The White Buttress  5.9

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Type:  Trad, 3 pitches Consensus:  5.9 [details] FA:  Chris hassig and Mark iber 1979! Submitted By:  lee hansche on Dec 3, 2011 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

Scamper up very easy low angle rock to the base of the white wall. The crack angles left to right on quartz with a dose of lichen. It follows a crack but you do a good bit of face climbing. The climbing is good, the positioning is AMAZING! You will be looking down in to the Baker River Valley and the river it self bending its way through. The best place to view this area we love so much.

Place a nice solid piece and step up in to it. A finger size cam placed just after I started kept me happy as I made sense of the strange crack holds, slippery quartz feet and face holds hidden by lichen. After a 15 foot crux section you can stand on your feet before clipping a pin and pulling one more tricky section. This upper bulge is a little less difficult but more fun than the crux. Top out on a nice jug and decide where you'd like to anchor. There isn't a perfect spot to do so but a few trees to choose from.

With a good cleaning this would be a great climb. Not sure if it would see enough use to keep it clean unless it was bolted. That wouldn't be aweful but I think it's fine how it is.

Location 

This is a 3rd above the Armed and Dangerous area That tops out on the highest point on the Main Cliff. Best way to approach the route is by climbing The Big Easy (5.7), to Bourbon Street (5.10c). The white butress will be right above you at the anchor of Bourbon.

If you wanted to, you could get to the base of the route by hiking around and scrambling around the climbers left side of the buttress and anchoring to a tree. but the approach pitches are fun and a good warm up for the main event.

Protection 

Regular rack, fixed pin. Belay from trees.