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Power Plant Wall

Utah > Wasatch Range > Central Wasatch > Big Cottonwood… > Power Plant

Description

A great spot for cold weather cragging on a sunny afternoon, the Power Plant Wall faces the Stairs Power Plant and the late day sun. The quartzite here is secluded and varies in quality. On the left, the wall isn't as tall, but the rock is good, on the right, the wall is taller, but a lot more broken too.

Getting There

Park in a small gravel pullout after stairs power plant and before turning the corner.
A faint trail leads to a stack of rocks next to a seam in the large green pipe.
Climb over pipe and wind through the trees until you reach a boulder field.
Turn right and head east along a faint trail to a scree slope.
The faint trail heads straight up the scree and turns left west 30 feet before reaching the top of the loose talus.
Traverse west to the base of a boulder and after passing the boulder, diagonal towards the cliffs.
At this point, some scrambling and route-finding across scrappy shale and loose quartzite is required.
Stay close to the cliff on the right for the easiest scrambling.

Routes from Left to Right

5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 2
● Dull Bulb
Trad
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
 7
● Steepness
Sport
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
● Dull Bulb
 2
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Trad
● Steepness
 7
5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b Sport

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Left to Right-Pipeline Sequence 5.10 R, Steepness 5.10d, Ipecac Crack 5.10d
[Hide Photo] Left to Right-Pipeline Sequence 5.10 R, Steepness 5.10d, Ipecac Crack 5.10d

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Boissal .
Small Lake, UT
[Hide Comment] Shitball approach even by BCC standards. A pair of clippers would make a nice addition to the rack.
Here's what I found to be the least painful: scramble up the talus by a bent green steel post, hop the pipeline, follow the scree to a cairn and tunnel up and west through brush toward the base of the wall.

The 2 pin anchor shown in the Ruckmans guide for the Powerplant wall proper is now two newish 3/8" bolts with one quicklink and a leaver biner. Some tat was used to equalize. Walking off is way easier.
Great looking rock, taller than it appears. Jun 4, 2010