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Shoshone South Face

5.8+, Trad, 600 ft (182 m), 5 pitches,  Avg: 3.7 from 112 votes
FA: Al Day and Ray Breuninger ~1970
Montana > Northwest Region > Blodgett Canyon > Shoshone Spire

Description

P1: (5.8 – 200 ft.) Start with a series of cracks starting near the west arête. There are many possible choices, apparently the center splitter up the small tower is the original start. Another recommended start is to find a tree with slings around it, slightly on the west side of Shoshone spire. Climb past the tree and follow the dihedral with 3" gear just above this tree. Continue until your rope runs out and belay from a tree.
P2: (5.7 – 200 ft.) Choose from many variations, and climb up to the ledge that separates the spire into two sections. This is referred to as the lunch ledge, and it is possible to skip the first two pitches by scrambling to this point from the ledges to the east.
P3: (5.8 – 80 ft.) Start under and a bit to the left of a small tree about 80 feet up. Take the "railroad tracks", where you'll find a fixed cam and a pin. Belay at the tree with gear or sling the tree.
P4: (5.8 – 160 ft.) Continue straight up from here following cracks and flares to the large ledge. Belay with gear or sling a large block.
P5: (5.8 – 160 ft.) From under the roof, move right out avoiding the roof to get back on the face. Continue past a few face moves (crux) to cracks, and finish on the next large ledge. Belay with gear or sling blocks.
From this ledge, walk north and around to top out.

Descent: Walk off the east side of the summit picking your way down some slabs until you can gain the gully on the north. Follow this gully down while hugging the east side of Shoshone Spire until you come to a big cliff band (you most likely hiked directly under this cliff band on your way up). Look for a "bonsai" tree. There is a 2 bolt chain anchor directly at the tree. Use double 60 meter ropes to hit the ground in one rappel, or use a single 60 meter rope and stop at an intermediate 2 bolt chain anchor.

Location

Shoshone Spire. The route starts on the west arete of the south face, with a few possible variations. Descend by scrambling down the northeast side, continuing down to lunch ledge. From here choose a slung tree(there are a few), and set one double rope rappel to the base.

River crossing at (46.273790,-114.277093)

Protection

rack to 3", stoppers. 4" come in handy for anchors

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Andrew following up the splitter variation to the right of the railroad tracks
[Hide Photo] Andrew following up the splitter variation to the right of the railroad tracks
Photo Route Overlay: South Face of Shoshone Spire
[Hide Photo] Photo Route Overlay: South Face of Shoshone Spire
You'll see this before crossing the river, follow the line for the climbers trail to the base (NOT lunch ledge) of south face
[Hide Photo] You'll see this before crossing the river, follow the line for the climbers trail to the base (NOT lunch ledge) of south face
Nicole getting ready to lead the 4th pitch
[Hide Photo] Nicole getting ready to lead the 4th pitch
View from the summit
[Hide Photo] View from the summit
A cool variation I have concocted after climbing this thing several times. This variation includes a couple of the best features on this wall IMO -A great section of splitter hands, and a beautifully exposed traverse beneath the summit roof. From lunch ledge, climb a full 60m into a fairly obvious alcove for a comfortable belay ~10m below the first of 3 short "roofs". (A 60m rope is just enough –not a rope stretcher). From here work over the first two small "roofs" trending right to what looks like a flaring fists roof at the start of the splitter. Avoid climbing too high and traversing under the roof into the splitter. The small "roof" and splitter are actually very secure and easy hands on a featureless face. After 55m there is a nice belay in a small alcove just right of the walk up ledge entrance. Traverse under the roof (stay low). Place a piece and make the transition onto the vertical face at the end of the traverse. Climb up a short section of buttlips corner to the summit. All the climbing on this variation is very protectable. Due to the long pitches I recommend bringing doubles to 3” and rationing gear placements.
[Hide Photo] A cool variation I have concocted after climbing this thing several times. This variation includes a couple of the best features on this wall IMO -A great section of splitter hands, and a beautiful…
From the P5 rap station looking down the whole wonderful route.
[Hide Photo] From the P5 rap station looking down the whole wonderful route.
P3 Stiffest moves on the route and arguably the most fun.  Though I mean, this climb as a whole is just breezy fun :-)
[Hide Photo] P3 Stiffest moves on the route and arguably the most fun. Though I mean, this climb as a whole is just breezy fun :-)
Some climbers at the top of pitch 3, very short pitch
[Hide Photo] Some climbers at the top of pitch 3, very short pitch
Approximate Topo
[Hide Photo] Approximate Topo
Tom slaying it on the ~5th pitch (we did it in six).
[Hide Photo] Tom slaying it on the ~5th pitch (we did it in six).
Bolted rap station by tree. The tree thanks whoever put this in. Otherwise it would be choking on slings.
[Hide Photo] Bolted rap station by tree. The tree thanks whoever put this in. Otherwise it would be choking on slings.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Dan Bachen
Helena, MT
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] Great climb, cracks the whole way up Mar 8, 2010
Ty Morrison-Heath
Bozeman, MT
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] Made a little video of this climb if anyone is interested.
youtube.com/watch?v=h0glEvX…
Freaking sweet climb. So many cracks to choose from. Had several distinct styles though! I found myself pure jamming one pitch and delicate almost face climbing the next. May 13, 2013
[Hide Comment] TMH, thanks for sharing the video. It convinced me to get on Shoshone as soon as the rock is dry. Blodgett is amazing.

Question: Is there a descent gully that can be done without a rappel? Mar 6, 2014
A J
Montana
[Hide Comment] Anyone have an idea if/when blodgett dries out? I hear it is usually dry early because its all south facing.

Thanks! Apr 6, 2014
michael s
Denver, CO
 
[Hide Comment] Just did it yesterday. Snow was a non-issue. Took us about 12 hours Missoula to Missoula. You can even probably rap off the Bonsai tree with a single rope. There is a slung block with a quicklink for an intermediate rap anchor. Might think about bringing some cord to back it up with.

Bring a double rack.

So fun. May 4, 2014
IJMayer
Guemes Island, WA
 
[Hide Comment] Some lessons learned:

1 Don't cross the creek too early. Best to find a crossing that leads to a direct shot up the talus to where you need to go.

2. Scout out the shortcut/walk off to/from the lunch ledge. It was really hard to find for us and we ended up rappelling.

3. The descriptions we had for the start were vague but there were a lot of options. The whole route is pretty vague, except for the start from the lunch ledge where there is fixed gear. But go with your hunch, it's all good. May 15, 2014
[Hide Comment] Wish there was more detail about starting this climb so this is what I found.

Upon arriving at the cliff band above the approach gully we headed west along its base. We arrived at a large, crack covered, light colored face that was the edge of the south face of the prominent western arete of the lower buttress of the spire. We walked beyond this face along the trail and decided that the routes to choose from are on the light colored face. I looked for the "left most" splitter and what I saw was a large OW crack in a right facing dihedral with a tricky looking start off the ground. I also saw a finger size crack in a right facing dihedral to the right. Right of that was a series of flared cracks and seams that looked hard to climb/ protect. Right of that was a slitter hand crack that jags left over a face then straightens out again. Right of that is the edge of the face and a chossy gully that could potentially be climbed.

I decided to try to go for what might have been the "left most" splitter by going into the right facing finger crack dihedral because the OW didn't look very "splitter". I got into some 10+ chossy pg-13 climbing into the very thin finger crack dihedral. I decided to bail.

Then I chose the hand crack with the jag to the left and found it to be extremely enjoyable! 5.9 Hands on steep granite. To finish it choose your own adventure to a ledge. Belay here or climb easy 4th-5th to the treed' ledge above.

Not sure where the "left most" splitter may be but the right most splitter on the light colored face is excellent. Hope this info gets you off the ground with ease. Aug 20, 2014
[Hide Comment] Aim for the ledge on the arete as the last belay before the top.

First and last pitches are stellar. Oct 25, 2014
Ryan Day Thompson
Phoenix, AZ
5.8
[Hide Comment] Just to add to everything here:

This really doesn't need to be a stress fest or an epic. I was super stressed about the approach. Super stressed about finding the base. Super stressed about the crux. Super stressed about the descent. Blah, blah, blah etc.

1) The base really isn't a big deal. Just pick a place that looks good for you somewhere over on the west arete area and climb. For some reason we got confused amid all the conflicting info and tried to start this climb at the lunch ledge by scrambling the ledge system up the lower face un-roped. That WAS worthy of stress. It isn't good scrambling at all. Don't make that mistake unless 5th class moss scrambling is fun for you for some reason.

2) The climbing is probably stiff 5.8. It never really felt like 5.9. Everything was there in abundance and I'm not positive straight friction was ever a requirement and there was nothing that required any real pucker. If you feel good on low moderate this will probably not stretch you beyond what you are able.

3) The descent is actually a delight compared to other Montana descents. We climbed The Mutt And Jeff the day before this and compared to that descent this is like a relaxing hike with some jugs and minimal consequence (whereas on The Mutt and Jeff it's like "Don't f--k up this descent or you'll probably be dead").

Don't stress. Just give'r! Oct 18, 2015
Rick Rowan
Missoula
[Hide Comment] Had a fun but very long day on Shoshone South yesterday. Ran out of sunlight on the last pitch and needed to build a gear anchor about 100 feet off the top. Ended up leaving a few pieces and lockers in a crack system just below the last belay ledge. I plan to get back there before winter fully sets in but if anyone beats me to it please get in touch with me. I can be reached at rickrowan14@gmail.com or by phone at 203-414-6443.

Best,
Rick Nov 8, 2015
Max Dismukes
El Paso, TX
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] As of August 2016 you can climb and get down off this route safely with ONE 60M ROPE!

I added a photo of the large White Pine, which looks like a Bonsai tree, where you will find a black, two bolt anchor with chain for rappelling. It's a full 30 meters straight down (tie knots!) to the next two bolt anchor, which will take you to the ground with a shorter rappel.

The Bonsai tree is pretty easy to find. From the summit (which is beautiful!) scramble down 3rd/4th class to the North and East until you reach lunch ledge. Don't continue over to the west side of the ledge (Where the route climbs), but rather keep scrambling south down 3rd class and you will see the big Bonsai tree right where it really cliffs out.

This was a wonderful route from start to finish in my opinion. Great rock, great movement, great setting. Sep 6, 2016
[Hide Comment] Jim Montgomery from Cody Wyoming and I did the first one day Blodgett Falls water-ice climb and Shoshone South Face accent in winter of 1989. Long day. Thank you Jim for the motivation. Jan 24, 2017
Harrison Schutt
Missoula, MT
 
[Hide Comment] Bring a double rack to avoid runout and for gear choices when building anchors May 22, 2017
Rick Torre
Philipsburg, MT
[Hide Comment] the second lower rap station is unnessacary convience,and will be gone in 2018 Dec 13, 2017
[Hide Comment] Would everyone agree that this route is Grade III? Jul 5, 2018
Paul Pattyn
Portland,OR
[Hide Comment] Howdy y’all. I’m planning on climbing this route in a few weeks and I’m wondering if anyone knows if the second rap station is still there. Would love to be able to only bring one rope. Sep 27, 2018
Michael Harvey
El Paso, TX
[Hide Comment] Would also like to know if the intermediate rap station still exists? Hoping to get down with a single 70m this weekend... May 29, 2019
[Hide Comment] Michael Harvey ... Any update on being able to rap with a single 70? Jul 2, 2019
Michael Harvey
El Paso, TX
[Hide Comment] The intermediate anchor is still there (as of 5 June '19), but with a 70 we didn't need it. Rapping from the bonsai tree anchor, the ends of the rope barely reached some ledgy bits about 15 feet off the ground, from where it was an only-slightly-sketchy scramble down. Jul 2, 2019
Rick Torre
Philipsburg, MT
[Hide Comment] the lower anchors are still there;better than slings all over. Jul 10, 2019
kyle howe
Knoxville, TN
[Hide Comment] Attempted the “4th class” short-cut approach to lunch ledge that the guidebook mentions, but ended up roping up due to the 5th class nature of the terrain, which added a lot of time to the climb unfortunately. An older Torre guidebook describes it as “unprotected fifth class,” which is much more accurate. If I did it again, I’d just climb the initial pitches and bypass the shortcut. 93 and full sun the day we climbed, which is doable, as long as you bring enough water. Aug 1, 2019
Brad Burns
Story, WY
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] Just wanted to add some extra beta to this chat, as I was (as always) slightly stressed about logistics and a lack of really great information.
We left from Bozeman at about 4:30AM, and it took about 4 hours to drive to Blodgett Trailhead from there. The hike is only a few miles up the trail, and the spire becomes visible soon after hiking. Hike until you are parallel with the spire, and then cross the stream over logs or rocks (don’t worry, there are plenty of crossing spots). Go up the talus field following small cairns and a fairly obvious climbers trail to the area with a small amount of water flowing between NES Pierce and Shoshone spire. Move left along the now obvious trail to the climbers left side of the spire. On your way over to the start of the climb, look for the “Bonsai” Pine tree on the edge of the cliff. Here is where you will be doing the rappel. Here you will see large dirt spots where numerous people have belayed for the starting pitch. There are about 100 different ways to do this, and it looks like the most obvious way was a ~5.4 looking dirty corner. There is also a beautiful looking ~5.9 finger crack, and numerous other crack systems to follow. We decided to follow a GORGEOUS zigzagging ~5.8 crack up the face, and it was amazing. This ended up being my favorite pitch. This pitch was probably around 80’, and I belayed from a set of two pieces of webbing with rappel rings that I found, as well as backed it up with two good cams. This deposits you on a ledge system with smaller trees I underneath a larger ledge system with a HUGE pine tree on it. This is the pine tree that the above description says to belay from, however, I felt that the rope drag would have been pretty bad if I continued to climb from there. Instead, I belayed my partner up, and he led the next short section to the large tree, which was probably 5.5-5.6 range, and if I did it again, I would’ve just scrambled it unroped as the exposure is not bad and the climbing is easy and unsustained. From here, you will see a large amount of climbers trails on these large ledge systems, and a large dead tree (this is what you’re headed for) above you. It looks like there are another ~100 options to get up there, and all the pitches are around 30’. Instead, we unroped and walked around to the left, then did some slightly exposed low 5th and 4th class moves zigzagging back and forth to the dead tree (which is lunch ledge). From here, follow the obvious “railroad track” fingercracks with a fixed cam and pin to a fun airy move out of a small roof, then belay from a tree. (Smaller ledge, but not uncomfortable, tree is pretty solid). This next pitch is amazing, but hard to follow. The face becomes a maze of 100s of short flares and crack systems, and all of the climbing is remarkably consistent with the grade. It looks like many different variations exist here, but I chose to kind of follow a vague crack system on the left side. This pitch is Deceivingly long. Follow the cracks up to a large ledge on the Arete of the spire. (Nice ledge, sling blocks and small pieces for an anchor). Then, step up into a nice little stand underneath a roof above the belay. Place small gear under the roof, and make an easy move out of the roof onto the face to the right. Gear gets tricky here and this is probably the crux of the whole route, but still extremely moderate and only 5.8+ maximum. Keep making moves until you get to a nice ledge with a lot of choss and big blocks on it. Sling blocks and place awkward cams to make a belay. Walk a short distance around the back to reach the true summit. Follow climbers trails (very obvious) that go between NES Pierce and Shoshone spire. These take you directly to the rappel station (two nice black bolts with rappel rings) next to the bonsai tree. Rappel (one full 60m rope, TIE KNOTS) to another set of kind of hidden anchors (two black bolts with ring/quicklink). Make another short rappel to the ground. All climbing is possible with one 60m rope, and so are the rappels. For gear, bring a double rack (.3-3), as well as a rack of small-medium stoppers and a couple smaller hexes. Gear is pretty solid except slightly tricky farther up. The best pitch in my option was pitch 1, although all of the climbing was FANTASTIC. This route was amazing. Also, our #1 BD cam walked into a tight spot near the top on a horizontal ledge. If you somehow get it out, please let me know bradfordlburns@gmail.com. I would be extremely grateful!
This climb is super classic and amazing. It’s best to do it (I believe) how we did it. In 6ish pitches, with one long pitch of scrambling/unroped climbing between the amazing first pitch and lunch ledge. Enjoy the climb!!! 9/08/19 Sep 8, 2019
Aaron Day
Washington
 
[Hide Comment] This route was great, the rock quality was very good. Pitch 1,3,5 were my favorite. My girlfriend led pitch 4 and had a little bit of a hard time with gear placements. After following that pitch i could see why, I also found it kind of insecure. Therefore I actually felt like pitch 4 was the crux pitch at least mentally. Pitch one starts out amazing for the first 100ft then you just do some not so enjoyable scrambling to the base of the 2nd 5.7 pitch.After running the full rope to the base of that pitch the 2nd pitch was only like 100ft to the big dead tree, not sure why they say its 200ft. The approach is pretty chill besides the river crossing. We did it on July 3rd and tried to cross directly parallel to the tower. The water was raging and it took us about 30 minuets to find the only log across, it was skinny and wet so it wasn't too fun. Once on the tower and looking down at the valley I noticed a bunch of larger logs farther down the river maybe a half mile or so where the river kind of has a tight bend in it and the water is super mellow. We decided to take that route on the way out. We had to do a little bit of bush wacking but the river crossing was so much easier down there. You can see one of my photos i posted to see where I'm talking about. Also if you have the good weather, showering off in the little water fall at the base of the rappel is a pretty epic way to end the day. Great route, great area, get on it! Jul 12, 2020
Andrew Keidel
Redlands, CA
  5.8
[Hide Comment] Nice route. Struggled to find a river crossing with the spring melt. Found a nice one with some bushwhack around 46.273790,-114.277093.

A lot of beta options on each route. You can definitely make parts of this route 5.9+ if you want.

Come prepared for a bit of a scramble/approach. Jun 27, 2022
Sam Elander
Salt Lake City, UT
 
[Hide Comment] The head wall 3/4 of the way up is a great view and fun climbing. A very chill\easy climb.
The approach was the hardest bit (just distance and scrambling across the gully to get up toward the spire.

If this is at your level, it's a great one to hop on! (We did a party of 3) Jul 12, 2022
Brad Burns
Story, WY
  5.8+
Brian Busby
Missoula, MT
  5.8+
[Hide Comment] If anyone was wondering, a single 80m is not enough to get to the bottom from the bonsai tree rap station. You could theoretically get to a ledge and downclimb a little but at that point you might as well just take the safer option and do two raps. Nov 13, 2023