West Buttress  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  922. Good page?    Administrators:  Chris Owen, Euan Cameron, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Chris Owen on Mar 9, 2010 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Marc Chrysanthou on the ledge at the top of Pitch ...

Description 

As a definite counterpoint to the steepness of the buttress to the east, the West Buttress is a wonderland of leaning slabs, one overlapping the next starting at the Black Cleft with Longland's (the second climb at Cloggy after Pigott's, its start avoids the starting overhangs) and ending with, for the sake of this description, Bloody Slab.

But there's a rite of passage for these slabs; overhangs guard the start.

Two years after Longland's Colin Kirkus put up Great Slab, brilliantly finding a weakness in the starting overhang on the right. Maurice Linnel found Narrow Slab shortly after, but gained it by making a complicated traverse from the start of Longland's, including the famous "Linnel's Leap". In 1952, the affluent John Streetly came out of nowhere and claimed the major prize of the bold and horrifying Bloody Slab before heading back to warmer parts of the world.

White Slab was an obvious climb long before it was done, originally known as The Concrete Slab, it was finally climbed in 1956 by Ron Moseley, after abortive attempts by Brown and Whillans. Whillans had already claimed Slanting Slab an atmospheric outing to the right of Great Slab involving a hallmark burly overhanging start.

West Buttress Eliminate (Baz Ingle and Pete Crew 1962) is a very good climb which winds its way around and between the already existing climbs involving the infamous Walsh's Groove.

Descents are down the East Terrace.

Getting There 

Major buttress to the right of the East Buttress.

The Classics

Featured Route For West Buttress

White Slab 5.10a A0 R  International : United Kingdom : ... : West Buttress

The hourglass shaped white slab is quite distinctive on the approach. This is one of the great Welsh slab climbs, if not the greatest, it's a big atmospheric mountain route, especially on a dank and cloudy day. The slabs are more steep thin edging than smearing.1. 5.10a - From the top of the shattered pinnacle traverse go down and left along the lip of the overhang, passing a shallow groove (used to be a pin here, not sure anymore) to another groove, up this to a large flake and belay.2. 5.7 - ...[more]   Browse More Classics in International