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The Steep Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map

Routes in The Steep

L › R R › L A › Z

	Ashes S 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b
	Blue Note S 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c
	Bunkweed S 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
	Chossy Offwidth S 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
	Delt Melt S 5.12 7b+ 27 VIII+ 26 E6 6b
	Dr. Evil S 5.12 7b+ 27 VIII+ 26 E6 6b
	Fat Bastard S 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
	First Blood Sport S 5.11- 6c 22 VIII+ 22 E3 5c
	Glenn's Route S 5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a
	Goldmember S 5.11d 7a 24 VIII 25 E5 6a
	Green Monster/George of the Jungle Var. S 5.11b/c 6c+ 23 VIII- 24 E4 6a
	Johnny Rotten S 5.12 7b+ 27 VIII+ 26 E6 6b
	Lusk for Life S 5.11a/b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
	Mini-me S 5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
	SE Face S 5.11a/b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
	Slappin the Johnson S 5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a
	Spiderman S 5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a
	Stepping Into Blue Sky S 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a
	Stone Free S 5.11a/b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
	Ten Years After S 5.12a/b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6a
	Tony's Route AKA Cres-sent S 5.12 7b+ 27 VIII+ 26 E6 6b
	Two Birds Too Stoned S 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b
	Unknown S 5.8+ 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c

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Elevation:	7,500 ft
GPS:	32.419, -110.755 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	25,037 total · 138/month
Shared By:	jbak . on Apr 10, 2006
Admins:	Greg Opland, Luke Bertelsen, JJ Schlick, Brian Boyd Page Updates (admin only)

Description

This Tony Lusk discovery is one of the best small sport crags on the mountain - has lots of stars and very few.....lemmons.

A rarity on Mt. Lemmon because its summit is reachable only by technical means. You can solo after the Two Birds anchor or do a 2nd sparsely-protected pitch of Spiderman to get to the top.

Historical note: the existence of this crag was known back in the early 1980s. But bad rock and lack of protectable lines relegated it to the forget-about-it zone. Tony Lusk was the first to view it through the eyes of a sport developer. It still required a lot of work and cleaning though. Cres Snyder probably contributed more than anyone to the cleanup effort.

Getting There

Since the 2020 fire cleared out tons of old vegetation and debris, it may be that the old approach is obsolete.

Park at Marshall Gulch (gate is closed from Dec 15 to Mar 1 making for fewer parking spaces and a longer hike).

Take the Aspen trail south out of Marshall Gulch. Hike for 10-12 min until you hit the Wilderness sign. At this point hop off the trail and head east into the 30 yard wide 2020 fire break. After 100 yards or so you will hit the ridge crest and you can see Ireland way across Sabino canyon. There is also a BIG stump here with a big cairn on it. Turn south at the big stump and follow cairns, footprints and blazes until you can see the top of The Steep to the south. Approaching this way will put you on the Spiderman side of The Steep.

This path takes you VERY near to the Echo crag. The path to the Steep passes just 50 yards west and above Echo.

It takes 15 min to get to the ridge crest near Echo. 10 more will get you to The Steep.

23 Total Climbs

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Classic Climbing Routes at The Steep

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.

5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b 18 ● Ashes Sport
5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c 4 ● Blue Note Sport
5.11b/c 6c+ 23 VIII- 24 E4 6a 37 ● Green Monster/George of the Jung… Sport
5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a 6 ● Stepping Into Blue Sky Sport 2 pitches
5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a 32 ● Spiderman Sport
5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a 22 ● Glenn's Route Sport
5.12a 7a+ 25 VIII+ 25 E5 6a 8 ● Slappin the Johnson Sport
5.12a/b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6a 24 ● Ten Years After Sport
5.12 7b+ 27 VIII+ 26 E6 6b 27 ● Tony's Route AKA Cres-sent Sport