Home - Destinations - People - Partners - Forum - Photos - What's New
 ADVANCED
Upper Blacktail Butte

Show routes:
Select route...
Blitzkrieg 
Crackin' the Cherry 
Goldstein 
Graceland 
Muy Macho 
Power Trip 
Red Chili 
Rock Candy Nugget 
Tec DC-9 
Wild at Heart 
Winston 

Upper Blacktail Butte

Submitted By: Andy Laakmann on Jul 19, 2006
Elevation: 6,700 feet

Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event 
  Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!

Description 

Blacktail's "softer" side... though that's a relative term here. There are more moderate routes in Upper Blacktail than Lower Blacktail, but the best climbing still comes in at 5.11. Wild at Heart and Graceland are the best 11s at Blacktail. And Crackin' the Cherry is dang fun too.


Getting There 

From the Blacktail parking lot, walk South on a well developed trail for 10-15 minutes. The trail heads up the hill and crosses a small creek. After about 5-10 minutes heading uphill, look for a trail to the left through the talus. This trail takes you to the Middle Wall, and then continues to the Upper Wall.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Upper Blacktail Butte:
Power Trip   5.9     Sport, Alpine, 1 pitch, 50 feet   
Red Chili   5.10a     Sport, Alpine, 80 feet   
Crackin' the Cherry   5.11a     Sport, Alpine, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Wild at Heart   5.11b     Sport, Alpine, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Graceland   5.11b/c     Sport, Alpine, 50 feet   
Blitzkrieg   5.11d PG13     Sport, Alpine, 1 pitch, 70 feet   
Browse More Classics in Upper Blacktail Butte

Comments on Upper Blacktail Butte Add Comment
Show which comments —
By Jim Howe
Sep 17, 2006

The first routes on upper Blacktail were bolted by me with other friends over the course of a couple of seasons in the very early 90s while I was guiding for JHMG.

I bolted Graceland on rappel (with a 3/8" hand drill) and really liked the rock up there.

Keith Maas named "Wild at Heart" after he picked the line and we cleaned and bolted it. It is a very small memory of friend killed in an avalanche in Logan UT around 1997. I miss him still. He was "Wild at Heart".

We also did Muy Macho and a couple of other routes. It was fun to have the area to ourselves and have some moderate routes to climb.

Greg Miles chipped a route that I was working on. It is to the left of "Graceland". The offensive drilled undercling hold is at the crux. I never bothered to put in the other bolts, which would make it a friendly climb. I did not want to be associated with it after that. If anyone would like to add bolts it's OK by me. The spirit of upper blacktail is pure sport. I just think it sucks to chip/enhance holds.