Mass Wasting

This is a steep, five-pitch route on the west face of the eastern buttress. It's got excellent climbing and mostly excellent pro. We cleaned a lot of loose rock off it, but it still has some loose stuff and lichen. This ain't the Petit Grepon!

1. Climb the most obvious crack line on the nice-looking, vertical wall at the base, about 30 feet left of a big, right-facing corner. Continue up lower-angle ground to a good belay ledge shortly before the rock steepens again. 5.8+, 150 feet.

2. Follow a seam to a left-facing corner and pillar-flake. You're aiming for an obvious big block perched atop the corner. Pull onto the ledge and climb outside the block to reach its top. 5.7, 125 feet.

Move the belay about 30 feet to the right, inside a chimney-corridor behind a giant flake. This corridor might offer an escape route to the tower's right shoulder if a storm is breaking.

3. A big roof is overhead. Climb onto a slab via a short, left-facing corner. Protect as high as possible, then traverse left along the "jug slab," using jugs for the hands and licheny smears for the feet. This section is easy (5.7 or so) but has no pro for about 15 feet; there might still be a fragile hold or two and the slab is very slippery. A fall from the end of this traverse would be ugly; however, we fixed a thin pin (hidden) near the end, which gives you something to go for. Below an obvious finger-crack flake, place a bunch of pro, then boulder up to the flake. Load it up with more pro (wires, small Aliens or TCUs) and crank the 5.10 crux to the roof. Turn it to the left and belay. 5.10b (5.7 R), 50 feet.

4. Climb a steep, left-facing corner system on good rock. Belay on a big ledge after the steepest bit. 5.8+, 125 feet.

5. Continue up the corners (now right-facing) via hand cracks and flakes. 5.8, 110 feet.

From the top of the tower, descend (fourth-class) to a notch, and then follow a grassy ramp down to the northwest to reach the gully. We simul-climbed for about 250 feet or so, placing pro. Descend the steep, loose talus gully to return to the base.

Note: Jeff Lowe has said he soloed a route somewhere on this buttress. We're sure it wasn't this line, but we don't know where he climbed.

Small wires to #3.5 or #4 Camalot. Maybe a couple of extra hand-sized pieces.