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Witches Cauldron
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Witches Cauldron 


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Administrators: Chris treggE, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: TravisMelin on Jun 22, 2007

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BETA PHOTO: Witches Caudron. The amount of trash was actually...

Description 

Spray-painted walls, busted beer bottles, and cups strewn everywhere from the frequent underage drinking parties would keep most away from this La Crosse crag. However the local climber will find that there are several super classic lines here that would be a pity to pass up because of the mess. BEWARE - Any ledge under 8 feet up may very well have broken glass on it, large rope tarp is a must to avoid glass shards.


Getting There 

The first pull out after the Alpine Inn on the left. Park around the big oak tree, hike west up the road 10 feet, then cut left and down into to woods on a good trail. Approach takes about 5 min.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Witches Cauldron:
Strongest Man Alive   5.11a/b     Sport, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Yeast of Burden   5.11c/d     Sport, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Burned at the Stake   5.12d PG13     Sport, 1 pitch, 40 feet   
Browse More Classics in Witches Cauldron

Featured Route For Witches Cauldron
SteveZ getting into the business

Yeast of Burden 5.11c/d  WI : Grandad's Bluff : Witches Cauldron
This route would be classic at any Wisconsin crag. Climb first 2 bolts to an OK rest, a couple crux lie back moves take you to the left and up on crimpers to a jug just below the anchors. The real tough guys clip off the ledge just above the anchors....[more]   Browse More Classics in WI


Photos of Witches Cauldron Slideshow Add Photo
Sorry for the poor quality.  Red circles are the anchors.  White arrow is the far left 11a.  Green arrow is the tricky 11+ Yeast of Burdon.  Red Arrow is the 12+ Burned at the Stake.  Yellow arrow is the 5.9 unnamed.  The left three are steep enough to probably not have much glass on the holds.

BETA PHOTO: Sorry for the poor quality. Red circles are the a...

The sweet graffiti.  Jay is looking up at the 12+.

BETA PHOTO: The sweet graffiti. Jay is looking up at the 12+.

Yup, bring a rope bag or a tarp to flake your rope onto...  This is the base of the climbs, the whole area is like this.

BETA PHOTO: Yup, bring a rope bag or a tarp to flake your rope...


Comments on Witches Cauldron Add Comment
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By JJ Schlick
Administrator
From: Flagstaff, AZ
Sep 7, 2008

Well, yah, judging from the photos, things haven't changed all that much at Witches... It's a shame, but what can you do about underage drinking? Yeast of Burden was one of my first TR projects. I actually popped a knuckle on that thing...

When I was in highschool we used to do regular glass clean ups both at Witches and Georges point, hauling out 5 gallon buckets of glass and various other party necessities. You know, dirty panties, used condems, old matresses...

For a while I maintained a garbage can at Georges, but with no releif in sight...

What can you do? I hope the routes are climbing well, and that maybe some more local highschool kids will pick up the sport and care just a little more.

JJ

By Chris treggE
Administrator
From: Madison, WI
Sep 7, 2008

The graffiti and glass sort of add to the charm. The pics I posted were in no way supposed to be a slam. I have gathered what seemed like 100's of blue plastic cups from the "firepit" before, but it was actually pretty clean yesterday. The routes here are good, though I would say not nearly as straightforward as at Meader or Adidas (for better or worse). I sandbagged us with my faulty memory-- I thought I remembered the far left route being 10a from this site, and as an onsight warmup I was like, "holy crap, 10a??? I suck!!" Anyway it's good to get sandbagged every once in a while, esp. if it turns out it's just your own senility. Also yeah, Yeast is a good route, surprisingly tricky crux section for 11+. This is a nice little area away from the main Grandad bluff.

By Garrett Soper
From: Duluth, Minnesota
Nov 17, 2008

Is it possible to approach from the top to put a TR on the far left route?

By Chris treggE
Administrator
From: Madison, WI
Dec 31, 2008

I would think so, just not sure what your rap anchor would be, a tree? Look here and it looks like nathan raps in, so you should be able to as well. Or just lead it, it's safe lead.