Third Tier  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  74,873. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Ron Olsen on Mar 29, 2006 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

BETA PHOTO: Avalon, showing most of the major features.

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Description 

The Third Tier of Avalon is high and remote; few climbers venture up here. But those that do will be rewarded with great views, and a wilder, "adventure climbing" feel away from the crowds down below.

The first route up here was Black Tiger, established in 1989. However, most of the routes are fairly new. Richard Rossiter has been active up here recently, putting up a number of new routes in 2005 and 2006. Some of the new routes are sport routes, but some are trad crack climbs. Bring a full trad rack with hand, fist, and wider pro if you want to do the crack routes.

Be prepared for some moss and lichen on many of these new routes, since the rock faces more to the north and the routes haven't seen much traffic. If you want to perform a community service, bring a wire brush along and help clean up the routes.

A decent trail traverses the entire Third Tier, starting from the Southwest Buttress on the right, going all the way over to Crack Land on the left.

The areas of the Third Tier, from R->L:

Southwest Buttress - Called the Summit Pyramid in Rossiter's Boulder Canyon guidebook. The first area you get to on the Third Tier. A smooth wall on the right side of the Third Tier, home to The Solution (10c), Black Tiger (11c) and Jaguar (11c).

Wall of the Goddess - Several hundred feet left of the Southwest Buttress. A short wall with two bolted anchors and several trad crack climbs: Isis (9+), Yoni (8), and Amrita (10c).

West Gully - just beyond the Wall of the Goddess and up a gully to the right. Five new routes: Merlin's Enigma (11d), Charon's Boat (9), Knight of Swords (10c), Dragon Direct (9), and Sorcerer's Apprentice (8).

Wall of the Dragon - the remote area above the West Gully. Two new sport routes: Dragon Fly (9) and Dragon Slayer (10b).

Crack Land - starts just left of the West Gully. Mystery Ship (10c) is just beyond the gully. Farther to the left lie Ancient Light (10c), Ancient Fright (10c), and Resurrection (9). The latter route takes you to the summit of Avalon, a wild but peaceful place with superb views.

New routes in Crack Land in 2006 include The Art of War (10c), Thus Us (9), The Enemy Within (9), War Horse (10d), Crack Love (10a), Crack Love II (9), Crack Love III (10c), Ghost Ship (10a), Ship of Fools (10b), Mystery Tour (9), and Blade (11a). The Art of War is a sport climb; all the others are trad crack climbs.

Getting There 

From the Wall of the Dead on the Second Tier, take a trail around to the right and up the hill. The trail meets the Third Tier at the right side, and cuts back left underneath the Southwest Buttress. The trail continues downstream, staying fairly level most of the way, all the way over to Crack Land.

Continuing on the trail beyond Crack Land takes you to Wizard Rock.

The Classics

Featured Route For Third Tier

Isis 5.10a  CO : Boulder Canyon : ... : Wall of the Goddess

Approach: Hike up around the right side of the Wall of the Dead to the upper tier of Avalon. Traverse left on a trail below the routes Jaguar and Black Tiger. After about 100 yards, you'll see a 35-foot-high wall on the right with two 2-bolt anchors, and several cracks lacing the wall. This is the Wall of the Goddess.Isis is the prominent finger-to-fist crack on the right. It starts behind a pine tree close to the wall.Climb the crack and step left to the 2-bolt anchor. I used Aliens and Ca...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

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BETA PHOTO: Avalon Upper Wall Routes. Photo taken from Upper ...