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Marsupials Traverse
5.8 R,
Trad, 1000 ft (303 m), 8 pitches, Grade II,
Avg: 2.9 from 70
votes
FA: unknown
Oregon
> Central Oregon
> Smith Rock
> (w) The Marsupials
> Mud Pile
ALL SEASONAL CLIMBING CLOSURES FOR CLIMBING AND SLACKLINING WILL BE LIFTED ON FRIDAY, JULY 7TH THIS WEEK. THANKS, EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP IN OBSERVING RESTRICTIONS DURING THE NESTING SEASON!
There are many seasonal raptor closures with varying dates and specific boundaries. These generally effect The Monument, Kiss of the Lepers, Picnic Lunch Wall and/or Smith Rock group, and possibly elsewhere. These usually run from February to the beginning of August, but each closure is usually shorter than this, and is dependent on the birds' behavior. Check this site for details: smithrock.com/seasonal-clos…
Description
The Marsupials Traverse is probably the longest climb at Smith. Much of it is pretty runout with dangerous falls, but no runouts harder than 5.5ish climbing, though some of this is on loose rock. Not a good first route, but if your solid at the grade on runouts this is an awsome climb. There are multiple ways to start this route, how ever you choose to get to the top of the mudpile is up to you. I will describe the easiest way starting with Carla the Stripper.
P1 - 5.8 - Follow the boltline atop the block, up and to anchors.
P2 - 5.7 - Step out and left and follow bolts to the top, or step right 5.4 and follow bolts to the top.
Downclimb off the north end of the mudpile to a single bolt belay.
P3 - 5.7R - Continue traversing towards Mini Half dome, clip one bolt and make one harder move onto the top of the thing next to Mini Half Dome. There is one more bolt here you can clip. Now either stem or jump the gap to Mini HD. Belay from bolt anchor. Easy runouts.
Rappel off the north side of Mini HD.
P4 - 5.5R/X - This is a long 200ft pitch, with runouts on 5.4 climbing. Follow the west face route of Brogan spire. Immediatly clip one bolt and make the hardest move of the pitch. The follow the easiest line, as far as you can make it to a double bolt belay atop the huge ledge. Oppritunity exists for akward gear placements, tho if you fell at some points you could go a long way. (rated X by Watts)
P5 - 5.5R - The bird shit pitch! Head straight up placeing a few peices before running it out into the bird shit. Mantle to the top through the bird shit.
Rappel north into the notch move belay to double bolted belay atop original P2 of the cave route.
P6 - 5.4R - Head north towards the tail, cut left accross an akward ledge to the north side of the tail, then clip a bolt and head to anchors below the summit. Belay your partner to the top then have him down climb and lead the next pitch. Rotten rock on this pitch.
P7 - 5.5 - For the seconds sake (if you dont moove the belay) it is best to only clip the last of the 3 bolts. Clipping the first two might create some akward rope drag and could create a nasty fall for the second when downclimbing from the anchor. Either way follow the path of three bolts up good rock to anchor atop the opossum.
Either do a double rope rappel or...
P8 - 5.1R - Traverse along the ridge to an old anchor with slings. From here one 60m makes it to the ground.
Location
Starts on the Mudpile. Carla the Stripper is on the east face, and starts atop a block just as the hill begins to steepen.
[Hide Photo] Gabe climbing out of the notch (after Mini Half Dome and on the way up to Brogan Spire)
[Hide Photo] Jay finds just enough shade to cover his face while Sara and James get ready to head up Brogan Spire.
[Hide Photo] Looking up at the rappel off of Mini Half Dome. Our first attempt was to rap to the left (climber's right), but *our rope got stuck* so Jay went back up and rapped to the right (climber's left) as…
[Hide Photo] soloing the marsupial traverse in 2010
[Hide Photo] Almost done. Not the best rock, but it was a hell of an experience being up there. Beautiful walls, a line that calls to you from miles away, great exposure, and exciting ridge climbing. No idea wh…
[Hide Photo] The line I trail behind for rappelling wrapped around the crux traverse. This was not a good thing to solo.
[Hide Comment] I would definately say bringing to #3 cams would be excessive, the only half decent cam placements on the whole route were a yellow TCU, blue TCU and a #1 camalot, but all these had nut placement near them, so just bring nuts!
Oct 24, 2008
[Hide Comment] As an alternative to the rotten rock of pitch 6 (above), try rappelling off of the anchors of the second pitch of the cave route. You will find these after descending from Brogan Spire summit, on a big flat ledge. Nice big bolts. Next, pass through the cave of the Cave Route, and make your way back to the top of its first pitch. From there, traverse far to climber's right on the route Living Blindly. This is all easy climbing except for one exposed move on not very good rock. There is a bolt in your face for this move. Finally, summit the Opposum, as described above, and traverse down the razor ridge. I used a 45 meter rope to rappel.
May 25, 2010
[Hide Comment] This is a fun and interesting route. I have a few comments:
There are very few cam placements on this route, I think we ended up placing 4 total.
Most of the run outs go through long sections of easy huecos and pockets. Some of these might be small enough to fit a hex or a tri cam into for some peace of mind, but the rock is just kind of junky so I don't know how well it would work.
We were unable to find a bolted anchor at the top of pitch 4. My partner ended up getting short roped at the end of our 70 trying to reach the bolted anchor at the base of pitch 5 and ended up having to back up and build a trad anchor out of stoppers and small cams in a crack about 20 ft away. This whole time we couldn't hear each other either.
I recommend rappelling down the top two pitches of cave route and climbing up two pitches of living blindly as described in the Watts beta rather than doing the 6th pitch as described here.
Oct 23, 2016
[Hide Comment] Climbed it this weekend (10/22/16) and found it a great, fun adventure route. I had climbed the "standard" moderate multipitch routes on Mudpile and Brogan Spire a couple times, so it was exciting to go into new terrain while doing this route.
Pro: I brought nuts, tricams, and cams 0.3-3. Maybe a bit excessive, but I'd rather have more than less, and I was also climbing Birds in a Rut after finishing this route. I didn't use a single nut, but I did use tricams a lot in the pockets, as well as the med-large cams. Quickraws, 60cm alpine draws, and a couple 120cm alpine draws.
P1&2- Climb Lusty Lady. You can link these if you want.
Move belay to the north, before the 3rd class downclimb.
P3- Down climb 3rd class (ramp) to a narrowish ridge. Clip a few bolts, then climb up (bolt) over a "gendarme". Down climb the opposite side of the gendarme, taking care as much of it is loose (I could wiggle stuff). Cross over to Mini Halfdome, place a cam to protect your 2nd, then walk up and use the bolt anchor.
Rap from here off Mini Halfdome to the ground, then scramble back up through the easy chimney/slot between Mudpile and Brogan.
P4- Climb the south ridge of Brogan Spire (called "West Face" in Watts). Pass one bolt, then easy pockets to the top of the ridge. Take a left (north), and you'll top out on a giant plateau. I don't think this pitch warrants X, maybe R, but I felt comfortable on it. There is a bolted anchor on the far side of this plateau, climber's right, which is the anchor for Smash the Silence. I can't confirm a 60m or 70m rope will allow you to do this in one pitch (I had an 80m), but Watts says you can "easily combine...with a long rope." If you can't reach the bolts, there is a very large boulder about 10m away that you can lasso with the rope for an anchor, which was my plan before exploring more and finding the bolts).
P5- Climb the rest of the way to the top of Brogan Spire. One spot low for a bomber small cam, then less great gear above. There are chains on the south side of the spire, which you could clip for protection before pulling up onto the actual top. I belayed from bolts on the top.
Rap down to the cave. This can be done in 2 raps (reverse of the Cave Route), or 1 long rap directly to the cave. If going directly to the cave, be advised that it's 40m to a safe landing spot near the cave.
Move belay to the P1 anchor of Cave Route/Living Blindly.
P6&7- Climb Living Blindly to the top of the opossum.
P8- Head climber's right along a 4th class ridge to a set of bolts on a flat area. You can protect the ridge with a few med-large cams.
Rap north from here to the ground. <30m
I don't recommend going directly to the tail from Brogan Spire (North Face Traverse or Tail Direct (45, 45a) in Watts), as it is likely you will knock off something onto the inevitable crowds down on Cave Route/Living Blindly.
Oct 25, 2016
[Hide Comment] If you cruise this traverse and want more, a logical linkup after finishing walks over and climbs Koala Rock, then up the Wombat. I did the traverse via Carla the Stripper, then over to Round River Direct and up Birds in a Rut. Car to car in 3:10. Lots of interesting terrain covered!
Dec 1, 2016
[Hide Comment] We started via The Wormhole, that scrappy chimney just uphill from Carla. This cut out the Mud Pile summit and obviously some much better climbing. The bolted move over the hump on P3 is quite spicy. P4 is just a fun run-out but try to place some gear to give your follower a path... and there are some decent tiny cams placements near a bolt-sans-hanger if'n you don't want to walk all the way back to the bolts. P5 down-climbing the back side of Brogan was heady mostly due to the completely unprotected nature of it... but maybe I went around the wrong side. P6 stay low and go through the gully before going into the loose alcove and then link this up the three bolts to the top of the Opossum. P8 continue along the very narrow ridge to new bolts on the far side. Very short rap from here.
Basically all the gear I placed was marginal at best, and I wouldn't recommend anybody climb this unless they're comfortable leading in a free-solo head-space. Simul-climbing would be pointless because of the lack of gear, but if you're hauling up a noob (also not recommended) then have fun with that.
Apr 23, 2017
[Hide Comment] Climbed this last Friday, makes for a really fun and adventurous day. A fair amount of friable rock, but that did not deter us. First pass took 3 of us 5 or 5.5 hours to climb the entire ridge (+ the hike in and out) Didn't see anyone else out there. From the top of the Opossum you can the last little traverse over to the bolted single rope rapell station was pretty spicy! No pro and hard to trust the rock. It get's real there! If you have two ropes you can rap off the top of the Opossum. Great day!
Apr 24, 2017
[Hide Comment] This whole thing was significantly more solid that my partner and I expected. I was expecting a horror show of choss and garbage. It is all pretty solid save a few holds over the course of the entire traverse.
Jun 11, 2017
[Hide Comment] DESCENT: Like the description says above, you can either do a double rap down Living Blindly, OR traverse the exposed ridge to the old set of anchors, OR use the band new set of anchors right BEFORE the exposed ridge traverse. We rappelled off this new set with a 70m and and had more than enough rope. This rappel puts you on the north side of the Opossum.
Feb 26, 2019
[Hide Comment] Fun traverse with good rock quality on all but a couple of very easy sections. If starting on Carla the Stripper, v easy to link P 1 and 2 with a 60m without drag. Linking P 4 and 5 up Brogan Spire is possible with a 70m but not recommended with a 60m unless you love rope drag. P5 (bird sh*t pitch) had the only placements I used (1 #.75 down low, 1 #2 up higher before a run out). P6 is a traverse to a ledge ... do NOT be tempted to risk the overhung climbing to the top of the spire as the rock is completely rotten.
Enjoy! Stellar route to enjoy some short roping, terrain belays and alpine style run outs.
Jul 22, 2019
[Hide Comment] protection rating: PG is appropriate. Bring a set of nuts, most of every route is well protected. Unprotected sections are unexposed and easy walks. If you follow the route description mentioned here just bring 10 quickdraws and anchor material (bolted anchor) is good enough. rope drag isnt too bad, maybe some spots here and there. if you want to link couple of pitches bring 15 quick draws. 60m rope is good. backside rappel has 2 bolts after the ridge traverse (traverse has a bolt in the middle to protect).
Aug 10, 2020
[Hide Comment] Final rappel anchors, on the last pitch, are far back and have no chains at the moment. Our rope trapped itself as we were pulling it through and had to do a sketchy climb back up to get it. Hopefully we will take some chains out in the next couple of months, but beware..
Feb 28, 2024
Access Issue: 2023 Seasonal Raptor Nesting Closures
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Minneapolis, MN
Next, pass through the cave of the Cave Route, and make your way back to the top of its first pitch. From there, traverse far to climber's right on the route Living Blindly. This is all easy climbing except for one exposed move on not very good rock. There is a bolt in your face for this move.
Finally, summit the Opposum, as described above, and traverse down the razor ridge. I used a 45 meter rope to rappel. May 25, 2010
OR
Corvallis, Or
There are very few cam placements on this route, I think we ended up placing 4 total.
Most of the run outs go through long sections of easy huecos and pockets. Some of these might be small enough to fit a hex or a tri cam into for some peace of mind, but the rock is just kind of junky so I don't know how well it would work.
We were unable to find a bolted anchor at the top of pitch 4. My partner ended up getting short roped at the end of our 70 trying to reach the bolted anchor at the base of pitch 5 and ended up having to back up and build a trad anchor out of stoppers and small cams in a crack about 20 ft away. This whole time we couldn't hear each other either.
I recommend rappelling down the top two pitches of cave route and climbing up two pitches of living blindly as described in the Watts beta rather than doing the 6th pitch as described here. Oct 23, 2016
Portland, OR
Pro: I brought nuts, tricams, and cams 0.3-3. Maybe a bit excessive, but I'd rather have more than less, and I was also climbing Birds in a Rut after finishing this route. I didn't use a single nut, but I did use tricams a lot in the pockets, as well as the med-large cams. Quickraws, 60cm alpine draws, and a couple 120cm alpine draws.
P1&2- Climb Lusty Lady. You can link these if you want.
Move belay to the north, before the 3rd class downclimb.
P3- Down climb 3rd class (ramp) to a narrowish ridge. Clip a few bolts, then climb up (bolt) over a "gendarme". Down climb the opposite side of the gendarme, taking care as much of it is loose (I could wiggle stuff). Cross over to Mini Halfdome, place a cam to protect your 2nd, then walk up and use the bolt anchor.
Rap from here off Mini Halfdome to the ground, then scramble back up through the easy chimney/slot between Mudpile and Brogan.
P4- Climb the south ridge of Brogan Spire (called "West Face" in Watts). Pass one bolt, then easy pockets to the top of the ridge. Take a left (north), and you'll top out on a giant plateau. I don't think this pitch warrants X, maybe R, but I felt comfortable on it. There is a bolted anchor on the far side of this plateau, climber's right, which is the anchor for Smash the Silence. I can't confirm a 60m or 70m rope will allow you to do this in one pitch (I had an 80m), but Watts says you can "easily combine...with a long rope." If you can't reach the bolts, there is a very large boulder about 10m away that you can lasso with the rope for an anchor, which was my plan before exploring more and finding the bolts).
P5- Climb the rest of the way to the top of Brogan Spire. One spot low for a bomber small cam, then less great gear above. There are chains on the south side of the spire, which you could clip for protection before pulling up onto the actual top. I belayed from bolts on the top.
Rap down to the cave. This can be done in 2 raps (reverse of the Cave Route), or 1 long rap directly to the cave. If going directly to the cave, be advised that it's 40m to a safe landing spot near the cave.
Move belay to the P1 anchor of Cave Route/Living Blindly.
P6&7- Climb Living Blindly to the top of the opossum.
P8- Head climber's right along a 4th class ridge to a set of bolts on a flat area. You can protect the ridge with a few med-large cams.
Rap north from here to the ground. <30m
I don't recommend going directly to the tail from Brogan Spire (North Face Traverse or Tail Direct (45, 45a) in Watts), as it is likely you will knock off something onto the inevitable crowds down on Cave Route/Living Blindly. Oct 25, 2016
Redmond, OR
Basically all the gear I placed was marginal at best, and I wouldn't recommend anybody climb this unless they're comfortable leading in a free-solo head-space. Simul-climbing would be pointless because of the lack of gear, but if you're hauling up a noob (also not recommended) then have fun with that. Apr 23, 2017
Los Angeles, CA
Bend, OR
Bend, OR
Enjoy! Stellar route to enjoy some short roping, terrain belays and alpine style run outs. Jul 22, 2019
Portland, OR
Bring a set of nuts, most of every route is well protected. Unprotected sections are unexposed and easy walks.
If you follow the route description mentioned here just bring 10 quickdraws and anchor material (bolted anchor) is good enough. rope drag isnt too bad, maybe some spots here and there. if you want to link couple of pitches bring 15 quick draws. 60m rope is good. backside rappel has 2 bolts after the ridge traverse (traverse has a bolt in the middle to protect). Aug 10, 2020
Bend, OR