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Agent Orange

5.11c, Trad, TR, 70 ft (21 m),  Avg: 3.1 from 62 votes
FA: Jeff Smoot
Washington > Central-W Casca… > Skykomish Valley > Index > Inner Walls > Grandeur Buttress

Description

Climbs through a series of horizontal cracks on vertical to slabby terrain. Nice balancey climb with a variety of small features: mono, undercling, sloper and crimps. Probably tricky to protect on lead. May be missing fixed pin.

Location

Look for series of horizontal cracks left of the slabby arete on Grandeur buttress across from Toxic Shock. I climbed Corner Flash and set a toprope with gear.

Protection

gear to .5 with microcams/ballnuts?

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

The reachy move to establish at the good rest at the fixed pin
[Hide Photo] The reachy move to establish at the good rest at the fixed pin
Nicola Masciandaro on Agent Orange (11+).
[Hide Photo] Nicola Masciandaro on Agent Orange (11+).
Grabbing the sloping edge at the first crux
[Hide Photo] Grabbing the sloping edge at the first crux
TR Agent Orange
[Hide Photo] TR Agent Orange

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jon Nelson
Redmond, WA
 
[Hide Comment] Very fun, thoughtful face climbing. Jul 25, 2013
[Hide Comment] There are new anchors 10ft below the old AO anchors. Oct 4, 2014
[Hide Comment] The new anchors are solid bombproof stainless steel bolts, and the new location avoids unimpressive dirty climbing at the top. This is definitely not an R rated route, but definitely requires heads up climbing. Unless you are super solid at the grade, it might not be a bad idea to suss out the gear (especially for the first 20 feet) on TR after climbing Corner Flash. Dec 29, 2014
Craig Gorder
Flagstaff, AZ
[Hide Comment] This is such a fun and unique climb. It's a shame that the (undeserved) "X/R" reputation scares people off. I think anyone with the requisite trad climbing experience to climb at the grade would have no real issue making it safe. It does have a bit of spice so be smart about it, of course.

That said, it did make me feel a bit more comfortable anchoring in the belayer for the first two pieces, just to stop any kind of summersault potential down that hill. Jul 6, 2015
Ysbrand Nusse
Calgary, AB
 
[Hide Comment] A rowdy and fun climb! I'd highly recommend going for the lead if you're up for it. With modern small cams it's totally safe, give it a try!

My rack: BD X4s -.1, .2, .1/.2 offset, .2/.3 offset, C4s - .4, 2x .5, .and 1 draw. Apr 14, 2020
Hank Thompson
Leavenworth, WA
  5.11c
[Hide Comment] While an onsight would be bold, once you know where the gear goes this route isn't anywhere near PG13, don't lets it's reputation dissuade you from the lead. Awesome climbing, the top crux felt similar in style and difficulty to the top crux of Keith's Crack.

  • *Spoiler **

Gear Beta:
Purple Metolius TCU, extended (this piece fit perfectly but you could also use a .1 BD which would be pretty good), Blue totem (the offset ability of totems made this placement much more comfy), .3 BD, .4 BD, .5BD, .5BD, .4BD, Quickdraw, Black Totem.

This rack sewed it up and allowed me to back up one of the blind placements and the old fixed pin. Aug 16, 2021
Parker May
Milwaukee, WI
  5.11b
[Hide Comment] To echo what's been said, with a totem or two (or offsets) and checking out the gear first on lower this totally isn't an "R" lead. The climbing is radical though Feb 2, 2022
Tavish Hansen
  5.11b/c
[Hide Comment] I swear I remember seeing this called 10c in one of the old guidebooks, can anyone confirm this? Jun 26, 2022
IJMayer
Guemes Island, WA
[Hide Comment] sky valley rock has it at 11a Jun 26, 2022
Austin Donisan
San Mateo, CA
 
[Hide Comment] Are you supposed to use the ledge out left? It seems really hard/contrived to totally skip it, but immediately traversing to it also skips the most interesting climbing. Jul 20, 2023