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Southwest Face

5.8, Trad, 450 ft (136 m), 5 pitches,  Avg: 3.1 from 28 votes
FA: Jim Kanzler, Bill Antonioli, 1968
Montana > Southwest Region > Humbug Spires > Wedge
Warning Access Issue: Road closed December 2 to May 15 DetailsDrop down

Description

This fantastic route is another one of the classics out at Humbug Spires. This climb has jamming to face climbing to offwidthing to chimneying in 5 pitches. While no move is harder than 5.8 the route is rather sustained in nature and packs a bit of a punch. Shares the first pitch with the also excellent Mutt and Jeff.

Pitch 1 - 5.7
Climb the flake aiming towards the two side by side bolts. Marvel at how unlikely it is that the 1/4 pinhead bolt will actually hold as you traverse into the crack to the right of the small roof. Climb up and follow the crack for about 25 feet until you notice a couple of horns and knobs to your left that lead into a small dihedral. Climb up a few feet to protect and then put your big boy pants on. Traverse the 20 feet left into the dihedral and then continue up to the crack until you reach some webbing. Sling out your placement that you place once you hit the dihedral or prepare for suicide inducing rope drag. Bring extra webbing and a #1 camalot to back up the anchor.

Pitch 2 - 5.8
After climbing up around 20 feet take the right crack that leads to the right corner of the cyclops eye. Just before getting to the chimney step left to a small ledge that has 2 bolts on it.

Pitch 3 - 5.8
Step right off the belay ledge aiming for the chimney formation that takes you to the right of the cyclops eye. Clip two terrible looking bolts and then sling a nut on the third, using the attached wingnut to make sure it stays on. Ask yourself what the hell you are doing and then continue up the chimney. If you are wearing a backpack I'd suggest trailing it before braving the bowels of the chimney. Continue up the chimney until reaching a vertical crack. Continue on this vertical crack until a horizontal crack appears on the left (takes a great #2!) and then traverse back into the chimney. Continue up until there are some large wedged chalkstones that make for a great belay spot. This pitch can be a bit intimidating as the rock can get rather "kitty littery" if you get even a little off route. Hold on tight.

Pitch 4 - 5.6/7
Continue up the large crack for 70ish feet. Stop here to belay or if you are feeling brave and don't mind the rope drag continue to the summit. Build an anchor on the ridgeline of the formation.

Pitch 5 - 5.3/5.4
Get your slab runout face on! Really easy climbing with one placement in the 100 ft of climbing. Heels down and mantle your way on up until you reach the anchor bolts at the top. Marvel at the view! Contemplate how the hell you will get down!

The descent is possibly one of the scariest parts of this climb. Head north towards the mountains following the ridge. Crane your neck and you will see in the distance along a thin 3 foot knife edge a bunch of bolts. Your goal is to get to these. Stay roped in for this maneuver; it is a lot weirder than it looks. Poo yourself a little as you walk across the knife edge and look for a couple of placements along the way. Clip on in and breathe easy. A 70 meter rope will just BARELY make it to the ground if you are fat. If you are thin the last 5 feet of this rappel is going to suck. If you don't have one of them fancy 70 meter ropes then there are intermediate bolts for you use. Enjoy the 4 mile hike out!

Location

The route is in a gorgeous valley about 4 miles down the trail from the trailhead. From the trailhead follow the trail until you climb a rather rough switchbacking section. Just make sure to stay left here and continue following the obvious trail. About 1/2 a mile before the end of the trail the wedge will come into view from a large meadow. This climb starts approx. in the middle and heads left at the large roof (Cyclops Eye) and then goes out of view. The base of the climb is at a large flake and you can see a singular bolts about 60 foot of the deck below a small roof. See above for descent info.

photosynth.net/view.aspx?ci…
View from the top.

Approach map
runkeeper.com/user/tymorris…

Protection

Gear to 4 inches. My example rack : singles #2 C3 -.4 camalot, doubles .5-#3 and a single #4. The #4 could be left at home but I placed it on every pitch. Single thing of nuts and slings to reduce drag.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Hangerless bolts should always come with wingnuts.
[Hide Photo] Hangerless bolts should always come with wingnuts.
Bovine Intervention, 10.c/d, the bolted 'direct' finish to the SW Face route.
[Hide Photo] Bovine Intervention, 10.c/d, the bolted 'direct' finish to the SW Face route.
Dave Langen on the second pitch of the SW Face of the Wedge - 03 July 2006
[Hide Photo] Dave Langen on the second pitch of the SW Face of the Wedge - 03 July 2006
Scuffling up the third pitch on the Southwest Face of The Wedge.
[Hide Photo] Scuffling up the third pitch on the Southwest Face of The Wedge.
Topo for Southwest Face
[Hide Photo] Topo for Southwest Face
Topo from the base of the Mutt and Jeff and the Southwest Chimney.
[Hide Photo] Topo from the base of the Mutt and Jeff and the Southwest Chimney.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Matt Wenger
Bozeman
  5.8 R
[Hide Comment] Pitch 3 gets super runout (at least 30ft) and awkward moving out of the chimney until you hit the horizontal crack right below P4. Step very carefully. I won't ever lead this pitch again. Jul 1, 2014
ddriver
SLC
[Hide Comment] The pitch 3 description here states: "Continue up the chimney until reaching a vertical crack. Continue on this vertical crack until a horizontal crack appears on the left (takes a great #2!) and then traverse back into the chimney." I chose to continue straight up the vertical crack for another 30-40 feet or so past the horizontal (as is shown in the '95 Falcon guide) until it ended, where I made a face traverse left to a nice belay ledge. This eliminated one pitch and provided what appears to be much better climbing. The second can be reasonably protected for the traverse.

The pitch 3 runout Matt is describing can in part be protected with 1/2 to 3/4 inch cams. Aug 5, 2014
Brad Burns
Story, WY
  5.8- PG13
[Hide Comment] Great route! Although it has one less star than The Mutt and Jeff, I'd personally say this is on par with that route! However, I would not recommend a 5.8 leader to climb this route unless very comfortable with some decent runouts. The 3rd pitch has some ~30 ft run outs (you could probably get really creative and find some tricky gear to protect it a little better) on it, and although it wasn't scary, and the climbing was really secure in the chimney, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't 100% comfortable on moderate terrain. A whip would be absolutely horrendous. The 3 bolts on this route are all within like 5 ft of each other?!?! What the heck is up with that? The climbing on the route is really fun though! Get your chimney on! You could totally get away without the 4, but it might be nice to have if you're leading at your limit. Link the last two pitches into one long pitch. The rope drag isn't bad and its totally worth it. Sep 27, 2020
Brandon Moy
Calgary
[Hide Comment] 2x60m ropes can get you from the bolted anchors at the top of P2 (under the chimney) to an easily down climbable scramble... just barely. Oct 2, 2020
Jason Mills
Kalispell, MT
  5.8
[Hide Comment] The bolts are now 1/2-in. stainless, the wingnut bolt is still there for history’s sake and can be safely skipped. :)

Gotta say, I really, really disagree with (and I’m kinda confused by) some of the "sketchy" comments here ...

In the initial chimney above the bolts I got four good pieces in in 30 ft. (5.7). In the "second" chimney there is no gear ... but 15 ft. right of the chimney is a 40 ft. 5.7/8 finger/handcrack with great gear that bypasses the unprotectable portion of the chimney. ddriver’s comment is spot on -- If you climb the handcrack and traverse into the chimney higher (where there is gear) there is no R, PG-13, or 30 ft. runout on the pitch.

There is nothing scarier or sketchier on SW Face than on Mutt and Jeff and we were never runout more than 10 ft. the entire route, PG all the way.

Oh, and this route is fun!

PS: The bolted finish “up the gut” is Bovine Intervention, 10.c/d. Aug 8, 2022