Mother's Buttress Rock Climbing

The Mother's Buttress area was one of the first areas in the canyon to be developed, and with good reason. Excellent stone with continuous cracks, excellent solid face features, and steep unbroken rock make this area a true gem. The Mother's Buttress is broken into three main crags: Lower, Middle, and Upper Mother's Buttresses. A smaller crag, the Cave Buttress, is also accessed from the same approach, simply walk up and right once you reach the cliff.

Lower Mother's contains a great collection of single pitch cracks from 5.7 to 5.10, and is often a popular area for groups to set up top-ropes. The alcove on Middle Mother's contains the best collection of single pitch 5.11s in the canyon, with a few harder, and longer lines thrown in. Upper Mother's is home to a few classics including Questions and Answers, the undisputed classic multi-pitch in the canyon.

The majority of climbing on Mother's Buttress is on property that is currently owned by local climbers, but will soon be held by a climbing non-profit: the Western Colorado Climbers Coalition. Due to the way the property lines were drawn some climbs on the right side of Lower Mother's and all those on Cave Buttress are owned by another, and this parcel is currently for sale. Stay tuned for more developments.

As of July 2012, the WCCC with the help of volunteers, donations, and grants has been completed the Mother's Buttress project. A special thank you to the Petersons, who bought this property to keep it in climbers’ hands and subdivided it so the cliff side would be open to the public for future generations. The Access Fund also played a key role in this project.