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Eagle Buttress, Right Side
5.10a,
Trad, 600 ft (182 m), 5 pitches, Grade II,
Avg: 3.1 from 16
votes
FA: TM Herbert and Gordon Webster, July 1966
California
> Lake Tahoe
> Highway 50 Corr…
> Lover's Leap
> Main Formation
> Central Wall
Access Issue: 2023 Raptor Closure at Lover's Leap
Details
The pitch off Main Ledge is the business, a succession of mantles on dikes up a steep wall to a spectacular hand traverse right to an overhang. Surmount the overhang and belay. Climb a crack system to a wide gully then follow the Eagle Buttress, Left Side route for 200' to the top.
Location
Follow the first two pitches of Eagle Buttress, Left Side to get to Main Ledge. From there follow a series of steep dikes on the right side of Eagle Buttress. Follow the standard Central Wall descent walk off.
[Hide Photo] caughtinside nears the P1 belay on Eagle Buttress Right after pulling some wild steep moves off the horn. Photo: Corey Gargano
[Hide Photo] Looking up Pitch 2. Lasso the horn for protection.
[Hide Photo] Dow lassoing the horn at the start of Pitch 2.
[Hide Photo] A climber contemplates the steep hand-traverse on Eagle Buttress Right. Photo: Corey Gargano
[Hide Photo] The hand crack is completely covered in peregrine poop right after the horn, as of Sept 31st 2017. It smells worse than cat piss, so bring your nasty clothes and maybe a brush! Might not advise bei…
[Hide Photo] The hardest part of the route - start of the 2nd pitch from the Main Ledge
[Hide Photo] Peregrine feather en route. This route is closed in the summer for peregrine nesting.
[Hide Photo] Looking up Pitch 1, which goes leftward up the dikes and ends at a nice ledge.
[Hide Photo] Pitches 4 & 5 to the top....ug....but they go quick....
[Hide Photo] Pitch 3. Probably the best pitch on the route.
[Hide Comment] This is a real hidden gem (I guess mostly because of the nesting closures). Had no trouble doing this in 4 pitches, we combined the last two 4th class pitches.
Supertopo calls P2 5.9 and P3 5.10a. I disagree, I think P2 is 10a/b and P3 is 5.9.
The P2 overhanging hand traverse followed by the roof and dyke hiking is committing and strenuous, and amazingly fun. Fantastic exposure. And the start to this pitch is pretty tough too, definitely lasso the knob for pro.
Found 3 pins on the route, all a bit rusty. Took a #4 and used it, but you don't really need it.
Great climb, go do it and clean up the bit of vegetation on it (P4&5 has lots of vegetation which isn't going anywhere, oh well).
Sep 27, 2015
[Hide Comment] I agree, P2 is spectacular and harder than 5.9.
You can climb the whole route in 3 pitches with a 70. Supertopo shows p2-3 totaling 190' to the ledge that hits the gully but judging by how much rope was left, I'm guessing 210+ feet?
Oct 10, 2016
[Hide Comment] Did this rope solo a few days ago. A few notes.
Pitch one starts with 15 feet of 5.9 climbing to a questionable pin. Move left and place a good small nut. Above that is a cam placement against a loose flake. OK but hard not to use the flake to move higher. Move further left and go up so-so climbing to the large ledge. Far right is a bolted belay/rap station. 180 ft. Off of this the knob toss. I initially did this, and then decided instead to move further right, up and around the roof, and then back left out the hand traverse to a bolted belay. This seems like the option that is more in line with a Tahoe 5.9 rating. I also did the moves associated with the knob toss and found them considerably harder than 5.9
The climbing I did to the right was very good, except there is a large scary flake just 15 ft off the belay, and before the roof. It is hollow.
Anyway, the descriptions given in this section don't match the climb I did onpitch two. After the bolted belay, head back left and follow the crack up. Really nice juggy steep climbing. Rope soloing I did two and three as one pitch. It is about 210 feet into the gully. At the top of the gully there is some very exposed easy fifth class climbing.
Oct 13, 2016
[Hide Comment] I think we were the first party of the season to attempt, since the hand crack is covered in bird poo/piss. I advise bringing clothes you don't want and a brush if you're up there right after it opens, anytime near Sept 30. cdn-files.apstatic.com/clim…>
Oct 4, 2017
[Hide Comment] P2 was much harder than P1. Lots of exposure but fantastic views! I had a lot of fun on this route, we did it in 3 pitches.
Jan 17, 2020
[Hide Comment] This is a great route that ought to get more attention. There is a partially bolted line to the right of pitches 2-3… any info on what it is?
Sep 9, 2023
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Reno, NV
Had no trouble doing this in 4 pitches, we combined the last two 4th class pitches.
Supertopo calls P2 5.9 and P3 5.10a. I disagree, I think P2 is 10a/b and P3 is 5.9.
The P2 overhanging hand traverse followed by the roof and dyke hiking is committing and strenuous, and amazingly fun. Fantastic exposure. And the start to this pitch is pretty tough too, definitely lasso the knob for pro.
Found 3 pins on the route, all a bit rusty.
Took a #4 and used it, but you don't really need it.
Great climb, go do it and clean up the bit of vegetation on it (P4&5 has lots of vegetation which isn't going anywhere, oh well). Sep 27, 2015
Burbank, CA
You can climb the whole route in 3 pitches with a 70. Supertopo shows p2-3 totaling 190' to the ledge that hits the gully but judging by how much rope was left, I'm guessing 210+ feet? Oct 10, 2016
Petaluma California
Pitch one starts with 15 feet of 5.9 climbing to a questionable pin. Move left and place a good small nut. Above that is a cam placement against a loose flake. OK but hard not to use the flake to move higher. Move further left and go up so-so climbing to the large ledge. Far right is a bolted belay/rap station. 180 ft. Off of this the knob toss. I initially did this, and then decided instead to move further right, up and around the roof, and then back left out the hand traverse to a bolted belay. This seems like the option that is more in line with a Tahoe 5.9 rating. I also did the moves associated with the knob toss and found them considerably harder than 5.9
The climbing I did to the right was very good, except there is a large scary flake just 15 ft off the belay, and before the roof. It is hollow.
Anyway, the descriptions given in this section don't match the climb I did onpitch two.
After the bolted belay, head back left and follow the crack up. Really nice juggy steep climbing. Rope soloing I did two and three as one pitch. It is about 210 feet into the gully. At the top of the gully there is some very exposed easy fifth class climbing. Oct 13, 2016
Seattle, WA
CA
san francisco
Davis, CA