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Buckets

5.5, Trad, 50 ft (15 m),  Avg: 1.7 from 27 votes
FA: unknown
Alabama > Palisades Park

Description

Easy but fun, Buckets is a nice route for first-time trad leaders, or a toprope for new climbers. It's also a good warmup for some of the harder routes at the crag.

The start on Buckets is the only section of any difficulty. Climb the face with little pro to a ledge about 10' up. From here, good holds and lots of placements for pro lead to the top.

Location

Located in the Fire Tower Wall area, Buckets starts about 15' right of the Elephant Crack roof. After topping out, rap from a tree or walk left to the descent gully.

Protection

Standard rack -- small to medium gear. Sling trees at the top for anchors.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Sofia (age 9) works her way up Buckets. The route is right of Elephant Crack, to the right of the ledge full of vegetation.
[Hide Photo] Sofia (age 9) works her way up Buckets. The route is right of Elephant Crack, to the right of the ledge full of vegetation.
Leading Buckets
[Hide Photo] Leading Buckets

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

BirminghamBen
Birmingham, AL
 
[Hide Comment] Rope Soloed this one. A good warm up. Mar 12, 2007
Stonyman Killough
Alabama
[Hide Comment] Some may be able to do the roped-solo. But, its not for the novice climber. Learn this technique with someone that has a vast knowledge in a roped solo. Oct 27, 2008
Andrew Tielking
  5.5
[Hide Comment] Fun route, especially at the top where you can kind of choose your path left or right. Start is a little hairy, but good holds once you get above the ledge. Plenty of options for pro. I would argue that this route needs some bolts at the top for anchors. The damage to the trees to sling a top rope seems to be wearing on them. Just my two cents Dec 17, 2021
Scott Doering
5.5
[Hide Comment] Great route for the beginner trad climber. The start is a bit sketchy. Very high energy placement. I didn’t bother placing gear here. Just got up on top. It’s not that high. After that, this route is great for placing anything. Stoppers, cams, nuts, tricams, microcams, hex, whatever you’ve got. So it’s great for practice (although do watch for some flared cracks). Holds are plentiful, large, and have lips on the edges of them (like grabbing the rims of buckets). Beat up tree up top for an anchor (bolts would be nice). I only say 5.5 due to the start. The rest is 5.3-5.4. My 4’10” wife climbed this too. Fun route to play on. Mar 21, 2022