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Forest Creatures
5.9 YDS 5c French 17 Ewbanks VI UIAA 17 ZA HVS 5a British PG13
Avg: 2.3 from 3
votes
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| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 900 ft (273 m), 6 pitches |
| GPS: | 42.75523, -109.13894 |
| FA: | FA: Mark Leonard, Mark Dalen, Dave Baltz 1977, Other notable ascents: Lane Mathis & Dakota Walz 7/2020, Bolted variation by Dave Nettle & Glen Poulse |
| Page Views: | 1,156 total · 16/month |
| Shared By: | Dakota from North Dakota on Aug 3, 2020 · Updates |
| Admins: | Mike Snyder, Taylor Spiegelberg, Jake Dickerson |
Description
This route sports a lot of fantastic face climbing on awesome rock.
Because we were chasing whatever pro we could our line was a bit wandery and very dangerous. The new variation pitches protected by lead bolts are likely the funnest path up the wall. Additionally all belays, save for pitch 5 are now bolted and the route can be rappelled.
The following beta is what I believe to be the best path up the wall, utilizing the new variation pitches (white lines on the updated topo).
P1. 5.9, 60m
Mostly super easy romping up very low angle terrain. Traverse right across at two bolts and a thin crack that is difficult to protect for leader and follower. Belay on the ledge at two bolts.
P2. 5.9, 40m
Climb straight up from the belay aiming for three bolts on a slab. Travers right to the mini roof and belay at two bolts under the tooth.
P3. 5.9PG, 40m
Climb up and left to a bolt under the tooth. Surmount the tooth and follow sporadic gear along incredible face climbing. Belay at another ledge on two bolts.
P4. 5.9, 55m
Trend up and left before climbing up the slab past two bolts near a small right facing overhang. Then cast off up and right aiming for the tip of the triangular nose. Two bolt belay.
P5. 5.8, 50m
Pull easy moves over the triangle to an awesome ramp of perfect rock. Gear belay on the mega ledge.
P6. 5.8, 25m
Many options to reach the rim from the mega ledge. We chose the nearest which was a great left facing corner about 30ft right of the belay. Climbing up the left trending flakes will lead to a rap station (one bolt, one nut) to rap the route.
Location
West face of Sumac Point. Start just above the smaller of the two tarns in the cirque. Just looker's left of the black arches.
History
1977
Mark Leonard, Mark Dalen, and Dave Baltz put up a route they call Buffalo Crude placing one single bolt down low. The late Mark Dalen mistakenly draws the topo on the Sunset Buttress instead of on Sumac Point.
2020 - July
Lane Mathis and myself (Dakota Walz) climb the first known ascent of Forest Creatures (blue line in topo). We did not see any previous bolts or leave any fixed gear of our own behind. We climbed many bold pitches including an 82m pitch that Lane Mathis managed with only a few pieces of marginal protection.
2020 - August
In a cosmic coincidence, mere weeks later much of the route was retro bolted (with variations in white) by Dave Nettle & Glen Poulsen. They also added anchor bolts to create a rappel line (black circles). Understandably, they had no idea we had been there.
2026
David Baltz reaches out to me with photos from their ascent of Buffalo Crude. They clearly show the team climbing P4 of what we called Forest Creatures. Though we did not see the bolt they placed, there is no question that all three of these ascents were more the same climb than not. I can't edit the posting for Buffalo Crude on mountain project. Instead David suggesting leaving this page as is with a clear note of the history. Perhaps others will also come forward about having climbed it even earlier!
4 Comments