BETA PHOTO: Cerberus Gendarme showing access trail and Touchst...
Description
The Cerberus Gendarme formation is on the east side of Zion Canyon - no need to cross the river!
The main attraction is the 8-pitch Touchstone Wall (IV 5.9 C2), a relatively short, but slightly harder wall in comparison to Moonlight Buttress. The route is a good choice for a first big wall venture, as the route goes straight up and retreat, if necessary, is straightforward (as opposed to Spaceshot past pitch 4).
Getting There
Take the shuttle to the Big Bend stop (as for Prodigal Sun, Moonlight Buttress). The Cerberus Gendarme lies directly across the river from Moonlight Buttress. From the shuttle stop, backtrack the road for a couple hundred yards to the climbers' access trail. Look for the posted trail markers and please use them as to prevent unnecessary erosion! Approach time: 5 minutes.
This crack is the prominent corner to the left of Scarlet Begonias. Most folks just climb to the chain anchors just above the flake, making the climb a 5.10b. The 5.11c comes past the first set of anchors and follows a finger crack over a small roof about 50 ft further.It is fantastic! Perfect hands in the corner and then pulling the flake is a tad exposed but very fun. Very sustained classic crack climbing! Great route!...[more]
My partner and I climbed a couple of the base routes on Cerberus a few days ago. We felt that they were of very high quality. We climbed Cherry Crack to the first anchor and Fails of Power to it's first anchor. Both routes were great and the other lines in this area look awesome too. If you have a little extra time in the park I would highly suggest getting on some of these lines.
Cerberus Gendarme
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