The Vortex  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  40.4496, -111.6779 Map Page Views:  309. Good page?    Administrators:  Kristine Hoffman, Andrew Gram, Perin Blanchard, grk10vq, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Perin Blanchard on Aug 21, 2012 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Located in a National Forest Fee Area MORE INFO >>> See the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Service fee page for more information. This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

BETA PHOTO: Reel Value on The Vortex.

Description 

The Vortex is the east-facing aspect of a relatively large buttress on the west side of a gully. The buttress has three Bill Boyle 5.11 routes.

“What was Boyle thinking?” is what you will be thinking as you approach the crag. An unlovely, loose-appearing collection of choss, The Vortex has a short-but-somewhat-miserable approach up a tree-and-scree gully, and the appearance of the rock does not inspire confidence.

Nevertheless, once your initial fear of the rock dissipates you'll find some fun movement in a relatively pleasant location.

Getting There 

Start up the The Billboard Trail.

After a short stint upward and eastward the trail arrives at the lowest point of a buttress and then heads up along the east side of the buttress. After a short while the trail leaves the buttress's base for open territory that lasts a hundred and fifty feet or so.

The trail then reaches the lowest point of another buttress. At this point the obvious trail continues up and right (eastward) to The Billboard. Instead, turn left (west) and follow a somewhat indistinct trail past the buttress tip and into a tree-and-scree gully.

The Vortex appears across the gully and uphill from your location.

Head up the gully staying to the right side. When you reach more-or-less the same elevation as the base of the crag (and the brush and trees open up a bit) cross the gully to the crag.

About 10 minutes from the start of the trail.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Vortex

Gripcom 5.11c  UT : Wasatch Range : ... : The Vortex

Big, fun handholds for the first few bolts, followed by smaller holds and trickier movement up high.The exit moves to the chains are strenuous and exciting.Unfortunately the very poor rock quality detracts substantially from the route....[more]   Browse More Classics in UT