Borrowed this photo to show the line of the route....
Description
The route ascends the right side of the Rainbow wall. Fun climbing on all pitches with some spicy face moves for the crux. Look under vegetation for bolts. Good full day adventure on some infrequently traveled stone. Also great views of the Rainbow wall.
Protection
A single set of gear is fine with a few extra runners and/or QD's as there are more bolts (nice old bolts) than you think.
I did the Birdhunter Buttress yesterday and I think a few things should be added.
First, the route is approximately 13 pitches and is a solid Grade IV.
Second, there are some very old bolts on the route. Until these bolts are replaced I would strongly recommend against using them for anchors. My gut instinct is that most of these bolts will not hold bodyweight much less a fall. There are places to build anchors throughout the route.
Third, the route has a lot of bad rock on it. Should the bolts be replaced I think this route will see a lot of traffic. It is a great route in a great position. If the route sees a bit more action and the bad rock is pulled off it will become yet another classic moderate.
Fourth, the best descent is via Brown Recluse. At the top of the last pitch of Birdhunter Buttress you will traverse from the "belay bolt" around the corner to the left. There is a large ledge here with some vegitation on it. It appears that you could continue up a low fifth class gully from here. Instead look down the gully below the continuation gully. There you will see two bolts with chains. These bolts are some of the last bolts on Brown Recluse.
Rappel to the first set of chains you find. This set of chains are in an EXTREMELY awkward position, but if you don't stop at the chains you will not make the next set of chains. One of the books says to rappel with a seventy meter rope, I don't know how well that would work with this sketchy top section of rappelling and would recommend having two ropes for the descent.
After the initial awkward rappelling situation, the remainder of the rappels to the ground are somewhat straight forward.
I strongly recomend Birdhunter Buttress to those who are solid 5.9 leaders. You don't want to take falls on those old bolts!
Jason
By Ian Wolfe From: Boulder, CO Apr 8, 2006 rating: 5.9
I climbed the route with Jason and he is right on.
I gave the route 3 stars, but this could go to 4 if the bolts were replaced. The bolts are the original Urioste 1/4" bolts, totally rusted, and SUPER sketch. Don't fall, because any pro you can get in in the middle pitches is in kinda sandy white rock. The top pitches are stellar and actually protect very well along a right facing corner and up to a chimney.
(Edited in March 2008, see also the notes in my later post.)
Jason Martin, Stephen Schmid, Andy Davis, and I replaced 21 of 25 bolts on the first 7 pitches (bolts provided by the ASCA). We skipped a few bolts in the interest of time, and the upper pitches still need rebolting. With the appropriate strategy (maybe take a screamer, and be willing to supplement or ignore bolts in favor of your own gear) you can climb this route pretty safely.
Another 18-20 bolts have yet to be replaced. Most, but not all, of the old 1/4 inch bolts would hold 1-2 short falls in my opinion. However, based on the experience of removing them, a couple of those remaining probably will not hold a fall ... and you can't tell which ones are truly useless by looking. Fortunately it is seldom far to more pro. The old 3/8 inch bolts will still hold several falls each - once they begin to pull and bend, then they can no longer be trusted, in my opinion. The old 1/2 inch bolts just need new hangers - we gave up trying to get them out after a couple of attempts. As Jason suggests in his note above, there are gear placements that make some of the bolts (both lead and belay) redundant.
Despite rumors of loose rock, I thought everything was pretty solid for Red Rock sandstone. However, my partners kicked off a couple of small chunks on the face pitch (p3), so keep your eyes peeled, and put a helmet on your belayer. There is also some soft rock on p4 in the wide crack, but the climbing there is easy and bolted.
Approach
Up Juniper Canyon and up the fixed-line sluice toward Rainbow Wall (or scramble left of the sluice if you're not sure what condition the rope is in). Trudge up to the rubble above the Bowl. Once in the rubble and brush, move up and right toward the Paiute Eye (the huge arched recess in the Wall). Head toward the left side of the Eye to avoid a scramble/climb up through a final nondescript cliff band, follow the ledge along the base of the Wall to the right. You pass the "Brown Recluse" rappels, "Brown Recluse," and then pass Brock and McMillen's "killer bivy" (it is!). The route starts a little below (left of) the last prominent pine tree on the ledge.
Description
(The descriptions given in Joanne Urioste's Supplement, in Brock & McMillen, and in Handren are all excellent. The route is never hard to follow.)
Every pair of pitches can (and should) be linked, so I'll renumber them here. Bring 12-15 slings and a single rack to 4".
P1.1 (5.7) - Step up and move left across a ledgy face to the middle of 3 cracks/seams, the one that obviously takes pro the best. Climb up the crack and pull the bulge, where the first of 3 bolts is encountered. Follow the bolts up and left. You could build an anchor here, but it is better to continue ...
P1.2 - Move left and up an easy wide crack. After 30-40 feet find a semi-hanging belay from bolts on the right.
P2.1 - Continue up the wide crack, using features around the crack, passing 1 bolt. Pass another semi-hanging bolted stance on the right (easy to miss), and link with ...
P2.2 (5.8-5.9) - Good hands low, good chimney higher. Burly but not too technical. At the top you have your choice of heading into the squeeze chimney, or staying outside. Be kind to your partner with the pack. This pitch ends at a bolted stance at the lip of a sloping ledge.
P3.1 & P3.2 (5.8-5.9) - the Classic Face pitches - The kind of face climbing - flakes and edges - we have all come to associate with Urioste routes. Up the face past three bolts, left to a crack, and past a couple more old bolts past a bolted hanging belay, and continue past more good bolts to a bolted stance on top of a small pillar. We couldn't decide if this was the technical crux or not, but it is definitely the most sustained pitch. Be careful not to kick fragile flakes near the route onto your partner.
P4.1 & P4.2 (5.8-5.9) - Straight up from the belay, up a wide, short crack past another old bolt past a bolted stance atop another small pillar. Continue along a line of old bolts to the right (one delicate move), turning up into the wide crack before you go around the corner. Your view of the bolts above maybe obscured by a bush in the wide crack. End at a good stance on the corner.
P5.1 & 5.2 (5.7-5.8) - This pitch is a blast! Step right to the dihedral, and use a combination of stemming, jamming, and face climbing. Either stop at the stout pine tree, or set a directional and head back along the 3rd class ledges to the base of the chimney. This would be a potential bivy spot for 2-3 if you are taking a leisurely approach to this route.
P6.1 & 6.2 (5.7-5.8) - The first half is the chimney pitch, clean and easy once you pass the shrub, with some protection opportunities around your feet and a bolt up where its just wide. The second half involves ducking down and out of the chimney (the crux here) and up a clean slab with more bolts. Stop in the notch and build your own anchor. It would be possible to bivy a small army here, although the rocks are sloping.
P7.1 & 7.2 (5.4-5.5??) - I got as far as the pro bolt partway up this pitch (currently the old bolt is still there, so it appears to be a belay anchor, but this will eventually be fixed). I guess you keep heading straight up to find a final 1-bolt anchor in the bulges above, but I couldn't spot it ... next time. And then pull onto the final slabs and finish up.
Descent/Retreat
There are four ways to get down from this route: (1) Urioste: top out and head back to Oak Creek for the long walk out. Probably the nicest tour if you bivy along the way and like gazing into the backcountry. (2) Handren: top out and rappel down the "Original Route." If you like the views but hate to walk. (3) Martin: finish the technical climbing and dive down the "Brown Recluse" rappels. The upper rappels sound a little funky, but if you are pressed for time this would be your fastest way off the top of the route. (4) Bail: Stop in the notch or at the next belay, and rap back down the route. You may have to leave your own anchor at the notch above the chimney. If you only have one rope, you'll need to leave slings etc. at the intermediate belays.
this is an okay line up a great wall. i'd give 3 stars for the first 7 pitches, then 0 stars for the last ones. so my advice? rap after seven pitches (when the new bolts end). if you want to keep going for kicks, all pitches are easily linked with the one above making for a 7 pitch outing to the top of rainbow wall. the descent raps for brown recluse are easily found just above and left. you're looking for the chain anchors. 70m cord is perfect. big thanks to the guys that updated the hardware on the first 7. enjoy.
We did a small amount of re-bolting on this route on 21 March 2008. This time the team included Burt Lindquist and Idan Peretz, with bolts again provided by ASCA.
All of the main belay stations and intermediate belay stations that have bolts are now in pretty good shape: they all have either a solid old 1/2" bolt or a new 3/8" bolt, and most have both. Most of the half inch bolts could use new hangers, and there are still old bolts that need to be chopped to return this route to its original 2-bolts per belay anchor status. If you are thinking about doing this route, feel free to contribute by replacing hangers - you shouldn't need a permit for that!
The most critical lead bolts were all replaced in our first re-bolting effort. Actually, it doesn't look like anyone has ever fallen on any of the bolts on this route. As you would expect in one of these Urioste routes, the emphasis is on fun, so the harder sections are tightly bolted or easily protected with trad gear or both. Where we have left old bolts, the climbing is either easy or it is not far to your next gear. In a few cases (notably in the crux pitch and in the dihedral below the chimney), the old bolts have been rendered less critical by the development of modern cams in finger sizes.
We climbed through the middle of the penultimate pitch this time, and rapped the route, leaving slings and rap rings at the main belay stations. If weather or sloth makes it necessary for you to bail, it's pretty easy to back off.
Rainbow Wall
RSS Feed
