South West Buttress
5.10b R,
Trad, 800 ft (242 m), 8 pitches, Grade IV,
Avg: 3.5 from 13
votes
FA: Greg and Barry Lee, October 1973
Montana
> Northwest Region
> Blodgett Canyon
> Nez Perce Spire
Description
If you are looking for a moderately hard, exposed, adventure route, look no further. The route does have it's share of loose rock but it should not deter you. It's pitches range from fingers, hands, to the crux squeeze chimney on pitch 7. This route is not only aesthetically pleasing but also has some spectacular climbing. Go do it!
Location
Follow the upper ramp, past some junipers and a pine tree, all the way to the end of the ramp where you will find a sandy ledge. The route begins here.
Pitch 1. 5.9R Begin climbing straight up past a small tree, trend right on face and thin cracks into a left facing dihedral to an obvious belay.
Pitch 2. 5.8 Climb straight up through cracks and face climbing. To another obvious belay.
Pitch 3. 5.7PG13 The route does not head up steep "column" cracks. Traverse out left of the belay, rounding the arête, to the west face. From here, climb cracks, large hollow sounding flakes and face to a large ledge with a tree for the belay. Rope drag can be very bad on this pitch so extend placements.
Pitch 4. 5.10a This is a long one. Start up easy crack and face climbing. Climbing becomes harder as you go higher. Make a semi hanging belay off a suspended block, and an old button head this belay may need a new bolt in the future.
Pitch 5. 5.10c Crux pitch. Climb thin cracks to the L shaped roof. Crank through the roof, and make sure you get a good piece in before entering the runout 30ft squeeze chimney (super exposed!). If the follower is carrying a pack, have them tag it behind them. Once you emerge from the chimney climb up and left to two left facing dihedrals. Do not climb the first of the two, traverse to the second dihedral and climb to a belay stance.
Pitch 6. 5.9+ Pull through roof (watch for loose rock) and climb up toward a wonderful right facing dihedral. Stem and jam up to good face holds, and up to a belay ledge.
Pitch 7. 4th/5th class climbing to summit.
Decent: once at the summit walk 50 yards northeast until you reach the start of the large slab/bowl. You can either walk down or rap. There is webbing on a few trees to make a double rope rap to the bottom of the slab. From the bottom of the slab wind your way down talus and slab to the eastern slabs of Nez Perce. In the dark it is extremely difficult to get down the way you came up. If you descend to far left of the initial talus field you will end up crossing the creek into lodge pole dead fall and the same thing will happen if you trend to far right. So try and descend directly under Blackfoot dome. Best of luck on this descent.
Protection
Bring a standard double rack of cams to 3", stoppers, you may want to bring a 00 or two for the scary first pitch.
The route has a good amount of fixed gear. A few belays are supplemented with old buttonheads and LAs. These belays probably should be spruced up, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring along a drilling kit.
Bring two 60s
![Pitch/Climbing after the 'Birth Canal': Ignore the awesome looking finger crack in the gray dihedral and go up the dihedral to the right of it.]()
[Hide Photo] Pitch/Climbing after the 'Birth Canal': Ignore the awesome looking finger crack in the gray dihedral and go up the dihedral to the right of it.
![This was our p3 belay, I think this is the top of p5 or p6 per original description.]()
[Hide Photo] This was our p3 belay, I think this is the top of p5 or p6 per original description.
![Looking down Pitch 1. Note the tree which marks the start of the route.]()
[Hide Photo] Looking down Pitch 1. Note the tree which marks the start of the route.
![Nez Perce Spire. The SW Buttress is the left buttress.]()
[Hide Photo] Nez Perce Spire. The SW Buttress is the left buttress.
Continue with onX Maps
Continue with Facebook
AZ
Approach- traverse the highest ledge along the base to the exact SW buttress. A small tree (often with tat) will be ~30ft directly above you. Leave packs back in the talus field before starting your traverse so they're easier to grab on your way out. You'll come down between Nez Perce and Blackfoot.
P1 (5.9 PG-13) You want to trend left, not right! Left passed the tree, left passed a roof, then another step left before the belay. Lots of small nut placements made it feel much more PG-13 than R. Belay is a rusty bolt and a .2-.3 sized crack.
P2 (5.9) Pitches 2-3 can be easily linked into one. Straight up off the belay and on to the East face. Heading up the steep "column" cracks is enjoyable and felt 5.8. Belay on big ledge with a tree. ~60M pitch this way.
P3 (5.8) Head mostly straight up into right facing corners to the left of a splitter crack. Finish in a wide crack and step out right to a small belay with a fixed pin and buttonhead that can be backed up.
P4(5.10b) Straight up through thin cracks and over a roof (crux) then through the 5.9 squeeze "Birth Canal" which has a slung chockstone in the middle for pro. A few belay options above. The higher you go, the more likely you will be able to top out on the next pitch.
P5 (5.9+) Another long one that wanders quite a bit. Aim for ending just right of the big triangular point you can see above. Go left at the first fixed pin and up the corner above the second.
If you can climb this route you can probably downclimb the slab where the rappel is but rappelling is probably faster. Two 60s will get you all the way down, a 70 will get you most of the way with an easy scramble down. Aug 19, 2018
Boulder, CO
Did not feel like a 5.10R multipitch, the difficulty felt more like 5.9+ PG13. The squeeze section is not runout with the slung chockstone. I generally agree with Keatan's description, and the walkoff was one of the easiest descents I have done in Blodgett. We walked straight down the slabs, and I didn't really see a spot where you would want to rappel (or any slings). This could be sketchy if they are wet, but otherwise super chill. May 18, 2020
Kalispell, MT
Approach: Walk west along the wide grassy ramp along the base, pass a cairn at the base of a bolted route (Modern Home?), walk a few hundred feet more and you’ll be below the southwest corner. Scramble up about 30 ft. of 5.6 to a large ledge at the base of the climb; a tree 30 ft. up with a white sling with a carabiner (as of 2022) marks the start.
P1: We found this pitch to be 5.8, PG-13, lots of iffy, small nuts, but relatively secure climbing (none of the other pitches are as poorly protected as P1). We headed left after the tiny roof 50 ft. up. Go about 115 ft. to a left-sloping ledge with a good crack and a rusty ¼-in. bolt.
P2/3: Go straight up off the belay. The moves off the belay are cruxy (The crux?) and somewhat poorly protected (small nuts). Once you pull the “lip” 20 ft. above, the climbing eases. Go straight up the “column cracks” or the “flakes” out left around the arete (we took the “flakes,” 5.7). Rope drag will dictate whether you make it to the next huge ledge in one or two pitches (about 200 ft. if you make it ... we didn't).
P3: About 70 ft. above the dead, but solid-for-now tree on the large ledge is an obvious splitter fist crack – that’s what you’re aiming for. Climb up to and past the fist crack; when the climbing starts to get/look hard, move right into a tiny, airy alcove with a ¼-in. bolt and a piton that can be backed up. Awesome movement and good gear on this pitch, but a lot of loose/rattly blocks (PG-13).
P4: Stout moves off the belay, go up through the “L” roof (well-protected), and up the “Birth Canal.” The “Birth Canal” is only 15 ft. (not 30); if you bring a 4 you’ll have a good piece at your feet before you squeeze in (this is the only time we placed the 4 on the route). We belayed from the top of the pedestal that creates the chimney. Awesome pitch!
P5: From the top of the pedestal you’ll see a splitter finger crack in a gray, right-facing dihedral 30 ft. above you; climb off the pedestal toward the gray splitter and quickly move right into the dihedral to the right that you can’t see up from the pedestal (I posted a photo). Work up this dihedral eventually pulling an easier-than-it-looks, steep bulge/roof, stay left of some random two-bolt belay (if you see it), go left past a piton, and belay below a 40 ft. right-facing dihedral with a piton, about 150 ft. Awesome pitch!
P6: Clip a piton and go up the short fingers-to-hands corner (Awesome!), above the corner is easy scrambling to the top.
Gear: Doubles .1-2, single 3 (and 4 if you want it for the Birth Canal), a cam smaller than .1 (purple C3, etc.) if you’ve got one, full rack of nuts, 14+ runners (you will want to sling out every piece), single 60 (while doubles are required if you want to rap, a walk off is probably better than dealing with double ropes at half these belays).
Awesome route, mostly really, really fun "adventure" climbing! Sep 26, 2022