ECM West Face info

Does anybody have any info on the series of domes to the west of the South Ridge of ECM? I believe the MP page has a photo that labels them "The Bluffs". It really looks like it should have some routes and from what I've found there seems to be at least one bolted route on one of the domes on YouTube.

Either way I'll be doing a little exploring of my own once the weather cools down enough for a good ol hellish SD bushwhack.

The bluffs

You are probably going to here a lot of crickets.

Over the years we've gathered that this area - The Bluffs- doesn't enjoy the same ease of access and development as the other areas at ECM, and the rock quality is supposedly much less solid. 

There's some trails that approach it from the right but it's miles of heinous bushwhacking and the homeowners below it are kind of hostile so you can't take any shortcuts.

After all the torturous bushwacking you get to a low angle face that's long but maybe 5.7

I made it to just below the base trying to break trail, gave up because of ticks

A. B.wrote:

There's some trails that approach it from the right but it's miles of heinous bushwhacking and the homeowners below it are kind of hostile so you can't take any shortcuts.

After all the torturous bushwacking you get to a low angle face that's long but maybe 5.7

I made it to just below the base trying to break trail, gave up because of ticks

When did you go? I’m curious about tick season. 

A. B.wrote:

There's some trails that approach it from the right but it's miles of heinous bushwhacking and the homeowners below it are kind of hostile so you can't take any shortcuts.

After all the torturous bushwacking you get to a low angle face that's long but maybe 5.7

I made it to just below the base trying to break trail, gave up because of ticks

How many pitches are we talking? 

If you look carefully on google earth, there’s a long traversing trail that’s fairly level all the way from the quarry below the mountaineer’s area to the vicinity of The Bluffs. It’s about two miles long.

Thank you guys for your help! What do you think about accessing the face from above? I figured the ECM trail could get you closer to the face at the cost of a few more added miles and some very heinous looking bushwhacking. 

The trail I mentioned above looks well established to this point, somebody has put a lot of work into it - see upper photo. It’s about 900 vertical ft to the base of the big dome from there.

Approaching from above is a bad idea in comparison

Thanks Kevin! I'll have to go scout out the trail when the weather cools down a bit more

I would guess somebody has a plan to continue that trail to the base, but they’re not advertising it. It could have been pushed farther after this satellite image was taken

Kevin Worrallwrote:

I would guess somebody has a plan to continue that trail to the base, but they’re not advertising it.

Sounds like they may need a hand, if I run into anyone developing the trail I'll make sure to offer them some help.

I know who built that trail and they no longer live in the area.  

I was up there last May breaking trail in from the left.  Did not make it to the face.  Cairns are still there.  Approach from the electric tower with the large nest directly above the park

Lucas Shipleywrote:

Does anybody have any info on the series of domes to the west of the South Ridge of ECM? I believe the MP page has a photo that labels them "The Bluffs". It really looks like it should have some routes and from what I've found there seems to be at least one bolted route on one of the domes on YouTube.

Either way I'll be doing a little exploring of my own once the weather cools down enough for a good ol hellish SD bushwhack.

I'll be back in SD in a month for a couple of months.  Hit me up and let's go.