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Scenic Byway

5.10a, Trad, 400 ft (121 m), 4 pitches, Grade II,  Avg: 3.2 from 71 votes
FA: James and Franziska Garrett, 1992
Utah > S Central Utah > San Rafael Swell > San Rafael Swel… > Buckhorn Wash > Upper Buckhorn > Scenic Byway Wall

Description

Pitch 1: This is an amazing 5.9 handcrack. The crux of the pitch comes right at the start where the crack is thin hands (.75 camalot) size for a few feet before you gain a big jug and the crack widens to perfect hands for the rest of the pitch. The pitch ends at the obvious 3 bolt anchor after maybe 75 feet.

Pitch 2: Continue up the crack which turns into an offwidth dihedral right after the anchors. This is the technical crux of the route at 5.10. At the top of the dihedral you'll see two bolts off to the right. This is the top of another route. When you see the first bolt, traverse left and continue up another 25 feet of easy climbing to the large belay ledge with a bolted anchor.

Pitch 3: Sandy slab with a bolt to a sandy dihedral to a few sandy slab moves to the bolted anchors.

Pitch 4: sandy 5.8 crack to a bolted headwall with a scary looking pile of rocks for a back step. Tread lightly in spots.

Enjoy the views from the top of the mesa. They are spectacular. 

Protection

You should be good with a double set of cams up to 3" plus a couple of larger pieces for the offwidth on pitch 2.

From what I understand you can rap off the route in four single rope raps, I'm not sure if you can do it with a 60, but think so. For the third rap, use the anchors that you saw off to your right while climbing the second pitch.

Location

This route is the leftmost route on the scenic byway wall and is the wall's namesake.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Pitch 4
[Hide Photo] Pitch 4
pitch 3
[Hide Photo] pitch 3
Behold!
[Hide Photo] Behold!
My partner is at the base of the route. 1st crack trends left. 2nd crack trends right.
[Hide Photo] My partner is at the base of the route. 1st crack trends left. 2nd crack trends right.
Pitch #1 is SOOO good!
[Hide Photo] Pitch #1 is SOOO good!
J-sexy on the the third and final rap. (Its 3 rappels with a single 70m)
[Hide Photo] J-sexy on the the third and final rap. (Its 3 rappels with a single 70m)
Pitch 1
[Hide Photo] Pitch 1
Pitch 1
[Hide Photo] Pitch 1

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

James Garrett
Salt Lake City, UT
 
[Hide Comment] Interesting addition to the database and quite timely. I, too, have noticed that the upper pitches tend to get ignored and always wondered why.

I climbed the route again in early May and decided to retrofit the upper pitches adding a few glue-in bolts and mostly equipping the belays with chain. Pitch #3 and Pitch #4 (they didn't need to be as run out as they used to be) are practically my favorite pitches and though still only 5.8ish, they seem much more comfortable now as I enter my "Alpenheimer" years.

I really still like the 2 minute approach time best of all! Where else in the Desert can you get 4 such varied pitches? Hand crack to OW (take one #5 and you can totally zip it up) to a slab to Navajo face climbing...all no harder than 5.10-.

A wall register was added.

Rapping the route with ONE 70m rope works fine. Jun 13, 2013
Nunya Business
Your Mom
  5.10
[Hide Comment] The 3rd and 4th pitches were VERY runout and required some good routing finding ability to follow. The first two pitches were classic, the second two not so much. Now that the final two pitches have been retro-bolted they might deserve another look. Jun 19, 2013
Ryan202
West Jordan, UT
[Hide Comment] I felt there was more thin hands than just in the beginning of the first pitch. The offwidth second pitch trends to the right going across the face, giving an overhang feel which made it much more difficult than we thought it would be. 3rd pitch pretty much goes straight up past one bolt, then head up the really low angle but sandy feeling slab to the ~6ft vertical section and take a few steps to the right to the path of least resistance, unless I missed something. This is where (about half way up) I didn't feel comfortable with the consequence if I fell during the crux move; it was sandy, my cam was placed in the only spot available which the rock would probably break. After that there's a thin crack along the small corner but I didn't have a cam small enough, and couldn't quite get a good nut placement that I liked. I ended up down climbing, which probably had the same amount of danger to it anyway. There was only one bolt on the 3rd pitch. Maybe another time. Sep 22, 2014
Greg Troutman
SLC, UT
 
[Hide Comment] As with any posts on this site, please take mine with a grain of salt. I’m fairly comfortable with swell style climbing, runouts, and really comfortable on 5.10. With that in mind, I thought this climb was great, and totally worth doing all 4 pitches. Sorry if I’m giving away too much here, but I’m just trying to promote doing the whole climb.

Pitch 1 Super fun. If you want to be very comfortable, bring three #1’s, and you could even use a #4 for the top. ( gear beta is in BD )

Pitch 2 is a lot easier than it looks, and quite fun. I bumped one #5 with me for a few moves, felt pretty safe, but you could bring two #5’s or a #5 & #6 if you want something between you and the belay at all times. Ditch the big gear at the top of this pitch.

Pitch 3 has a few slabby cruxes that could feel insecure if youre new to sandstone slab, but aren’t too hard. There are bolts ( I think 2 ) in good locations. I had a red c3 for the crack section ( amongst other gear ) and felt plenty comfortable.

Pitch 4 interesting crack climbing to a steep well bolted face, great pitch! Great Scenery! I thought you could put a few bolts in 20ft left of the route to have a fun alternate final pitch… if anyone is feeling motivated.
Enjoy! Sep 30, 2014
thehackattack
Park City, UT
 
[Hide Comment] Wonderous variety on this--our first multi-pitch in the Swell! Its a peach James- a peach I tell ya! May 4, 2015
Stan Pitcher
SLC, UT
 
[Hide Comment] Great route James! I had done the first pitch numerous time, finally got around to finishing. The 2nd pitch is spicy with a 4 and a 5. Might want an additional 5 or maybe even a 6. New glue-ins and anchors are in great shape. No need to use anchor under roof for third rappel (would be hard to get too anyway). From the now bolted 2nd pitch anchor/ledge you can rap to base with a single 70. May 22, 2017
Greyson
SLC, UT
 
[Hide Comment] All in all a very worth while route! There is some choss to be aware of at the top of pitch 2 and tri cams would have protected some of the flaring cracks on pitches 3 and 4 very well. with an 80 meter it is possible to rap pitches 1 and 2 in a single rappel. Apr 12, 2020
Paolo Botta
Cuneo
 
[Hide Comment] Be careful when rapping from the second pitch, the roof edge gave me a core shot Aug 23, 2020
[Hide Comment] I was alarmed to see that there are no comments on the second pitch pillar complex, resting on only about 8 inches of crumbly rock. This thing looks poised to go, and when it does it will be huge! Really enjoyed P1 though. Oct 30, 2023
Tim B 50
  5.10a
[Hide Comment] Fun and reasonably protected with gear and bolts. Second pitch protects well with a six for the first 10 ish feet from the belay and a five for the next 10 ish feet then a great BD #1. I placed a BD #2 also then traversed left below the first bolt on an easy ledge system with several loose and fractured blocks. Tread lightly!!! The sandy slab climbing above isn't hard but may be unnerving is you aren't used to sandy slab. There was a huge loose block about 15 feet into pitch 4 that had separated from the formation. We safely trundled it removing the danger for future belayers and parties below. Several of the glue in bolts are showing signs of disrepair with voids evident. They are still usable but I expect them to continue to deteriorate. Apr 13, 2024