Redgarden - S Buttress Rock Climbing

This section of the cliff is the right most end of Redgarden Wall. It is arbitrarily cut off after the large, obvious, dihedral system which is called Redguard. We will call this South Buttress.

This section of the cliff is characterized by challenging route finding, slickened rock, and sparse protection options. Perhaps, this is part of that which helped to link the adjective "spicy" with Eldorado Canyon climbing. If close protection is what you require to enjoy climbing, you should climb elsewhere. Routes vary from 30 to 600 feet in this section.

This is an amazing section of the Redgarden Wall when considering the early history of climbing in Eldorado Canyon SP. History emanates from the rock here and some of it is documented in B. Godfrey's & D. Chelton's Climb! Given the crude equipment available in the mid 1950s, it is awe-inspiring to imagine our climbing forefathers wander up these cliff as they did. In 1956, Dick Bird, Dallas Jackson, Cary Huston, and Chuck Murley climbed what had then be considered unclimbable, Redguard, with Dick Bird leading the first pitch, dubbed the Bird walk, and Chuck Murley deciding to give the last pitch "one last go" on their 3rd and finally successful attempt. There is also the story of the amazing Layton Kor in 1957 getting stuck on these walls requiring a rope from Ben Chidlaw to rescue him. Kor & Chidlaw that year followed this by ascending the very runout route, The Bulge. Subsequently, Kor rappelled down for possibly Colorado's first rap-bolted, retrobolt when others encouraged him to make his line safer for the masses. Thank you, Mr. Kor! Genesis, originally climbed with RURPs in 1962 by J. Turner & B. Culp, became one of early Colorado routes trained for specifically, and was freed by the indomitable Jim Collins in 1979 after training to the point of blood blisters for this specific climb (as documented in G. Randall's Vertigo Games.

Savories include: the adventurous Pseudo Sidetrack 5.4 s; The Bulge, 5.7 s; the ground-breaking Redguard, 5.8+ s; the ever-popular Anthill Direct, 5.9 s; the exciting Blackwalk, 5.10b s; the mind-control Pansee Sauvage, 5.11b s; Exodus, 5.11b; the super-popular C'est La Vie, 5.9 P1 or 5.11c; the control piece Back in Black to Black Top, the delicious Le Boomerang, 5.11d; Book of Numbers, 5.12c/d s; the former test-piece Genesis, 5.11a P1 or 5.12d s; the overhanging Desdichado, 5.13c.

Descents vary. Those routes going to the top of the wall typically involve the East Slabs Descent. This can be exposed and intimidating when wet. Also, the last bit can be challenging in the spring with a wet slab finish or funky downclimb down a chimney. Routes that partially up the wall will typically involve rappels.

Some come and play here, but bring your honed skills and verve, and enjoy!