Good beginner routes in either cottonwood canyon?

I have been climbing for a couple years, but the majority of my climbing has been done in Utah valley. I just barely moved to Salt lake county, and my friends want to go climbing tomorrow. What are a number of good spots in either of the Cottonwood Canyons For fairly easy toproping routes? A couple of the people that will be coming have never climbed before but are athletic. I don't even know where to start. These canyons are HUGE!

~Derek

storm mountain island in BCC has a bunch of really nice 5.5/5.6 sport routes but someone will need to lead them but they are well placed/spaced bolts. Also the Dogwood crag has some good shorter/easy to set up TR's routes on the picnic end but they may be under water? Grab a guide book-- there is tons of stuff. Have fun and be safe.

The slips is the place I always go to take new people climbing. There's 4 quality routes easier than 5.8 there, that are all nice and long. You will have to lead, but you can lead 1 route and set up top-ropes on all of the routes there from the same giant ledge. It's also very convenient access, all of which contributes to make it an excellent spot for beginners.

Be forewarned, however, that since it's such an excellent spot for beginners, that's exactly what you'll see there. It's a spot that is frequented oftentimes by large parties, many of the time with people who do not know what they're doing. Also, getting across the river to the routes can be extremely dangerous, and has killed people in the past, so be careful when crossing; if the river is too high, consider hiking around the back, or choosing a different area entirely.

Storm Mountain is another good option. There's a cliff, can't remember the name, but it's just north and west of the little pond at storm mountain. It's east facing, and has 3 or 4 quality routes on it, mostly sport, 1 trad. Another excellent place to take beginners.

Good luck!

Where are the slips? Are they in Logan canyon? or one of the cottonwoods? I don't find them in my guidebook.

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cool thanks! So they are the climbs that you can see down and left(across the stream) as you approach the storm mnt camping area on the road? I see them on the overview map now.

Pentapitch in little Cottonwood Canyon - its fantastic! You can climb from one pitch to 5 pitches.

sevrdhed wrote:Also, getting across the river to the routes can be extremely dangerous, and has killed people in the past, so be careful when crossing; if the river is too high, consider hiking around the back, or choosing a different area entirely.

slightly downstream from the Slips properz, just adjacent to the South face, there's a piece of aluminum door (or what would appear to be, at any rate) lying across a couple of boulders.

WHy this method is so much "safer" than the old tyrolean is beyond me, nevertheless, this is the second year I've seen that POS lying there, so use it.

The hike to the Slips is short and fun. You hike around the back from the Storm Mountain picnic area.

If you've climbed a lot in Rock canyon then expect the same behavior from beginners at any of these areas as you would there.

I'd suggest heading over to Storm Mountain and taking a look there (look up the area here on MP to see where to go), then if you want to go to the Slips, take the trail from there.