb the steep, 4th-class gully between the Second and Third Buttress; tricky in spots and not recommended for novices.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Elephant Buttresses:
Flash Dihedral (Knapp Version)   5.7     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 90 feet   First Buttress
The Unknown   5.7     Trad, 2 pitches   Fourth Buttress
Standard Route   5.7+     Trad, 2 pitches   Third Buttress
Standard Left Start   5.7+     Trad, 2 pitches   Third Buttress
Standard Variation   5.8     Trad, 2 pitches, 175 feet   Third Buttress
Northwest Face   5.8     Trad, 1 pitch   Fourth Buttress
Feathers   5.8+     Trad, 1 pitch   Third Buttress
Mojo Rising   5.9     Trad, 2 pitches   Third Buttress
Classic Finger Crack   5.9     Trad, 1 pitch   Second Buttress
The Heartland   5.9+     Trad, 2 pitches, 210 feet   Fourth Buttress
Tough Situation   5.9+     Trad, 1 pitch, 60 feet   Second Buttress
Zolar Czakl   5.9+     Trad, 1 pitch, 70 feet   Fourth Buttress
Ah Maw   5.10a PG13     Trad, 1 pitch, 65 feet   Third Buttress
Zolar Czakl (Direct)   5.10a R     Trad, TR, 1 pitch   Fourth Buttress
Wingtip   5.10c PG13     Trad, TR, 1 pitch, 65 feet   Third Buttress
Left Wing   5.10c     Trad, TR, 1 pitch   Third Buttress
Flake   5.10c R     Trad, TR, 1 pitch   Fourth Buttress
What's Up?   5.10d     Trad, 2 pitches   Third Buttress
FM   5.11c     Trad, 1 pitch   Third Buttress
Avalon Rising   5.12b     Trad, Sport, TR, 1 pitch   Second Buttress
Browse More Classics in Elephant Buttresses

Featured Route For Elephant Buttresses
At the beginning of the "double dihedral" crux section after clipping a piton. Photo by Tara S.

FM 5.11c  CO : Boulder Canyon : ... : Third Buttress
This route is on the Third Elephant Buttress, on the north side. To access it walk along the pipe till you reach a gully between the Second and Third Buttresses. Scramble about 20 feet up the gully to the base of the climb. This climb follows a left facing dihedral that begins about 40 feet up. The route is to the right of Left Wing and starts up a short face to an obvious, chalked finger crack. Make some challenging moves to gain the finger crack (5.10ish) and follow the crack a few moves to a ...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO


Photos of Elephant Buttresses Slideshow Add Photo
Second Elephant Buttress <br /> <br />1. Tough Situation (5.9+) <br />2. Classic Finger Crack (5.9)

BETA PHOTO: Second Elephant Buttress

1. Tough Situation (5.9+...


Third Buttress <br />1. Standard Route (7+) <br />2. West Face (7) <br /> <br />Fourth Buttress <br />3. Flake (10c) <br />4. Zolar Czakl (10a) <br />5. Northwest Face (8+)

BETA PHOTO: Third Buttress
1. Standard Route (7+)
2. West Face...


Elephant Buttresses panorama.

Elephant Buttresses panorama.


Comments on Elephant Buttresses Add Comment
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By Kevin Currigan
From: Lakewood
Aug 18, 2003

Ya gotta do the tunnel at least once for the experience. I thought it was great and I am not fond of caves.

By Phil Lauffen
From: Louyuppie
Aug 11, 2008

Ok, I feel kinda dumb for asking this but I was at the Elephant Buttress this night and we headed up a chimney onsight somewhere in the vicinity of the 1st maybe 2nd pinnacle, but I don't think it was the chimney listed in the 2nd pinnacle's list. We headed up a chimney until it got too wide then climbed up a crack on the south side of the chimney. The chimney itself was probably .7- but the crack was reaching into the .9 territory. Does this sound familiar?

By Phil Lauffen
From: Louyuppie
Aug 11, 2008

Actually after looking at the picture again I realize I wasn't really on a ROUTE. We ended up chimneying up the crack kinda directly between the 1st and 2nd buttress, then squirming up the crack on the right. Weird route. Anyone know if it's got a name?

By Ivan Rezucha
From: Boulder, CO
May 16, 2009

There is currently a very nice, large and extremely clear photo of the Elephant Buttresses at the Boulder Library as part of the ditch exhibit. All of the popular climbs are very visible. It's worth a look. The history of the Silver Lake Ditch and the other ditches is very interesting. There's a working model of the two "tram lines" used to move the pipes during the 2008 rebuild of the pipe below Elephant Buttresses.