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Most iconic/dense climbing faces in the continental US?
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Hi, I have been making climbing lines posters for the past year. Mostly around Chamonix, where I am originally from, but also a few in Switzerland and in Yosemite. You can see what they look like on www.alexbuisse.com. A book is also in the works for this fall (but only France/Italy focused). I am currently in central PA and planning a massive road trip in mid-May with my family. Part of the reason is to go capture more material for posters. I have a pretty solid itinerary but am looking for additional suggestions of what you feel are the most iconic climbing faces in the lower 48. One key point is that it needs to be relatively dense so that a good number of routes fit in a single image (though I can do a super wide panorama if need be). Here is what I currently have, but would love more suggestions (both places I haven’t added and which specific cliffs are the best/densest):
Any help much appreciated! Thanks |
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And this is what they look like:     |
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Black Canyon of the Gunnison, maybe |
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Very cool - those pictures are awesome. LCC in Utah - particularly the north side of the canyon - the initial granite monoliths are absolutely packed with routes. Indian Creek - would be tough simply because of how spread out it is, and how many routes would be 'out of image' because of the cornered nature of the rock. At best (and most recognizable) would be a high/wide view of Donnelly + Supercrack Buttress. Red Rock - Black Velvet. It would also be cool to see everything at the first and second pull outs. Lone Peak Cirque above Salt Lake city: cirque bowl with high concentration of multipitch routes. Cochise Stronghold in AZ: massive granite domes rising out of the desert with many routes on them. I know you said US, but The Chief in Squamish would be perfect. |
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While not nearly as classic, for vantage WA the sunshine wall, and the tiers below it are quite dense as far as climbing in concerned. Another contender would be the gunks, that may be too long for what you want though. |
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The posters are very nice! The Incredible Hulk might be a candidate. In Tuolumne Meadows, maybe Fairview Dome. Both of those, you can get great photos of the whole formation. Medlicott has more iconic lines than Fairview, like the Bachar Yerian and others, but I'm not sure about getting a good photo of the entire formation. |
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East face of Mt. Whitney! Awesome posters Edit to add: you can get a good photo of Eldorado Canyon with the west ridge in the foreground and redgarden behind, very high route density! |
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These posters are sick. Heavily considering buying a couple. |
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Awesome posters. You already have it in your list but The Dihedrals at Smith Rock has a great concentration of classics. Liberty Bell Group at North Cascades would be cool. Perhaps The Chief at Squamish too! |
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I don't think Endless Wall would actually work all that well, but Whitesides and Laurel Knob could be good options in the Southeastern US. |
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The Gunks Trapps and Near Trapps both have pretty crazy high route density. Though they would be pretty hard to do posters showing every route due to the aspect ratio of the cliff. For example, here's a drawn poster that only shows a portion of the routes (less than half, I'm pretty sure): https://www.rockandsnow.com/2986/Trapps-Line-Drawing-Poster/ |
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I second Incredible Hulk. Beautiful work, I look forward to seeing the Smith Rock posters! |
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Very cool and lovely photos! I think you have a pretty good list going. I might not include Ancient Art, as there aren't many other routes on that particular formation. Lots of routes in the Fisher Towers as a whole, but getting them into one shot might be challenging. Same with the Creek - you'd need a lot of different pictures to capture everything. For some of these, you have the issue that the formation is either round (Rainier, Devil's tower) or very zigzaggy (Smith), so you'd need to do some stitching or have multiple shots to capture it. I love the idea of doing Middle Cathedral in the Valley. It gets such little love compared to El Cap and if it were by itself it would be one of the most sought-after walls in the country. Also to add (larger formations):
And an incomplete list of crags that come to mind:
I feel like this is barely scratching the surface! |
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Cirque of the Towers, WY (Not sure if it meets your density requirement) |
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Tahquitz Rock is a good candidate. Everything else I was going to add has already been suggested or is something you’re planning on doing. Awesome posters! |
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Seneca rocks would be great for this type of project. Although it has "already been done" in that there's a similar poster with the climbing routes overlaid, i think in the parking lot (but you could do it better!). What about rumney? Not sure if theres a good vantage point where you could see a large part of the cliffline. Selfishly, i would pay a good amount of money for a high res poster of just predator - such an aesthetic line. Just because you're close - you could probably get some nice shots of safe harbor. But its not really iconic, more for practice dealing with long skinny shots. It has decent route density. |
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Superb work. Ordered a pair of posters for myself and my partner! Do Fitz Roy next! |
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Little Devil in Colorado has to be part of this. |
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Others have made the suggestions that came to my mind first, but I think the needles could be a decent candidate. Awesome photos! |
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The Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon! I'll preorder one and so will half of the climbers in Boulder. Also, consider the dihedrals at Smith. |
Claudine Longetwrote: that's the first one that came to mind when i saw these posters. if you had 3 posters side-by-side you might be able to capture the essence of the little devil. tough to get good photo conditions though, because is so fucking alpine! |
