The land is owned by the LDS Church please be respectful of this. MORE INFO >>>
Unknown by many people the land starting at LDS Church vaults up to and including the Gate Buttress is owned by the LDS Church. This includes, the Fin, Thumb, Green A, Schoolroom, and Gate Buttress. Over the past 40 years there have been several closures of this property to climbing.
Currently, climbers are welcome visitors because in part of Utah's Land Owner Liability Law and the work of local climbers to preserve access.
In 1998 through 2000 this area was quaried and is presently under revegetation. The trail goes through part of this area. Please stay on the climber's trail so this area can recover.
The Flakes. The route goes right at the first V a...
Description
My all-time favorite at the grade in Little Cottonwood, this route can be "Quite a grunt to get to and tricky to find," according to the Ruckman guide, but it's well worth it. Approach via Tingey's Terror to Tingey's Torture--traverse east 25ft from the bolted anchor atop the third pitch of Tingey's Torture--for a fun, long link-up or bushwhack your way up ledges to the base of To Air Is Human (.10d) or Under Fire (.10), granting access to the low-angle, splitter first pitch (5.6). The second pitch, however, is THE pitch... Scramble up the easy ramp to the base. Jam the perfect handcrack. Commit to a wild undercling/lieback out the first flake left to a stance in a squeeze, then again back right along the top of the airy second flake--CLASSIC! Two sets of bolted anchors appear above; use the newer, upper anchor to belay/descend.
Location
If approaching from Tingey's Torture, traverse east from the top of third pitch toward the arete, then downclimb--easy, but exposed--to the belay ledge atop The Flakes. Rappel from two bolts--a single 60m rope just reaches the ledge below. To descend, a series of fixed rap anchors due east of The Flakes puts one back on the ground.
Protection
Bring a standard rack. Doubles in off-fingers to hand sizes are useful, but not necessary; a large 4.5" cam protects the wideness.
Please Note: there is no fixed intermediate anchor between the two pitches of The Flakes. I've always rapped using a single 60m rope, but if descending the line of anchors due east of the route, be careful! With rope stretch, one just barely reaches the third and fourth set of anchors (if counting the anchors atop the route). Be sure to take a good look at some of the other stellar lines on the east gate; scramble along the base to reach the main trail to the gate boulders.
A 70 works a lot better here. This really is one of the coolest around. Maybe its because you have to find it and once you do you're a ways up? I like doing "plasma" for a warm-up then "to air is human" for really fun approach pitches. It makes a nice .10 circuit.
Best single pitch I've done in all of Wasatchland. The approach, exposure, steepness and nature of the feature you're climbing (1/2" sheet of detached granite, picture a dead vertical Zion Curtain) make for quite an intimidating route. No individual hard move but overall quite pumpy and WILD! We belayed from a gear anchor a bit above the bushes growing on the low angle ramp. Uses the whole 70m rope and some. There's a sling anchor in the bushes to rap to the next station (top of El Guapo). We left a biner on it as the tape that converted the existing biner into a locker wasn't looking too hot.
As a side note, any info on the crack that branches left and meets up with the route at the offwidth? Looks amazing, undercling to tips-lieback...
East Gate Buttress
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