The West Slabs 

I decided to give this 3 stars due to the overall experience of climbing this route. Cruising up the couloir is fun at the beginning of the day, and pitches 2, 3, and 4 are really good. The rest of the climbing is of lower quality, but the rock is generally really solid and the views of SLC are great.

This really is a great climb... how many places can you move over good rock for 2000 ft. on 5.4 terrain (a few 5.5 moves) overlooking 2 million people with a 30-45 minute approach? The flatirons come to mind... redrocks come to mind, but either way, a unique opportunity.Many people solo this route (for my karma I will say, "please don't"), but simulclimbing is almost as fast and much more comforting. Don't let the snow fool you in the pictures... it is still spring in the Wasatch. Summer and fall are dry and the approach isn't as nice looking... however it still isn't a problem, just more boulder hopping, etc. The descent is another story... kind of a pain after such a nice climb. After topping out on the ridgeline, move down and to your right (West) and choose whatever 'gully' looks most appealing, eventually working your way back to the base of the route and back to the trailhead. Enjoy.

We tried some simul-climbing this morning and found it a great option. We followed Peter's directions, stopping for a belay at the top of P3, P5, and the top, which we estimated as about pitch 12 based on your description. After pitch 6 or so it gets quite easy and we didn't need to stop to place gear as much.I found the most exposed pitch to be 5 but maybe it was just the line we chose. We descended the west ridge as described by Ruckman and chose a gully to scramble down. It was a bit dicey at times, but there were some trees with lots of slings if you wanted to do a few raps. Overall a very enjoyable morning!

Great Climb! There are fixed anchors with small red ribbons for visibility on pitches 2,3,4. From Tree anchor on pitch 1 just continue straight up and slightly to the left. I've tried decending this slab several ways, none have proven enjoyable. Walking off the back and down to the main Mt. Olympus trial definately not reccomended-unless you like rattle snakes and bushwacking!

fixed anchors??? why??? i have heard that some of the guiding services in town take beginners up this route, is it to ease beginners' minds? it seems like a such a waste of 'good' bolts (oxymoron?), whoever placed them should have put them in the fishers instead. i guess my points are: 1- it is such an easy climb. 2- protection is easily had throughout the route (unless my memory is going.)

great rock! last time i did this route, i was soloing it with two friends at night. at one point i stopped to check out the view of the city and a transformer exploded, lighting up the entire valley. the rest of the night was dedicated to extensive trundling. good times

Highly recommend wearing a helmet , the mountain goats were roaming above us knocking off a considerable amount of good size head bangers. Also, an ice axe for the approach today would have been very handy (I used a tree branch today). Beautiful day, super fun climb. Crux for me today was the snow gully in tennies (no ice axe/crampons). Definitely stoked to finally do this route after looking up there so many years. This is a must do.

Does anyone know who added the needless bolts? I heard this a product of lazy Exum guides, wanting to make their lives easier by having fixed stations?....not sure if that's true...just curious if anyone knows the real story. Another loss to retrofitting.

AC and John,
Sorry, you don't like the bolts. They are easy to avoid and easier not to clip. Of course the protection is easy, but would you just leave it all there if you chose to rappel the route, especially after the climbing lacks as much interest up high or a thundershower forces retreat? It also allows the avoidance of a car shuttle, but maybe you walk to Mt. Olympus because of the environmental impact of fossil fuel vehicles, I hope so, anyway.
On a fairly recent climb of Lotus Flower Tower in the remote NorthWest Territories of Canada, it sure felt nice to know that the fixed anchors allowed an EZ descent rather than the commitment of having to go up and over to a much more complicated descent. Those fixed anchors were bolts placed next to cracks...I suppose the better thing to have done is left a rack of camalots for the next person to take out and then replace as he /she chooses to descend that way. Alot of reasons that fixed anchors are convenient up in a place like that should be a bit more self evident.
They were also placed quite unobtrusively and they will last many many years. Other climbers have mentioned they are not even that easy to find unless you are looking for them...and when noticed, provide excellent stations. I have free soloed the route myself, yet realize that that is not the only way the climb will be attempted. And yes, they were expensive to install and Utah Exum Guide Service should be thanked for the community service. In addition, those particular types of bolts do not perform well in the Fishers....those on Olympus are more suited to hard rock.
And you said it yourself, "the descent is kind of a pain after such a fun climb"...why not rap it next time...I would speculate you already have!

Good comments James.
I soloed, downclimbed, then soloed this route again today. I looked at the bolts at each station. They didn't seem to ruin my experience any. They are well placed in good locations, hard to see and unobtrusive. I think that they are a good service to the climbing community. It makes it less committing if you are taking beginning climbers up there. It seems a lot nicer to rappel the route than taking people down the gully to the east. That gully is full of loose rock and someday is going to kill somebody. I've climbed this route many times over the years, before there were bolts and just again today. I think they are a good addition. Although there was a time in the past when I had a different attitude about the whole issue. If you are worried about environmental impacts, worry about impacts that actually mean something. A few bolts in the vast array of rock in this world means absolutely NOTHING!

I still call bullshite. No need to re-energize the bolt war debate, but what I am starting to ponder more is Mug's supposed comment to Gary. The "you only place bolts for yourself" remark. If guiding services start bolting for themselves, then every bolt they place is legitimate? The Northwest Territories comment is also lame James. You are comparing a 5.5 route looking over 2 million people with easy to see weather patterns forming to an isolated climb in the Northwest Territories??? Sounds more like you are bragging than making some point.

I know, I know... James Garrett is god-like here. He is the greatest guy that ever lived. It is heresy to speak against him. Well, I don't know James, but I know how his comment above came across to me, and just because he is James Garrett, I am not going to bow down.

However you want to rationalize it, those bolts on that face are NOT necessary. More convenient? Yes, all bolts make life more convenient.

So just because a few bolts in a sea of rock mean nothing (I agree, that ultimately, who cares.) But just because that is true does not make it a valid argument to put bolts on anything that you want to be more convenient. If that is the case, I am heading to Zion with my drill because there are a few places that could use some more "conveniences."

Anyone rapping this route on the anchors better have a football helmet with shoulder pads on and hope everyone down below does, too. Every spring there are new rocks perched all over that cliff. Throwing ropes down and then pulling them would be way more dangerous than just walking down the ridge to the west. It could EASILY kill someone walking up the gully.

There are two drainages to the right (west) of the slabs that you can see from anywhere downtown. Walk about 2 minutes to the west and look down. Go down either one to get back to the base of the climb. They are both steep and easy and full of snakes that bite.

Hi John,
Not being one known to brag and hardly feeling like anybody special (my apologies if I have come off that way), I probably agree with you more than disagree with you. Despite the flattery, I have done at least 5 times as many 5.5 routes in my life than 5.10 routes or harder. The Olympus/LFT analogy still stands in my book, despite the view to a large city...you still have to get down.

The whole bolting "discussion" that has gone down before this has made me reassess my own placement of bolts on older routes to improve or establish rap/belay stations. My international climbing experience did influence how and why I set up those and other stations (on mostly routes I was first climbing). With the case of the Olympus bolts, I was hired by Exum about 5 years ago to place those stations, fully aware that placing any bolt on older routes these days brings scrutiny and controversy. Would I do it today? Probably not and you are very correct, they are not necessary any more or any less than the bolted stations on LFT. And not to be accused of further bragging, but I did climb with Mugs Stump and he didn't have a problem with bolts per se...he clipped and placed them all the time. What seemed to sadden him was the seemingly indiscriminate rap bolting and lack of historical perspective in many climbers attitudes. I can't speak for him, but that was my impression at the time.

With that said, yes, I admit wholeheartedly that the rap/belay anchors on Olympus were placed for convenience. It would not affect my personal experience that much if they were there or not, but I did ultimately place them for myself because I have used them several times since for that very reason, (i.e., I did NOT want to hike around and I did NOT want to free solo down like Ben or down climb). I sense that others agree and they are being used more often than not...is that justification? No, but it is somehow a reason to leave them be rather than chop them. I hope you agree.

James,

You don't have to worry about me chopping anything. I have never, and can't imagine ever becoming a er... ehm... bolt remover (did I say chop? sorry.) Well, maybe I can imagine if someone added bolts to my own routes, I would be a tinge irked. Who is to say? But, I can say that I am not one of those people you need to fear. (So feel free to email me that 17 pitch Desert Beta!)

I am also not trying to say that you aren't a great guy. People do seem to never say anything negative about you though... which makes me suspicious. (kidding.)

I appreciate your comments on Mug's views. Bolts for yourself is a view that has been weighing on my mind a lot lately.

Of course I agree to the idea of leaving them now that they have been placed. But what bothered me was that the nature of the route was changed. I am not some ethical angel or anything. But I do feel strongly about leaving things alone unless it is an extenuating circumstance. It is not the purity of the West Slabs that bothers me so much as the slippery slope of convenience that seems to be infiltrating so many climbers minds as of late. Which is fine and great when you put up your own routes, but IMO a disappointing trend when done to previously established routes.

I will be very disappointed to see the bolts on this route. This route is one for people to learn the "mountaineer" ways. If people want to rap the route then bring slings or whatever. But I agree with Glime when he says -- "But I do feel strongly about leaving things alone unless it is an extenuating circumstance. It is not the purity of the West Slabs that bothers me so much as the slippery slope of convenience that seems to be infiltrating so many climbers minds as of late. Which is fine and great when you put up your own routes, but IMO a disappointing trend when done to previously established routes."

Just my 2 cents...

Well, it sure seems like some in the Salt Lake valley have lost their ethical compass when it comes to retro-bolting / bolting issues.

John and Triznuty's comments are right on the money.

Brad

this thing is fucking nuts compared to what ive heard and read. maybe doing it in late november had somthing to do with topping out at sundown and bushwacking down a gully towards petes rock. luckily we found a trail after cliffing out on a large waterfall and traversing north. we had a car at petes rock but forgot the keys. basically an epic. as for the climbing, it easy but very serious in places (you could probably sew it up with some wierd traverses). we started left of the ruckman guides line topo and ended right of it. did a about half and half simulclimbing and short pitches with 3 people on a sixty meter. it was fun but i am very surprised about some of the picture ive seen of gomers soloing this route. more mountaineering than a day of cragging.

oh and i didnt even see the bolts so you guys should definitly chill about them.

A friend of mine soloed the route yesterday car to car in 2 hours, climbing time 18 minutes. Hope to hear of a faster one soon!

It's been done faster by the late, great, Alex Lowe. 1 hour 35 min, if I remember correct.