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Desert Shield Buttress

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Desert Shield 
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Desert Shield Buttress

Submitted By: Andrew Wellman on Apr 14, 2003
Administrators: Andrew Gram, Nathan Fisher, Perin Blanchard
Views: 10,379 page views

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Description 

This is the prow that Desert Shield climbs. The standard descent is to rappel Desert Shield.


Getting There 

Past big bend on the Zion Canyon road. This buttress is on the right side of the road just before Leaning Wall. The only thing separating it from Leaning Wall is a large broken area with an arch that the Spaceshot rappels go down.



Featured Route For Desert Shield Buttress
Desert Shield in sun/storm

Desert Shield 5.11a C3  UT : Zion National Park : Desert Shield Buttress
This is an amazing route, combining both excellent free climbing and moderate clean aid on an amazing headwall. This is an excellent step up from the standard Zion trade routes but is really not that serious.The anchors are all bolted and it is typical to rap the route to descend. I have read that it is wise to fix a rope between the 6th and 4th pitch anchors for retreat (which we did not do). You can do this rap with 60 meter ropes and land on a...[more]


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By Bryan Bornholdt
Sep 25, 2005

I did this route several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The free climbing is nice and the aid is great. It requires a wide range of gear for the free climbing and I used a triple set of brass offsets on the thin clean aid, primarily the larger ones. We used TCUS, Aliens, etc. This is a heads-up route but is enjoyable for experienced parties. The "death blocks" can be avoided by staying to the right but it is awkward to traverse in from the left. We had no trouble rapping the route without fixing a retreat rope. Just make certain that you back up your belay with an autoblock or such as you swing over to the anchors below the headwall.