PRINT: Rock Climb Cheap Thrills, Little Cottonwood Canyon

Cheap Thrills

5.11b, Trad, 200 ft (61 m), 2 pitches,

Avg: 2.7 from 18 votes
FA: Dave Madera, Pat McInerney and Bill Hunt, 1991
Utah > Wasatch Range > Central Wasatch > Little Cottonwo… > Hellgate Cliffs > Tower One

Access Issue: Gate Buttress Area Recreational Lease: Climbs on Church Buttress above vault remain closed Details

Climbers Partner with LDS Church on Stewardship of Little Cottonwood Canyon Climbing

June 1st, 2017:The Salt Lake Climbers Alliance (SLCA), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and Access Fund announce the signing of an unprecedented lease for 140 acres in Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). The parcel, known as the Gate Buttress, is about one mile up LCC canyon and has been popular with generations of climbers because of its world-class granite.

The agreement secures legitimate access to approximately 588 routes and 138 boulder problems at the Gate Buttress for rock climbers, who will be active stewards of the property. The recreational lease is the result of several years of negotiations between LDS Church leaders and the local climbing community.

Access Note: The climbs on the Church Buttress above the vault as well as the Glen boulders that have been traditionally closed will remain closed.
Please help us steward this area and leave no trace.

Read More:

saltlakeclimbers.org/climbe…

SLCA and AF recreational leased area on LDS Church land

Access Issue: As for all Hellgate areas Details

Description

This is a fantastic two pitch route that is easily combined on one long pitch. The gear is there and solid in the dark grey compact rock and the bolts were drilled on lead in bold style. The advantage of a route protected like this is that you can hang out and scope out the moves between bolts before casting off. The upper pitch has really cool huge edge climbing and requires some nice body tension. One of my favorite climbs.

Location

This starts near the bottom of Tower 1 in the dark compact rock. Its 20-30 feet around the corner from the main cave. You can see the crack and the dihedral with the bolts. Belaying below the crack start on the left makes it a bit harder to see the climber as they move beyond the dihedral and onto the upper pitch. The upper pitch is on the white limestone but in a dark streak.

Protection

medium to hand sized cams and nuts, (I just brought my standard rack but you don't need much of it) lots and lots of long runners and quickdraws. Please don't forget your helmet.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Stan Pitcher
SLC, UT

this is a great route but for me much harder and scarier than the 11a's up the hill. Jun 14, 2007

Allen Sanderson
On the road to perdition

5.11 PG13

I would agree that it is harder than 5.11a. We also found the route to be flithy dirty. No way would it be worth the stars in the condition we found it. YUK!! Sep 1, 2007

jonathan knight

I pulled a bunch of choss off of the second pitch last night. It only took some hand pulling and prying with a nut tool, and it is still a little dirty so bring a brush. I also replaced the tat on the one bolt holding the rap ring on the second pitch anchor. Cool route, it just needs a little more love. I lowered off with a 75m from the top and had about 10' of rope leftover. Jul 30, 2010

skiandclimb

This route is pretty awesome! Make sure you're ready for a mental and physical challenge Climb it in one long pitch for sure. It starts pretty mellow with a few gear placements and once you get to the first bolt it is pretty sustained the whole way. Felt more like an 5.11+ with tricky route finding, sparse bolting and technical climbing. 70m rope barely gets you down from top anchor, careful!!! Old sling at top anchor should be replaced by a chain. The rock is solid and not chossy or loose at all. Do it!!! Jul 25, 2015

Past User

5.11c

So close to 4 stars! 11c full value! Link in one pitch to the top and lower-pull-lower from the middle anchors. Aug 29, 2016

tenesmus

5.11b

Hat's off to JK from the SLCA, who did the (much more than expected) work to clean and re-bolt this thing. The previous bolts were mostly stainless but of unknown origin/make and covered with some kind of caulk. The pods and chockstones in the trad start are cleaner now. Climbing through the second bolt of the second pitch was the crux for me. Fortunately, the best rock for placing that bolt put it in line with the actual holds of the climb, allowing much safer clipping.

The top is definitely a lot cleaner now. I can't remember ever pulling off 3 jugs in a row at one bolt on a climb but that's what happened at the top. I even stepped on one of those chert pods and snapped it off. Heavy climbers = de facto choss cleaning so here's hoping it's down to the base rock for the next decade or so.

Still stoked on the fact that the start is gear protected. More stoked that the rest is modernized. Jun 28, 2020

Kyle Harmer
Cottonwood heights, UT

The second pitch of this line is fantastic, and can also be accessed by climbing the bolted 10d to the right. Did this as one pitch. With 70m rope, had to lower to top of pitch one and lower off pitch one anchors to reach the ground. The upper pitch is brilliant and obviously so much work went into cleaning and re-bolting. Amazing! Jul 5, 2022