[Hide Comment] Great route. The gear list is about right on, except that you probably only need triples in the #1-#2 friend range. Maybe because I wasn't firing on all cylinders yet, the 1st pitch seems like the crux of the route. There is an 11a variation which starts around the corner to the right, but it doesn't look nearly as good as the 11c way. Considering its dramatic nature, the 5th pitch may be the best pitch I've done in the desert.

Overall, I found this to be a more physically demanding route than Monkeyfinger... there is certainly more 5.11 on this route. Also, the 2nd and 3rd pitches are strenuous, wide, and long. The double rope technique above isn't completely necessary on pitch 4, but may be warranted if the leader is sketched by the crappy 1st bolt (the crux is protected by the good bolt) and wants the protection afforded by the rap anchor above. To protect the follower if single rope technique is used, the leader can always backclean the gear down to the 2nd bolt.

Though this is a quite good hot weather route, it isn't in the shade all day. The route has a lot of eastern exposure, so the upper part of the route sees a lot of sun during the high-sun months (May to mid-August) in the morning until a little past noon-1pmish. There is definitely no insentive in an alpine start, since you'll want to hit the upper part of the route while it's in the shade. Jun 14, 2004

[Hide Comment] What an outstanding route! Every pitch was great!

I did not find the above described double rope technique on the traverse to be necessary. I climbed the chimney, clipped the old bolt and equalized it to a stud (using a wired stopper). Between these two protection points I had confidence to climb the "not very hard" moves to get to the next bolt which was bomber. From here you come to the traverse moves and have the choice of going low or high. I went high and the moves were very reasonable and not at all scary. After pulling the traverse it is 25 feet or so of much easier climbing to the anchor. The swing potential for the follower is minimal since the belay is so much higher than the traverse.

I took a similar rack to that described above and would make a few modifications. If I were to do it again I would take singles of the smallest TCUs/Aliens then doubles of everything else except for the #1 Friend/0.5 Camalot size which I would take 3 of for the spectacular 5.11 pitch up high. The #5 Camalot I found to be truly "optional"; I placed it but it was hardly necessary. If doing it again, I would take either 2 #4 Camalots or a #4 and #4.5 Camalot. Jun 17, 2005

[Hide Comment] Admin Note: This was the description Dave Goldstein posted for Shune's Buttress, though the route was incorrectly posted as being on Spearhead. Both Shune's Buttress entries are great and complement each other, so I am posting it here.


Deserves its burgeoning reputation as a North American classic. Varied climbing, sound rock and no throwaway pitches. It faces north and can be enjoyably climbed in very hot weather.

This route is not on The Spearhead; it is across the road, on Red Arch Mountain. If a separate area is created for Red Arch mountain, this route description should be moved there.

Historical note: the town is named after Shunesburg a small village which used to exist near the base of the buttress.

Approach: Get off the bus at the grotto picnic area. Walk east and north through the picnic area for a couple of hundred yards until you intersect a creek which descends just to the north of Red Arch Mountain. Follow a fading trail east up the creek (starts on the south side of the creek) for a few hundred yards, passing some concrete structures. Eventually this trail fades to nothing at which point you head up the slopes to the south of the creek to the base of Shunes, following a trail if you're lucky. Shunes starts in a prominent, left-facing conrer; the trail contours to the right of this corner, traversing back left at the base of the wall. Approach time from bus stop: about 20 minutes.

P1: 5.11c, 150'. Some warm up. Starts w/ 10' of easy wide then 80' of thin laybacking to a ledge w/ two drilled pins where a belay is possible but not preferred. A moderate wide section (#5 Camalot helpful) leads to a cruxy thin section w/ nut pro and a fixed anchor at a ledge. Not too bad for the rating.

P2: 5.10, 50+m. We went straight up moderate corner cracks for about 120' to a ledgey area and a cave like feature at the back of which is a bolt. Above this is a few feet of 5.10 offwidth which is a real pain if you clipped the bolt. There is a fixed anchor and a hanging belay about 20' above the OW. There is a 5.10 variation which leads to the cave on the right. Might be a good idea to break either variation into two pitches.

P3 5.9, 150'. Continue up the corner crack system, mostly hands and chimney, past a rap station on the left to a non-fixed belay on a ledge in chimney about 20' below another rap station.

P4 5.11-, 50'. We coverted from hauling to double ropes for this pitch. If you use double ropes, the following description should provide a serene experience for both the leader and follower; with a single rope someone's going to be gripped. Climb up the chimney and clip the fixed anchor w/ one rope. Downclimb back to the belay and traverse left onto the face and clip an uninspiring 1/4" bolt with the 2nd rope. Climb straight up (facey, about 10-, a couple micro cams), reach left and clip a 2nd, better bolt with the 1st rope. Downclimb partway to the first bolt and traverse left (crux) about 10' to an arete and easier ground. Go up about 20' to a fixed belay/rap station on the right of the arete. After the 2nd bolt, clip only a single rope (probably doesn't matter which one) to eliminate big swing potential for the follower.

P5. 5.11c, 110'. On the Indian Creek five star scale, this pitch gets at least five stars -- non stop action, full-on exposure and just enough rests to allow you to savor the experience. Make an unlikely traverse left around the arete to gain a crack which leads up through a roof and headwall. The crack starts as green aliens, widens to #1 Friends below the roof (tech crux), 1.5 Friends at the roof (mental/endurance crux) and hands beyond. Once above the roof you can catch you breath, admire the straightshot view to the ground and contemplate the sinuous handcrack in the concave headwall above. Romp up this (#2 & 2.5 Friends) to a hanging belay at a pod; there is a bolt at this belay which is backed up with hand sized pieces. Rack: omit the nuts and pieces bigger than a #3 Friend; bring everything else.

P6: 5.9, 110'. Continue in the crack which now diagnals left with many Red Rocks like face holds to a cozy nook.

p7: 5.8 70'. (No problem linking this and P6). Same as P6 but shorter and easier. Once at the top, walk 20' through bushes to establish an anchor in poor rock.

Descent: From the 7th anchor, walk right/south 20' to a rap station. NOTE: the 1st two raps do not go down the route -- the route is rejoined at the station just above the 3rd belay. R1: Rap straight down from here for about 150' to a bolted station on the face.R2: About 110' angling left to the slings above the 3rd belay. There is a good stance here.R3: Coil one rope, the rap with the other (_100') to the anchor (completely hanging) on the left face in the middle of pitch 3.R4: Another single 60M rope rap to the hanging stance at the end of P2.(R3 and R4 can be combined into a single 50+M rap, but doing this seemed to us to significantly increase the risk posed by rope eating cracks on these raps.)R5: Resume DOUBLE rope raps, 50M to anchor at end of first pitch.R6: 150' to ground.

This route seems like a soft grade IV, before you do the rappels. Mar 8, 2007

[Hide Comment] One of the best routes in the desert! Awesome and sustained. The OW pitch is fairly burly for "5.10"... The upper splitter pitch is spectacular! Take care on the rappels and treat yourself to a cold brew and meal at "Oscar's" in Springdale afterwards. Aug 17, 2007

[Hide Comment] One of the best routes I have done in Zion and a 5 star route for anywhere!! I would endorse the Goldstein ratings, see route description above, for the crux pitches. Don't be intimidated by the 11+ ratings stated in the initial route description post. Since Evan is a 5.13 climber he probably can't tell the difference between 11c and 11+. It all feels 5.easy to him. 11c is probably closer to correct. Unless you do it in the heat. Like my buddies Dave V and Dirk H. Then's it probably 12 something.\;o)

The roof to splitter headwall pitch is amazing. It's got such incredible position, exposure and is such a beautiful pitch. Enjoy this one, its a gem!! Mar 26, 2008

[Hide Comment] Amazing Route...Agree with the above comments. Having done this one and Monkey Finger I also agree that this route is the more difficult and strenous of the two. It certainly requires a wider range of skills. Be very careful on the raps...stuck ropes can be a big issue on this one. May 13, 2008

[Hide Comment] A good climb. I actually puked after following the crux! I'll spare the details. May 16, 2008

[Hide Comment] enjoyed doing Shunes w/ Mike Sokoloff. 36degrees when we got on the shuttle at 8:30- thought about getting on monkey fingers instead for the sun exposure- glad we did it despite not feeling anything but pain in my toes for half the route. we'd forgot our stoppers at home, cleaned Springdale out when we purchased 5 nuts from the 2 shops- I think we only used 3 of them. Mike led the initial crux pitch (hard), the 10b fingers 2nd pitch variation, combined the 5.9chimney w/ then 11a traverse(felt easier than that to me). I lead the OW and the upper crux pitch (also felt easier than I'd expected). we did one dbl rope rap from the summit, then 4 single raps w/ a 70M. No EPICS! drinking home brews by 3p. Oct 17, 2008

[Hide Comment] Great route!

A few notes:

Bring small nuts for the first pitch.

Bring medium nuts for the second pitch (5.10 fingers variation)

Climb the OW as a 210 foot super-pitch if you want comfy belays. Bring a new #5 Camalot. A 70m rope is nice.

Bring slings for the last pitch, it wanders.

Double rope rappel the first rap, then single rope rappel to the top of the chimney,
then single again, then double, double, double.


Wow, this route is awesome! Nov 24, 2008

[Hide Comment] The wide pitch was hard, the anchor at the top of the route seemed marginal as I recall it being equalized shrubs. Absolutely classic climb, not to be missed! Nov 5, 2009

[Hide Comment] agree with the above mentioned rap beta: double rope, double rope, then single all the way down. It is only three single raps with a seventy. old chopped ropes are readily used as pro in the offwidth's! A #5 would have been nice; glad I didn't have to lead the wide stuff.

awesome! but a bit cold... Mar 28, 2010

[Hide Comment] After pitch 2 the belays seem to be in odd places to me. There's a good hands-off stance halfway up the entire crack system of p3-p5 (= halfway up pitch 4) where there is a big rock lying on a ledge. The 2 existing belays are both hanging belays. Does not make sense to me. Climbing the crack as a 70 meter pitch was no option to me; to long, not enough gear, no stamina, etc. The hanging belays sucked (no natural stances) and are just plain silly when there's a perfect natural stance halfway up the entire crack system!

Chimney pitch and traverse pitch can be combined easily. Traverse is not hard (feet) and not scary for the follower.

Tip to all rebolters on sandstone: use good glued bolts. Don't waste time and money on ordinary bolts.

Have fun, HMS

p.s. backed-off from pitch 7 because of severe food poisoning :-( Apr 16, 2010

[Hide Comment] As to the oddity of the placement of bolted belays on Shunes....

Ron Olevsky made an aborted attempt on Shunes prior to the FA by myself and Steve Chardon. All the bolted anchors through pitch 3 are his. The first bolt placed by us was on the traverse across the arrete.

I don't understand the bolt placements either Oct 15, 2010

[Hide Comment] "If you rap the chimney be prepared to get your ropes stuck; you may want to swing out to the arete anchor."

This is true. Had a bit of an epic when we squeezed our rope about 150 feet up from the big P1 ledge 30 minutes before dark. Go to the arete anchor and save yourself the epic.

I photographed the route since I'm not much of a climber. The exposure and amazingness of the crack and roof is absolutely incredible. One of the most beautiful climbs I've ever seen. Apr 21, 2011

[Hide Comment] Amazing Route. +1 for the 215' mega-pitch to avoid hanging belays. It means you'll have a really short pitch for the 11-, but it's definitely worth it. It's totally doable w/2x #4s, a double rack from there, and plenty of walking with the big guys. You'll probably be running it out in the finishing chimney, but I was able to find a couple small gear placements in the back of it and the moves are comparatively easy relative to what you just climbed.

The OW is really hard if you try to jam through exiting the bombay slot. If you get into it and move into a lie-back, it feels powerful, but relatively casual.

If you send the 11- traverse, you can rest easy knowing that you've done the hardest moves on the route.... Apr 11, 2012

[Hide Comment] A few thoughts regarding max's comments above.
I use a combination of jamming/pinching the edge of the crack on the OW, laybacking always seemed a little insecure and powerful. Either way solid 5.10 but over quick.

Instead of linking into a 215 mega pitch I break it into two. I skip the first hanging belay and climb higher to a reasonable belay stance where you build a belay. Then one more pitch to the traverse.

There are different ways to climb the traverse pitch. I have never climbed directly above the bolt, although there appears to be positive holds. I climb up to the bolt and then downclimb a body length or two and traverse left. A couple thin moves but you are essentially on a toprope. 10+/11-. I think the hardest moves are on the first pitch, left side start.

When finishing the traverse pitch I skip the normal belay and continue traversing around the arete and build a belay in the thin crack starting the roof pitch. This allows for a straight up belay instead of having your belayer to the side and around the arete. Apr 11, 2012

[Hide Comment] seems like there is enough comments allready.... Nov 8, 2012

[Hide Comment] Historical note: Shune's Buttress was not named for the town of Shunesburg (reportedly formerly at the Grotto), but rather for the namesake of the town, an old Paiute indian by the name of 'Chief Shune'.
The route to the left of Shune's Buttress, 'Rites of Passage', was named with thoughts of tribal customs for the passage from youth to manhood.
It is unfortunate that more of the route names in Zion are not reflective of its history.... Mar 23, 2014

[Hide Comment] Few notes:
Pitch 1-Nuts are key for upper corner. #5 was nice for short chimney section. Buttonhead stud can be slung with stopper for pro exiting chimney. 2 bolt belay on fat ledge
pitch 2-5.10 fingers variation is great, do it. short cruxy move to get into the crack. 2 sets of bolts on this fat ledge.
pitch 3-i used 2 #4's and 1 #5 and I wouldn't have wanted any less. The entire pitch is #3-#4 camalot size. Stopped at the midway sitdown stance and built belay with red/gold camalots.
pitch 4-chimney is pretty straightforward, nothing tricky. 3 bolt belay in cave
pitch 5-go straight up past the bolt. bomber sharp positive crimps to a huge patina jug. no reason to fiddle with the micro slab below the bolt. #3 cam is all else for pro. crappy belay stance with 3 bolts.
pitch 6-we didn't realize it but its a solid 50 feet of red camalots after the roof. we wanted at least 3 plus one for the single bolt belay. Pumpy.
pitch 7-just a delight. the final moves to the top require small cams so don't leave those behind. its a long pitch of .75-#3 camalots with huge jugs everywhere. solid bushel to sling for anchor.

If all the bolts had chains and the 2 midway anchors on pitch 3-4 got chopped and one placed at the sitdown stance, it would be perfect as the entire bottom could be rappelled on one 70m with good belay stances. May 4, 2014

[Hide Comment] Every pitch on this climb delivers delicious SPLITTERS!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a climb I plan to repeat many more times. Everyone else's beta is pretty spot on.

Some of the bolts are starting to go bad, could use a replacement.

The headwall splitter is 25 ft of wavy .5s (if it were splitter this would be a 12 pitch), .75 through the roof with plenty of faceholds to keep it at mid 11, then 30 ft of ones. The one bolt anchor on this pitch is better to backup with a 2.

The last pitch feels as if you were climbing in the RRG, splitter crack with jugs everywhere (just not super great rock quality, but still decent).

Once ontop, sling as many bushes as possible and give a belay off your harness. Another option if you've tagged a rope is to go around the corner to the rap station bolts and extend that anchor to the top out spot.

Get on this thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nov 10, 2014

[Hide Comment] A few small offset cams are handy if you do the easier 11 variation to the right.

You can rap from the top of the 5th pitch to the base of the OW w/ 2 60's, but we got our knot very very stuck doing this - shorter raps would be prudent. Apr 8, 2015

[Hide Comment] It is possible to do this very quickly if you combine pitches 3,4,& 5 with a 70m rope- I call these the "grovel" pitches. Also doing the 2nd pitch variation- the finger crack- makes for a more enjoyable experience. The last 2 pitches can be combined, as well, as long as you are comfortable walking a few #1 cams & not placing gear going around the arête onto the face, after the bolted face pitch. Agreed with the raps- 2 double rope rappells from top, then single, 70m raps (a few are rope stretchers- watch out). A #5 for the Bombay/ off width move was quite handy & allowed me to save other wide gear (3 & 4 bd cams) for the next 2 pitches I combined. May 9, 2015

[Hide Comment] Beautiful route, and definitely soft at .11+. The ow is hard though, definitely hard.

For gear, we had doubles to #2 camalot, singles of 3,4,5, and assorted nuts. This felt totally fine. We had some micro cams, but didn't place any.

After the two raps from the summit, get over to the arete and rap from there down to the drilled angles. From the angles rap to the anchors near the arete at the base of the ow, and from there to the ground. Some micro beta for rapping: situate your knot so that you'll be pulling it away from the chimneys/cracks. Mar 19, 2016

[Hide Comment] Don't Rap the wide pitch!! It will eat your rope. Fortunately there was a fixed line there (thank you). At first we saw the rope on the way up and said "WTF?" After getting our ropes stuck on the way down there was a resounding "DUH!!" then I figured out how to get it unstuck without cutting it and my partner used the fixed line. ( yes, there are several pieces of cut ropes -stuck there...hence the "DUH"). Read above comments for rappel.

Great route!! No way in hell the first pitch is 11+ though. Dec 3, 2016

[Hide Comment] anyone know anything about the bolt protected variation to the left after the 2nd pitch (the 5.9 chimney) Jan 29, 2017

[Hide Comment] Anyone else think some of the anchors aren't in ideal spots? Apr 16, 2019

[Hide Comment] Mike Weiss and partner climbed most of this route in the early '70s, but they didn't know about the headwall crack and rapped off the tower.
My first hour in Zion I picked out 2 splitters to try, one was the headwall crack and the other became Space Shot.
Unaware of their attempt I went up there with a wall neophyte, Larry Jenson and found Mike's anchors.

I pointed out the line to Jones in 1981. Its kind of funny how Jones is always predating his ascents and post dating mine.
Deuce even calls him one of the pioneers of the late '70s when his first FA was with me on Space Shot (which he predated to '78).

Jones' word is so unreliable (in the words of Mark Pay, "freeing a pitch with the stroke of a pen") that he might not get full credit for some substantial accomplishments. Aug 17, 2019

[Hide Comment] A couple notes:
- Protecting the long chimney pitches with a single #4 was trivial. No #5 needed. Just bump the #4 until a #3 fits, then take the 4 back and repeat. Linking all the chimney pitches was awesome. You can even clip the anchor on the left that you pass to keep the rope out of the corner cracks.
- Protecting the traverse pitch is not that difficult. Some of the comments and Dave’s route description make it seem far more complicated than it is. Just clip the anchor, climb past the 1/4”er, clip the bomber bolt, and fire the traverse. A #3 about 15 ft above the traverse will keep the follower from swinging.
- We opted to skip the anchor after the traverse and build a belay in the finger crack on the headwall. Then the belayer gets to watch the show! (IMO the anchor should be on the headwall next to the arete so there is no spicy climbing around the arete where ropes are at risk of getting cut)
- Try to keep your ropes well off to the side of the shrub on the first rap if rapping single strand w/a tag line. This is tricky as the shrub is directly beneath the rap anchor.
- Keep those knots out of the chimney at all costs. Nov 18, 2020

[Hide Comment] what a climb; 6 amazing pitches of varying climbing. could be done in 4 or 5 pitches but best to do it in 6. staying above the bolt on the traverse makes it quite easy; and its true, the 5 feet of OW is hard; was the hardest part of the whole climb for me; but that could be that i am not good at ow Dec 20, 2020

[Hide Comment] A true classic. Next time I climb this I will 100% want to move the belay to the bottom of the headwall splitter. The edge on the corner is pretty unavoidable and belaying right at the bottom of the crack seems, to me, to be the best way to prevent unavoidable rubbing of the rope on a nasty edge in the event of a fall (which is actually likely, pulling the little roofy thing is freaking HARD!).

I took that ride yesterday and immediately lost ALL of my head game. I wound up aiding the rest of the pitch as I absolutely REFUSED to put myself in a position to take that fall again.

Have fun up there and, as always, be safe! Apr 5, 2021

[Hide Comment] Can anyone comment on the current status of the anchors on Shunes? My partner and I are looking to do a C1 route that we could haul and sleep on so that we can get our systems down and practice something shorter in "Wall Style" but we obviously don't want to be hauling on bad anchors. Anyone know if all the anchors are good? If they have one old bolt, an we get supplemental gear, etc? Thanks! May 4, 2021

[Hide Comment] @Marc, I think most (if not all) would consider it very inconsiderate to pick one of the most classic free climbs in the park to practice your aid/hauling/portaledge skills on. If you need more practice before trying one of Zion's smaller walls, do you really think you're going to speed up the route? Please consider picking something less classic/popular so you can take your time and dial in your systems without (likely multiple) impatient parties waiting behind you. May 4, 2021

[Hide Comment] Here’s my 2cents:
The two crux pitches are both easier then the two cruxes of Cloud Tower therefore this climb deserves 5.11c Nov 23, 2023

[Hide Comment] In my opinion Shunes requires much less physical effort than Monkeyfinger Mar 31, 2024