NE Buttress (aka NE Face)

This is an aesthetic line on a prominent face that stands out in the skyline above Canmore. It is very attractive to the everyperson's climber who looks at the 5.6 grade, 11-12 pitches, 1500 feet of climbing, a direct line to the summit, and says "I'm there." However, there is more than what meets the eye to this climb.

A rope, a helmet, and decent sense of routefinding are advisable for this line. There are stray bolts, stray gear, stray anchors to lead you astray.

This face can gets sun in July and shorts can work. At 10am the route is in full sun.

P1. This is described as 3rd-4th Class with optional ropework. I recommend a rope. No pro, low angle, loose rock, 160'. 1 bolt anchor (10 years ago). Don't fall. Per Zac Wronski: as of 86/25, the two bolt anchor at the top of pitch one (~50m up the slab) has been removed. One bolt was hammered in completely, the other stud is still sticking out, but the threads appeared to be damaged. Perry's topo shows another 2 bolt anchor approximately 20m above, between the top of P1 and the anchor for P2. This is currently just a single bolt. Keep this in mind as it is approximately 100m from the start of the route to the first proper two bolt anchor with only two protection bolts and perhaps a marginal piece of gear or two for protection. While the climbing is quite easy, the terrain is relatively loose and a fall here would likely be catastrophic. As the route is currently equipped, one option to potentially reduce the risk moving though this section is to simul-climb these first two pitches with the whole rope out, with the leader clipping a progress capture device to each of the two bolts to protect themselves in case the second falls. Be wary of where the rope is running across the particularly loose sections to avoid it kicking down loose rocks on your second. 

P2. This continues up with loose rock on ledges, 1 Friend placement, balance required, 160', 2 bolt anchor. "Loose as sin" is what my notes say. Don't fall! My buddy did, but fortunately it was following.

P3. Pretty much straight up to a 3 bolts belay. Much more solid rock. Route finding apparently can be challenging on this pitch.

P4. Go up and right to a shaded, right-facing corner/groove. A belay that we used is up and right from the top of the groove, 3 bolt belay. There is another, bolted belay to the left that we didn't use, 5.2.

P5. This is a tricky pitch for route finding (probably the crux of route finding). Don't go up and right (that felt 5.8+ R before I downclimbed)! We went down, then traverse left to a ledge, curve up to a groove, to a 2 bolt belay on a ledge.

P6. Angle right, continue past quite a few bolts & pins, go up to a ledge. This may be the crux pitch, 40m, 5.6.

P7. Go up ~7m, then go left, get up under a small roof, continue up to a 2 bolt belay. My notes suggest you may pass a bolt & 3 pins.

P8. Traverse up and right, then go up the right side of a rib, finish in a small, left-facing corner to a 2 bolt belay, 5.5.

P9. Go up a nice, left-facing corner/slab, pass 3 pins, belay at a 2 bolt belay. This is probably the nicest pitch, IMHO. It is easier than it looks. This pitch is in the shade in the afternoon. This sweet photo shows climbing left of the dihedral, although I recall climbing closer to the dihedral at points, 5.5.

P10. Go up and left to a 3 crack corner. This pitch is in the shade in the afternoon. Not quite as nice as P9, 160'.

P11. Take the climb to the top and topout. The last pitch is runout 40+ feet with absolutely no pro placements. Super easy climbing but extremely run out.

We burned about 5 1/2 hours on a casual stroll up getting lost once. Speedier climbers could half that easily.

Descent: slip down the back side on the scree. Alternatively, I've heard you may be able to rap Sisyphus Summits, but we didn't do that.

Note, this climb has taken out a decent number of climbers, so keep your guard up.

Note: the number of pitches has been changed to 12 per the current way the climb apparently is done. We did it in 11 pitches. So, the description above is for how we did it.

Per Richard Hunter: the name used in more recent guidebooks seems to have changed to NE Face.

This is the obvious prow up the less-than-vertical NE face. From a distance, the line is obvious, but up close, you can find yourself a bit challenged with the line. Scope it.

A set of wires, a set of cams to #4 Friend, 10-12 runners, and a 50m rope works.

You can totally get away with cams up to size #2. There was absolutely nowhere to place anything bigger.