Avg: 2.8 from 24
votes
Access Issue: 2023 Seasonal Raptor Nesting Closures
Details
If you are excited about an adventurous route at smith, This route will not dissapoint. The climbing is easy and the rock and pro is reasonable considering the location. Route finding would probably be the hardest part of the climb but even that shouldn't be a problem if you've done adventurous climbs before.
Pitch 1- third class scrambling leads to a large 20 foot wide ledge with anchors on the ground next to the edge where you step out of the alcove.
Pitch 2- 5.8 on questionable rock. once you clip that first bolt, shoot straight up to the next ledge 20' up and look right for bolted anchors.
Pitch 3- 5.10a, go to the bolt line on the far right side of the ledge. Follow questionable rock up a solid bolt line and turn a corner joining a crack heading up to the dihedral above. Expect to use gear in between bolts that are about 20' spaced higher up. follow the crack all the way to a large ledge where the thumb is. anchors on left. Unavoidable rope drag on this pitch. minimize with alpine slings on the lower and upper sections.
(detour)- climb the thumb. It's worth it.
pitch 4- 5.7 unexposed move to a cool gully protected on both sides. continue up the path of least resistance to the first false summit. there are anchors at the top but it's easy to solo and mostly unexposed.
Pitch 5- this is a very long and sometimes very exposed 4th class traverse across several peaks until you reach the true summit with new rap anchors that take you a short distance down the back side to the ground. expect this traverse to be the most exposed part of the whole day and one of the highlights of the climb.(not for the inexperienced)
To get back Walk off north along the cliff band to a small pass and cut downhill back to the start. Have fun!!!
This route should be studied via topos such as those found in Alan Watts 2010 falcon guide book to be certain of your location. There are a lot of routes surrounding this route that would be bad to get lost on.
Gear to 3". I used a single rack to 3" and still had plenty of gear left over.
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Portland, OR
Portland, OR
Finding the route:
Beta/Pro:
- 1st pitch - 3rd class scramble, natural pro if you want it, but it's quite easy.
- 2nd pitch - all bolts
- 3rd pitch - 10-12 bolts (don't remember exact number). There are gear opportunities from .5 - 3, but I found that 2 #1's did the trick. This pitch protected well with a 1 before the crux move, and a 1 or .75 up higher. If I go back to do this route I will likely only bring a 1 for the crux move, as the placement higher on the route is on easy territory, and the runout between bolts is only about 20 ft. Bring all the long runners that you own for this pitch, and extend as much as possible. Rope drag is going to be bad by the end. The anchors for the end of this pitch are around the corner from the last bolt, just at the start of the ledge with the thumb on it.
- The Thumb! - Take a .5 if you want one piece of gear in for this. Go around the left side of the thumb (as you look at it from the belay anchors) to pick up the obvious line up. Be careful to avoid the large detached block near the top when belaying or rappelling.
- 4th and 5th pitches - I think these pitches could merit an R rating for the route, as protection is sparse, and fall consequence would be high. The climbing is all 4th class except for the single 5th class move to get into the gully. There is one bolted belay station along these two pitches, coming right as the more exposed portion of the scrambling begins. A 70m rope will NOT reach from this bolted belay to the final rap anchors on the summit, so you will need to improvise a belay station if you want one.
Nov 27, 2017Bend, OR
Redmond, OR