Gypsy Soul

Closely bolted due to the bouldery nature of the cruxes, and the questionable rock quality in places. This route is a great after work adventure. After pitches 2,3, and 4 you have to pick up your kit and walk to the left 30-100 meters on gigantic ledges to get to the next pitch. All this picking up kit and moving makes you feel like a gypsy on the move. Pitch 5 is the hi-light.

This route, like any NEW route on Echo Conglomerate (this is a much softer conglomerate than Maple) is a choss storm. You will certainly pull off many large rocks and send them toward your belayer. This wall in particular navigates across a large variety of rock quality. You're not climbing a single 50' band of relatively stable and cleaned-up Dry Wall rock. This is a 500' adventure. MAYBE over time it will clean up, but I honestly doubt it. I spent an entire summer trying to clean this route as much as possible, driving up after work in the blistering sun, jugging up, and brushing, blowing, and wiggling off choss. I put in this effort knowing this route would never clean up entirely. I put in the bolts knowing (as stated above) that many will need replacing over time. Glue in bolts wouldn't have solved this because the surrounding rock will eventually separate from the wall in large flakes of delaminating conglomerate, but I welcome anyone who is so inclined to go pull my bolts out, and put in glue-ins. 

I put in the effort to establish this climb for the following reasons. If these don't resonate with you, then I personally would recommend avoiding this climb. Note: Rock quality was not something I was expecting or hoping for on this climb, though I did re-route the route several times after finding better quality rock in which to place bolts.

Priorities:
1) To climb a 500' 5 pitch fully bolted sport climb after work in SLC that almost gives you the big wall exposure feeling.

2) To have a climb near SLC I could rest assured that anytime I wanted to, I could go climb something with NO PEOPLE on it

3) Simply to establish a climb up this wall, no matter the price in effort, hardware, and straight up objective hazard.

I did establish this route from the top down. There are bolts up there somewhere at the top. You can top this route out, and I have before, but you must free solo the easy 20'. I LIKED ending the route on a free standing tower. The rock quality was best on the tower. I liked the irony of ending this climb with terrible quality rock the whole way, on good quality rock. Pick your reason. I have hiked down from the top-out many times, and it is a major PITA, and involves trespassing, so I felt better establishing it as a rap-descent rather than a walk off. This route is best described as a "farce" -- while it took a ton of work, and involves some serious risk due to falling rock, it is not a "serious" route. It will not be enjoyable to "serious" climbers. I am not a serious person, nor climber. If you're a serious climber, you will enjoy Dry Wall, Maple, the gym, and AF. If you like adventure, and don't take climbing seriously, then you might enjoy this route. The VERY BEST way to descend this route is to base jump from the ledge below Pitch 5. I have never done that, but watched many people do it on early summer mornings when I was up bolting. Often they didn't know I was there watching them.

Rack:

18 draws: (10 short draws, 8 long or extendable draws)

70 meter rope (or two 60 meter ropes) for rappel

Pitch 1: 5.11a 105 feet 18 bolts, pull some pocket moves up to a big roof and find the secret hold. 3 bolt anchor.

Pitch 2: 5.11b 135 feet 17 bolts, step on your belayer to get up onto the ledge, then move left to a bolt, do another cautious mantle, move left again, and then begin the upward movement through 3 tricky boulder problem roofs connected by lower angle but good quality rock. Back clean and extend draws where possible. End at 3 bolts under a big roof.

Pitch 3: 5.10b Move from the top of Pitch 2 about 40 meters to the left. Two bolts mark the start of this short pitch. Careful not to knock pebbles onto your belayer at the top. 3 bolt anchor.

Pitch 4: 5.11b Move again about 40 meters up the hill and to the left. There are currently some wooden ladders left by base jumpers. The start is to the left of these ladders. Short pitch of 2 strenuous boulder problems. 2 bolt anchor.

Pitch 5: 5.10a 60 feet. Do you feel like a gypsy yet? Move 100 meters up the sandy hill and to the left out to the prow of the buttress. There is a 60' tall free standing tower here that is the 5th and final pitch. Best pitch of the route. Every time you need a jug, one is there--hiding.

Descent: MANDATORY 70m ROPE or double rope rappels. Rap the route.

From the parking lot located 1.59 miles past the right turn off of the Echo Exit intersection, walk back down the road toward the Echo Exit 300 ft. You will see a brown road sign that says "Salt Lake House Billboard". 50' past this sign, there is a large spur that comes down from the wall. Where this supr connects with the road there is a faint trail, marked with a crappy cairn. The trail gets interrupted by deer trails and is a little hard to follow, so just stay on the crest of the spur all the way until it connects with the wall. This is the start of the route.

Closely bolted sport.