West Buttress Rock Climbing

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 Following up Pitch 5. Walsh's Groove (West Buttress Eliminate) is the black groove on the left. .

Descents are down the East Terrace.