Western Justice climbs a steep, smooth-looking face, following cracks and seams. It's fairly sustained in difficulty and it makes a good follow-up to climbs in the Yucca Flower Tower area.
Rappel or lower ~170' from the rim, which will eventually lower you into a stance at the base of the obvious right-facing corner. The start is somewhat vague, but if you begin below the lowest bolt, you'll get all the good parts of the route.
Start by moving left into a finger crack, passing a couple of bushes, or begin higher up in the left-facing corner. Move left to a finger crack below a bolt and a piton. Passing these is the first crux (5.11a), with off-balance moves, thin feet, and holds facing the wrong way as you follow the crack as it jogs right. You're through when you reach a hand jam. Above, move left into a stance, with another piton (old belay?), and climb easier thin cracks (5.10) with occasional hands sections. These cracks fork about 20' near the top, stem between the two of them, or stay in the rightmost crack. Watch out for a final thin crux (5.10+) about 8' below the rim.
Western Justice isn't so much of a thin face with small edges. Rather, in the harder sections, the holds all seem to slope the wrong way, and the feet are not so obvious.
Location
This is the rightmost line on the clean wall south of Great Escape, following thin cracks on the smooth face, just left of the hand crack in a left-facing corner (Aces & 8's).
Approach as for the Yucca Flower Tower rappel. (Down the Crest Spur Trail to the junction; left on the La Luz 10 minutes to the Domingo Baca overlook- where the trail turns sharply left- then down the ridgeline on a climbers trail to the west and look for the anchors).
Protection
Standard rack of nuts & cams to #3 camalot, with extras in the smaller sizes, for leading. A tree, or the 2-bolt anchor for Aces & 8's, can be used to set a toprope. There are 3-4 fixed pins & a bolt on the route. (see comment).
Photos of Western Justice (Frontier Justice) Slideshow
By George Perkins Administrator From: Los Alamos, NM Jun 26, 2009
The piton protecting the final crux 8' below the rim came out, pulled it out with my fingers. I did not replace it. I believe this section can be adequately protected with small cams and RPs, but someone may want to replace it before leading.
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