Sometimes I avoid routes at Vantage because they just don't look good. Well this has a adventurous alpine feel if you want to do something crappy. You can even choose to climb all 3 cracks by doing a traverse to the right and finish on the 7 Virgins chimney anchor.

Much like other off width cracks at Vantage you can do mostly face climbing.

This would be better if cleaned.

Barbed For Your Pleasure

Justified Ancients of Mu Mu

Chemically Adjusted Reality

Better Living Through Superior Chemical Management

Climbing in the Temple of Doom

Sex With Vegetables

Narlux

Elvis' Pharmacist

Pony Keg

Crossing the Delaware With Your Pants Down

[Redacted]

Vantage Point

Traditional Death Route

Rimming the Berries

Commeterme

Chips and Dips

Sunshine Buttress

Where's My Fucking Crack Pipe?

Brownie Power

Crossing the Threshold

Code of the Bolt Warrior

Crackmaster Lambada

The Chossmaster

Hakuna Matata

Boschido

Acapulco Gold

Air Guitar

Premature Ejaculation

Clip 'em or Skip 'em

Stems and Seeds

Mix it Up

Tangled up in Blue

Seven Virgins and a Mule

Witholding Evidence

Sinsemilla

Steel Pulse

Throbbing Gristle

Never Forget Your Friends

Mr. Clean

Red M&Ms

Shady Chimney

Corner Pockets

Stroken' the Chicken

Peaceful Warrior

Whipsaw

Steel Grill

Bob's Your Uncle

George and Martha

Catnip

I was working on stuff at the Middle East wall and got too cold so had to find something in the sun. Being Monday I had the place mostly to myself and what better time to do some quarrying.

Theres a route under all this choss I am sure of it.

It looked promising it is just very loose.

It had a 5.8 rating in the book and gear up to #6, and chimney????

More like 5.9, gear up to #4

I have been up dozens of these Robbins FA's now and likely 2nd ascent. He always climbed these cracks ground up, no precleaning, infact they are never cleaned and the choss is horrifying. every single face hold comes off in your hands or under your feet. the sides of the crack have a layer of crumb cake that will not take pro. There are basketball sized holds that look solid and slip right off with the smooth basalt cracks. He survived all these crazy cracks to die in a avalanche.

Can be done as one pitch or two. There is a two bolt anchor halfway up, on top of the large ledge, and another at the top. Moves are straightforward between standard Vantage incut holds on the first pillar, and increase in difficulty on the second half.

Another funky Vantage crack climb, but it is pretty interesting on the upper half. It is listed as 10c PG in the book, but I found it no harder to protect then the average Vantage crack.

Pretty sustained jamming without the usual face holds makes this pretty pumpy.

Not the usual single crack all the way up, some crack switch with broken discontinuous thin cracks.

The crux is in the first 30 feet, where it is thin and hard to protect, seems just as hard as the 11a cracks at Vantage,it was 10c in the book but maybe it is 10d. Pink X4, C3's, blue and green Aliens.

I like Yoder's description:

Highly recommended for your worst enemies.

just needs some cleaning, avoid till done.

What a unusual name for Bill. I have been considering this for a while ( no not the SWV )and took the time to battle the wind tunnel chimney and dive bombing pigeons to make a six point trad anchor and squirm through the squeeze chimney to climb this.

The face on either side of this is mostly smooth and clean. The crack is still pretty dirty.

Mostly hand and fists, some fingers and face holds. near the top it goes to OW/ Chimney and you have to move above the last gear while squeezing  in and then move out to right face and a finger crack.

This should get more stars when it is cleaned.

Climb the balancy arete past seven bolts to an anchor.

This one is pretty exciting, with thin crack, thin crimps, tricky gear placements.

The only way this is 10c is if I stem off the column on the other side of the chimney, otherwise it seems like a 5.11.

I did some cleaning of this 1/22/2018.

Pony Keg ascends the fist/hand crack to the left of the Whipsaw arete, and is the first crack system right of

Air Guitar

.  Scramble to a rocky ledge about 15 feet above the trail and belay near a large boulder inscribed with a memorial to Goran Kropp.

Jam your way up Pony Keg also using incut holds in the crack and on the faces of the dihedral as you go.  The route begins with small hands and gets bigger as you ascend, ending with a section of wide fists. You can frequently stem to place gear and rest, but I still had a fair pump by the time I reached the anchor (shared with Whipsaw).

Thin, but positive moves lead up 7 bolts to a layback. Chain anchor at the top. Bring a blue or yellow sized TCU for the top part unless you want to run it out as the bolts stop a good ways below the anchor.

Starts at the crack to the right of Shady Chimney. Mostly hand holds at the beginning, up to a decent hand crack. You can stem on Shady Chimney at first crux.

End of the route has an interesting pair of finger cracks and large step blocks.

Great sport route with a sweet view. Clips on the face to the right of the climb.

The name probably scares away most folks, but not me.

The book gives this a  10b R rating, maybe for the rotten rock near the start, be sure to get cam in slot below the choss,( only about 6' ) then right after it, rest of the route is pretty clean for a route never climbed. ( still loose rock to be expected )

I think this is 10a, we will see what the consensus vote is. It actually protects pretty well, and there are a number of good rests.

Hand and fist crack that gets progressively wider as you go up until you have sections with larger pods that undulate as the columns come together. Where the columns come together takes some gear but gear becomes more spaced at the top. No anchor on top. We moved over to Code of the bolt warrior but the links on that anchor need to be replaced.

Quite a bit of dried pigeon poop at the top. This climb would be more popular and be cleaner if there was an anchor due to the moderate grade.

This route deserves more then the 1 star it gets in the book. The PG rating also does not apply any more than the usual loose rock at Vantage. The PG rating is for the bottom broken ragged crack, the Corner Pocket crack or the bolted Ancients could be climbed to pillar top anchor, then step right.

The description of hand crack at the top does not prepare you for the burly fingers layback without the usual face holds.

Good to save #2 Camalot for top tight hands crack.

Not a bad crack, just really dirty. Mostly hands-wide hands.

I bailed off to Hakuna Matata anchor near that ledge, there was so much scary jumbles of loose rock.

As Yoder guide says would be good if it got more traffic. I keep meaning to get back since climbing this in 2009 to clean it, needs some crow bar action while nobody around.

This long route has some varied climbing and especially fun moves at the top arete.

Great lead for the aspiring 5.10 leader. Start up the broken corner of the arete into a large ledgy area, the up a short crack, and finally up to a nicely exposed pillar.

Sorry about the name, not my choice.

This is a very worthwhile crack.

There are many crux's, be prepared for sustained pumpy moves.

I thought it was harder then Mr. Clean.

I pulled a fair amount of smaller loose rock off.

This route has been long ignored and dirty, so expect loose face holds as of 2017.

Have a lot of gear in the 1/4"- 1/2" range.

adding this in hopes of later cleaning and so you know to avoid it till cleaned.I did some cleaning and climbed this including top out- which is a spectacular 10b finger crack. most of the lower crack is ho-hum.

the scary blocks just left of Hakuna Matata anchor ledge are still there and have chalk all over them.

Similar to 'Party in Your Pants', but shorter and less grovely.  Climb twin cracks, stemming easily between them with your choice for pro.

A seldom done route. Maybe the code of the bolt warrior is to sandbag the trad climber. This route is listed as a 5.9 and is way harder- about the same or harder than Crackmaster Lambada. Most routes at Vantage tend to overrated, with a few exceptions.

Don't attempt to climb this at the same time that someone is climbing Boschido, too much overlap with arete holds.

I gave this a major makeover 1/22/2018. Lots of small rock and dirt scraped out of the crack and a suitcase size rock came out. I added a anchor too. There is just no way this could be 5.9, there are sustained big 10b moves for much of the middle of the route. Most of the gear is in the 1/2" size, widens up some at the top.

When you are perched up on top looking down you can see that it is slightly overhanging.

Great sustained trad route reminiscent of the Smith gorge. Spotting the right feet keeps the pump factor down.

Much better climb than the name implies. The 2 pitches can easily be linked with a 60 m rope.

One route to the left of

Stems and Seeds

. Bolted arete climb, lots of bolts, all in all a fun climb. Lower off bolted anchor.

Tall arete/face climb up a typical vantage pillar. Sustained climbing outside the many good rests.

Continues up past the Mu Mu anchor through very bouldery compression moves until it eases up at about 20 feet. Doesn't feel much like a Vantage route since the rock is nearly flawless.

One of the Coulee's best hand cracks.

Jam thin hands to hands to fists with a spot o' offwidth below the anchor.

Bolted anchor

Great sport route - clips on the face to the right of the climb. Chunky, positive edges slowly get worse to a crux move near the top and an awkward final mantle move.

Chains are set pretty far back from the edge so careful with topropes, and make sure your ropes don't get stuck in the crack!

Awesome stemming route especially if you have long legs. The book claims anyone over 6' can drop a letter grade, make what you want of that. placing gear on the left seemed best to me. Hard part is seeing what you place. Eventually move left to a bolted anchor or top out.

I think this is one of the better routes on the Sunshine Wall. Its got a bit o' everything.

Start out with excellent face climbing which is sustained and technical for the first 5 bolts.

Oh, but don't let your guard down now, time to start placing gear...

Continue up the crack on the right side of the pillar via finger locks and small hands until its possible to move left into a thin crack (small stoppers) near the top.

Top out and belay from the top. Rap off of Bob's your Uncle.

Jam and stem up the left crack to a bolted anchor.

Good pro.

The fairly obvious chimney to the left of

George and Martha

and

Peaceful Warrior

. A crack in the chimney provides good protection and as chimneys go, its actually pretty fun. When its windy, it can be REALLY WINDY inside the chimney as the wind gets funnelled in from one side right into you. So bring a jacket.

Pretty fun moves through undulating bulges, climbs like Boschido.

Somewhat distracting are the bolts of Boschido all the way up.

Surprisingly clean, maybe people have been TRing this off the Boschido  anchor.

Stems and Seeds little brother.

Not quite as classic as S&S, but every bit as fun. Scramble up to a belay from an upper pedastal at the base of the stem box. A tricky start will get you going and good rests will keep you going. You can get gear in both cracks but better to pick one and go with it (left).

Near the top, most people choose to exit on the right hand crack though you can continue straight up, either way watch for loose rock...

A bolt anchor exists at the top.

Great sport climb on the outer face of the column that forms Seven Virgins and a Mule. I can't recall how many bolts it is, but nice sustained climbing with frequent rests on good holds gets you up to a big incut ledge.

Generally well bolted, at this point you'll be about 7-8 feet above your last bolt, with another just around the corner... but you've got a slightly hair raising stance to clip from! You'll need a steel pulse to get through it...

After that it's a quick romp to the chains.

Good choice for a warm up or the aspiring 5.9 leader.  13 bolts...just try not to Z clip.

Follow the juggy arete to a set of anchors. Popular.

OK, people say the ratings at Vantage tend to be soft. This is rated 10d in the book and I hesitate to upgrade, but it is much harder than quite a few 11a's I have done at Vantage- maybe those should be downgraded.

Approach on the right side of broken column, chimney up to first bolt.

Crux between 4th and 6th bolt. I have tried both sides of column, a bit thinner on the left, more awkward on the right- with more gear options if you want from the crack. Being in the center on tiny crimps feels more like 11a.

A good finger crack and stemming dihedral.

Climb a short section of choss to the top of a short broken pillar to the right of the belay.

Climb the corner dihedral in front of you. There is a bolted line on the face to the right of the corner. Finger locks and stems stay consistently interesting to the top. Belay from bolts on top (no rappel or lowering hangers).

Red M&Ms is a great stemming route that heads up the corner just right of

George and Martha

. Any actual holds on the route are small and some stemming skill is a bit of a necessity.

The route starts with easier moves, and then gradually increasing in difficulty, with possibly the hardest move just below the anchor. Avoid using the wide crack on

George and Martha

.

This route started its life as a trad route, was bolted, and now chopped to make for an exercise in using thin pro. You can access the anchors from the routes on either side to set up a TR if you aren't comfortable on thin pro.

Start by face climbing up around a wide crack which widens to the point where you can get inside.

Once you are inside the crack there are lots of big holds to make this chimney very easy. There is also a crack that takes regular size gear.

Near the top the chimney widens and the rock becomes smoother and less eroded. Keep chimneying through this and exit to the left. (Towards the river)

Start on "Justified Ancients of Mu Mu" (5.8 bolts) or climb friable rock to the right up to the ledge and first set of anchors. Continue up the corner, left of the bolted arete.

On the recommended routes list in the Yoder/Ford guidebook. Stem your way up between a dihedral and pillar, placing gear into the dihedral crack. There is a large chockstone at ~70 feet that has slings around it that used to serve as the end of the route--climb past this another 30 feet to the new bolted chain anchors.

This route is mostly good setting up a toprope for beginners or as an easy sport lead. It is the wide crack/corner to the left of

George and Martha

and there are bolts on the face next to it. Apparently if you don't go straight up the crack you can make it harder.

Nice narrow arete with bolts on the face to the left. Few loose blocks.

An offwidth that doesn't really require offwidth moves.  Strenuous but protects really well.  One of the best 5.9's at the Coulee.

If you like finger cracks, you're gonna love your Uncle Bob.

Standing on the trail you can easily spot the crux. Work your way up the finger and hand crack using great jams, crimps, underclings, jugs and stems until you arrive at the business.

It's short and sweet and will test your thin crack skills but the gear is good. Chains at the top.

This route is in the central/left part of the Stems and Seeds area. It is the 2nd crack to the right of the fairly obvious

Seven Virgins and a Mule

(5.7) chimney. An excellent handcrack with some faceholds that provide very nice stances for placing pro. It gets a little wide at the very top. This is the route to climb if you want to toprope

Red M&Ms

.

Fun finger crack that doesn't see much traffic despite being in such a popular location.  There is a minor technical crux but sustained gear placement is the major obstacle here.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in (c) King Pins