Dandelion Posted July 14, 2014 Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Planning on climbing the NW Buttress (5.7) of Witches Tower in the enchantments this weekend... the only beta we can find is that it is a twin crack system that turns into a single jamming crack. Does anyone have any additional beta (# of pitches, suggested gear/gear size, general descriptions, photos, etc)? info on west buttress also appreciated as a backup plan... Edited July 14, 2014 by Dandelion Quote
Newfield Posted July 14, 2014 Posted July 14, 2014 We attempted the NW buttress route on Saturday, and found it really difficult to locate. The route description mentioned heading up to the inside col. We kicked steps up to the snow crest but when we reached the top we found ourselves on what looked to be the west ridge. Guess we were too focused on climbing the snow and missed the "twin cracks" (there are a lot of features on the NW aspect that resembled the description but it wasn't obvious). We climbed it in two pitches to the top. Rock quality was less than ideal but the vista on top was well worth the effort. The glissade down the SE side was a definite highlight. Good luck and safe travels! Quote
Dandelion Posted July 14, 2014 Author Posted July 14, 2014 can you give me an idea of what your rack included and gear to how many inches roughly? Thanks for the info! Quote
Newfield Posted July 14, 2014 Posted July 14, 2014 We just had a rack of singles from a purple master cam to a #3 camelot, a set of stoppers, and 10 alpine draws (7 single, 3 double). I think we placed 4 pieces on each pitch. The rock was questionable in a lot of places on the route we took and the climbing was mellow. I'd imagine we would have placed more on the actual 5.7 route. Quote
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