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Forrester's Crack

5.7, Trad, 70 ft (21 m),  Avg: 2.4 from 14 votes
FA: Forrest Shute and Wade Mills, early 1960s?
California > San Francisco B… > Wine Country/No… > Mt St Helena > Far Side > Shute-Mills Area

Description

Climb a steep wide crack via huge face holds over a slightly overhanging bulge (5.6) and continue up a widening chimney to a thin finger crack (5.7) on the right wall just below the bolted anchor of Saviour Heart, Far Side Chimney and New Tradition.

Although it shares a few holds with Saviour Heart, it is a separate line that predates all sport climbs at Mt. St. Helena. According to Jerry Dodrill, during the first ascent Forrest Shute "took a 50' fall and the rope caught as he hit the ground, landing on his feet. He went right back up and finished the route."

Location

This route is the obvious wide crack a few feet left of Saviour Heart 5.9.

Protection

A set of cams up to 4". The first two bolts of Saviour Heart may be clipped.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Floyd Hayes climbing Forrester's Crack on a rainy day, 29 September 2013. Photo by Cheri Ermshar.
[Hide Photo] Floyd Hayes climbing Forrester's Crack on a rainy day, 29 September 2013. Photo by Cheri Ermshar.
Forester's Crack
[Hide Photo] Forester's Crack
John on the Forrester's Crack
[Hide Photo] John on the Forrester's Crack
Cheri Ermshar climbing the upper part of Forrester's Crack on a rainy day, 29 September 2013.
[Hide Photo] Cheri Ermshar climbing the upper part of Forrester's Crack on a rainy day, 29 September 2013.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

grabski
N California
  5.7
[Hide Comment] Can easily climb this on all gear. In the lower crack I placed two #3s and one #2. You can sling a chockstone higher or place a larger cam, though I felt it unnecessary since it's easier ground. The top "finger crack" is flaring and doesn't take cams well. It does, however, have two spots for a small nut.

It's worth doing if you hike your gear back here. Pretty easy since there are plenty of good face holds, though you can make it more fun and challenging by just using the crack for hands. Jun 27, 2016
Floyd Hayes
  5.7
[Hide Comment] Actually the thin crack at the top can take at least two sizes of small cams that fit very well. Sep 15, 2016
Ed Henicle
Santa Rosa, CA
[Hide Comment] I used two #4's and a #5 in the lower wide section Jan 16, 2017
Eric Leonard
santa cruz
 
[Hide Comment] single rack is cool (if you're comfortable leading) up to #4, upper section took a .5 BD cam and a black or blue tricam, provides a couple decent jams too! cool route for sure, anchors are a bit sketch and rusty, so id recommend rapping off "shutes mills". which are the set of shiny bolts to the right of "new tradition", "saviour heart", and "forrester's crack". Apr 2, 2018
Ken Stanton
[Hide Comment] Scott Fields along with Robin Madgwick climbed this route in 1988 naming it Chockaholic not aware that Shute and Mills climbed it much earlier. Dec 3, 2020
Cameron Cutting
Mountain View, CA
 
[Hide Comment] Incredibly beefy it you use just the crack as much as possible, good wide training Apr 19, 2022