Type: Trad, 700 ft (212 m), 5 pitches, Grade III
GPS: 40.41269, -105.5516
FA: Michael Covington & Wayne Goss, 1972
Page Views: 44,921 total · 143/month
Shared By: Mark Wyss on Dec 31, 2000 · Updates
Admins: Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC

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Description Suggest change

Hike uphill and west along the base of Sundance, past the huge roof band of Turnkorner to a large, fairly obtuse, but distinct enough right facing dihedral.

P1: (5.7) Climb up cracks in the dihedral, ending at a ledge. The base contains a wide crack on the left and a finger-size crack on the right, which ends about 10 feet up. Climb the right crack to the top, step left on a narrow ledge, and place gear. Proceed upward using a combination of crack and face holds left of the dihedral and roof seen from the ground. Several more cracks and ledges lead to a stance at about 100 feet with a wide crack on the left, which is the start of P2. Belay on the ledge with gear in a flake/crack system on the right. 

P2: (5.8) Climb a corner, following a wide crack to where it peters out. Then face climb up featured rock via discontinuous cracks to a roof/overlap. Make an awkward move to pull over the roof and continue up about 15 feet to a nice horizontal ledge with a splitter crack. Belay here. 

P3: (5.9) Climb up a groove, then stem the corners to a ledge. Then climb up a pod and finger crack over a bulge to another ledge below a large, right-facing corner. After the bulge, the crack slips into a left facing "corner" which really feels/looks like a big flake for the right-hand wall. Make an awkward move into the corner/v-slot. Continue about 15 feet to a giant ledge at the base of a large right facing corner.

P4: (5.8) Climb up the dihedral, exiting left to a large belay ledge

P5: (5.7) Climb a flared chimney/crack to the top. After P4 and the slabs, look for a 12-18 inch wide crack which is narrow in the back and accepts gear from .5 to 3 or bigger. Climb on the left side and inside the crack for about 60 feet. This crack/offwith/chimney is the most parallel-sided feature above the slabs before looking right for a ledge system. 

Head east to the descent gully. More specifically, climbers should look for a relatively large ledge system which contours around the side of the buttress.  It is not at the true summit but level with the east summit. Walk/scramble east looking for tracks of prior climbers. If you get lucky, as of 2021, there is a permanent anchor attached to a large dead tree. The tree sits about 40 ft below the ledge system. The slings pass through a large snap-link. Back this up with a #3 cam or two if you worry about the tree pulling out. Rap, with saddle bagged ropes, down a v-slot overgrown with vegetation. At about 30 meters you'll arrive at a slung horn with two carabiners. This is the second rap station. Rap from here down a clean face/slab to gain the descent trail. (There may be alternative raps but we did not find them in Sept 2021.)

Protection Suggest change

Standard rack.

Descent Suggest change

Rappels + Scramble: The descent begins from The Saddle between Guillotine Wall and Turnkorner Buttress. Scramble to The Saddle. Downclimb or rappel about 300 feet of 4th class to gully below, and scramble eastward down the gully and back around to the base.

Details: Head east to the descent gully. More specifically, climbers should look for a relatively large ledge system which contours around the side of the buttress.  It is not at the true summit but level with the east summit. Walk/scramble east looking for tracks of prior climbers. If you get lucky, as of 2021, there is a permanent anchor attached to a large dead tree. The tree sits about 40 ft below the ledge system. The slings pass through a large snap-link. Back this up with a #3 cam or two if you worry about the tree pulling out. Rap, with saddle bagged ropes, down a v-slot overgrown with vegetation. At about 30 meters you'll arrive at a slung horn with two carabiners. This is the second rap station. Rap from here down a clean face/slab to gain the descent trail. (There may be alternative raps but we did not find them in Sept 2021.)

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