Moonlight Buttress

When I first started climbing indoors, I said I would never get into rock climbing on real rock - it seemed hard and a little scary and I was weak. Within a few months I was on my way to Acadia with Adam to rock climb outdoors for my first time. Next, I said sport climbing is great, but I will never be a trad climber - this year Adam taught me to trad climb and I led all eight pitches of a trad climb called Solar Slab in Red Rocks. Finally, I said I would never be a big wall climber - it seemed too arduous  and I wasn't sure if I was even capable of such a feat. In the past month and a half Adam and I have successfully climbed two well known big walls - one of them in a single day... which leads me to our most recent adventure: Moonlight Buttress.

The route Moonlight Buttress follows to the top.

Moonlight Buttress is a well known big wall in Zion National Park, Utah. It is described by Super Topo as "one of the most aesthetic sandstone crack systems in the world". When we first talked about Moonlight Buttress, we weren't too serious about climbing it - it was mostly this iconic climb we had always heard about (especially after Alex Honnold free soloed it) that would be really awesome to climb one day. It wasn't until after we climbed Rainbow Wall that Adam suggested we look up the difficulty of Moonlight Buttress and we started seriously talking about climbing it. So we woke up early the next day and finally said goodbye to Red Rocks as we headed 3 hours north to Zion with the goal of climbing Moonlight Buttress.

Often times, even on climbs I anticipate to be very difficult, I feel fairly confident everything will go smoothly - this was not one of those times. From the beginning I felt some reservations toward this climb. First of all, most of this climb is comprised of a clean crack system that shoots all the way to the top. Adam and I have had minimal experience actually crack climbing. Secondly, we were going to try and climb it in a single day (unlike Rainbow Wall we wouldn't fix any ropes the day before or bivy at the base of the wall). Thirdly, the walls in Zion are just plain intimidating! Everything in the canyon cowers under the towering walls, which rise up like giant gargoyles. You feel as if you're in a cathedral, looking up at the high ceilings, delicately painted with vibrant blues and swirling whitecaps.

Looking down canyon with Angel's Landing on the right.

All of these were problems we had faced before and I knew they wouldn't keep us from climbing this route, but there was one much bigger problem that did stand in our way - not enough gear. This route, like most routes in Zion and other places with splitter cracks, requires a TON of gear. Since the crack is consistently sized for long stretches of a pitch, you need repeats of the same size cam - so, instead of having one cam of every size (which is what we have, with the exception of a couple doubles), you need 4 or 5 of many sizes. As a result, we spent the first few days hiking in the park, since we couldn't find any climbs we had enough gear for. We debated about whether we could pull off Moonlight Buttress with the gear we had or if we should just call it quits and leave Zion. We definitely couldn't afford to buy the extra gear we needed (a single cam can cost anywhere from $50 to over $100) so it seemed like this climb wasn't going to happen - but, as you probably know, Adam and I are both very stubborn people, so despite not knowing how we were going to get the extra gear we needed to do the climb, we went to the park rangers on Friday, May 3rd and signed up for a permit to climb Moonlight Buttress on Monday.

I don't know whether it was fate or just dumb luck, but that same evening, as we ate dinner in the library park downtown, we met two other climbers eating dinner as well - Ari and Jason. Ari lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, who is expecting their first baby this July. We got to talking and told them about our hopes of doing Moonlight Buttress, but our concerns regarding gear. Ari has climbed the route many times and said it was a phenomenal climb. He was so excited for us to experience the route, however, he confirmed our fear, saying we definitely would not be able to do it with a single rack of gear. Then, without hesitation he offered us some of his gear to use for the climb on Monday. He explained that he has been in our shoes before and others were kind enough to share with him, so he would like to return the favor. We were both dumbfounded and ecstatic - he would be trusting complete strangers with hundreds of dollars worth of gear. The average person probably wouldn't be willing to do this, which goes to show the kind of people involved in the climbing community. So that was it - we exchanged numbers and met back up on Sunday afternoon to grab the gear from Ari and Jason (who, lent us a combined total of 18 cams!). That evening we organized and packed our gear, then went to bed early to prepare for a 4 AM wake up call.

Me with all our gear to climb Moonlight Buttress. (Photo by Adam)

Me seconding the pitch. (Photo by Adam)

We woke up and drove into the park while it was still dark, parking at The Grotto. We had a quick breakfast and were hiking by 5:40 AM. The sun started creeping over the horizon as we made the shockingly cold crossing down a section of the Virgin River. Nothing wakes you up quite like 45 degree water at 6:30 in the morning. We were at the base of the wall and climbing by a little after 7:00 - the morning butterflies in my stomach subsiding as we made good time up the first few pitches. We were extremely thankful for all the extra gear we had as we saw how runout and scary it would be without it. About halfway up the climb the clouds started to collect overhead and I felt the first few raindrops spill onto my helmet. Uh oh - the butterflies were back in my stomach. The temperature had dropped since the sun had disappeared and I felt chilled as I hung off the anchor belaying Adam up the next pitch, but, I felt confident that the clouds would pass, taking the rain with them. Before long the blue skies were back and I smiled at our luck once again. The hours flew by quickly as we kept on working our way up the crack system. It was a difficult route for leading and seconding and incredibly sustained. We were only three pitches from the top when I saw dark clouds starting to spill over the top on the far side of the canyon. They were fierce looking - angry - and I could see the line of rain they were spewing, slowly creeping down the canyon closer and closer. And then we heard it. The first roll of thunder, a second - a flash of lightning. When I made it to the top of the pitch Adam and I were both worried. The question was, should we rappel down or would it be faster to finish the last 3 pitches? If we could make it to the top, there was a short trail that leads to a paved path from Angel's Landing, which leads all the way back down to our car. It would be a straight forward hike down in the dark and there were bathrooms we could seek shelter in if the storm got really bad. If we rappelled down we would definitely get caught in the dark and finding the anchors in the dark could be a huge challenge. So we decided to keep moving up. The first wave of the storm had passed, but we could see more dark clouds brewing on the horizon so we didn't waste any time in our efforts to top out. As I belayed Adam up the final pitch, I was ready to be off the rock. I was completely exhausted - both mentally and physically - hungry, and still worried about the storm. I was damp from the rain, which was now starting to turn into hail. I topped out at 8:20 PM, after 13 straight hours of climbing, with only 25 minutes of daylight to spare. As I walked over to Adam the skies let loose and huge amounts of hail starting beating down on us - we had topped out just in time.

Me - as thoroughly spent as I look - just after topping out. 

The rock was thoroughly soaked now, making it super slick. We packed up our gear and carefully made our way across the rock and down to the paved trail. A few bright flashes of lightning lit up the sky once we made it down into the canyon. We were glad to have successfully climbed Moonlight Buttress, but were also very glad to be done. We made it back to the car by 9:30 PM, where we changed into dry clothes, had a quick bite to eat, and drove out of the park so we could go to bed.





(Thanks again to Ari and Jason - we couldn't have done it without the use of your gear!)

Rainbow Wall

The Rainbow Wall is one of the most prominent walls of Red Rocks and the Original Route was not only the first route up this wall, but was also the first big wall route ever climbed in Red Rocks. Set back in Juniper Canyon, this impressively steep route follows up 1200' to the summit and can be distinguished from a distance. From the moment I set eyes on it, I felt a gravitational pull towards this rock. Every time Adam and I passed the canyon, our eyes remained glued to it - re-processing the already memorized features of the wall. Only once our view became obstructed by other walls did we avert our eyes.

We needed to climb it!

But I wasn't sure if we were actually ready to. The Original Route is a 5.12a (or 5.12d if you climb a variation for one of the pitches), but we aren't talking 5.12a sport climbing. Both Adam and I have climbed 5.12a sport routes before, which usually consist of about 50' of clipping somewhere from 3 to 5 bolts. The Original Route is 15 pitches of sustained, hard trad climbing; It would easily be the hardest and longest route we had ever climbed. So naturally we decided to take on the challenge...

The blue line follows the path of the Original Route straight up the center of the Rainbow Wall.

The Rainbow Wall is known for its longer approach compared to the other walls of Red Rocks. Instead of the usual 25-40 minute hike in, it is about a 3 hour hike in to the base of Rainbow Wall (with packs full of climbing gear). We decided we would hike in on Wednesday and bivy at the base of the wall so that we could wake up early Thursday morning and start climbing right away. In the mean time (on Monday), we hiked in so that we could scope out the climb, check out the bivy options, and make sure we had the hike dialed. We ended up bringing all our climbing gear as well and stashed it near the base of the climb so that we wouldn't have to hike it in again when we also had water and food in our packs. 

Hiking the slabs, which lead to the wall. (Photo by Adam)

Standing at the base of the wall, looking up the route was a little nerve racking, but got us even more adrenalized for the climb we had ahead of us! As we hiked out, we were even more excited than when we had hiked in. 

Racked up and ready to climb.

On Wednesday morning we slept in a bit and had a big breakfast at the trailhead, before starting out at around 8 AM. We made the hike in to Rainbow Wall again, this time with packs full of food, water, and a sleeping bag. When we got to the ledge directly under the route (also our bivy spot for that night), we set up our tent, had a quick snack, and began racking up. We climbed the first 5 pitches and fixed our two ropes that afternoon. This would allow us to save time the following morning by ascending the pitches we had already climbed on our fixed ropes and continuing the climb from there. After finishing, we rappelled back down to the base of the wall where we ate dinner, organized gear for the following morning, and turned in for the night before the sun had even set.

Rappelling down the last two pitches after climbing and fixing the ropes.

4 AM and ready to climb!

As we crawled out of our tent at 4 AM the town of Las Vegas was still glowing from the night before. As we pulled on our harnesses in the dark, I couldn't help but think of all the people just falling asleep down in Vegas. I forced some dried cranberries down for breakfast - it's hard to eat that early in the morning and I was anxious to get started. I went first, ascending the pitches we had climbed the day before, and Adam followed below. As we gained height so did the sun, slowing rising above the horizon, and I watched as the lights of Vegas slowly snuffed out like burnt out stars. By the time the sun was fully up, we had reached the top of the fixed ropes and I was belaying Adam up the next pitch.  The climbing went smoothly and efficiently from this point - only pausing briefly at Rainbow Ledge to have a quick snack and take in the views. The second to last pitch was easily the hardest pitch for both Adam and I. It was a 5.12d variation, which follows a leftward leaning roof along a clean crack, which made for some difficult climbing. Adam took his time and did an amazing job leading this pitch! After he made it to the anchor, he fixed the rope so I could jug up. Due to the traversing nature of this pitch it was a challenge for me to clean the gear without swinging out (which you should always try to avoid doing on ascenders). In order to avoid swinging without having to leave behind gear, I successfully used a technique called "lowering out" for the first time, which involves clipping into a bolt, cleaning the gear, then easing yourself over by lowering your rope on a girth hitched piece of cord. I think both Adam and I were extremely proud of each other and of ourselves at the end of this pitch, especially when looking down at what we had just overcome. From this point it was just one more easy pitch to the summit of the wall.

On the summit of Rainbow Wall!

We topped out at 2:30 in the afternoon.

On the summit of Rainbow Wall!

Me rappelling down the steep walls of the Original Route. (Photo by Adam).

We enjoyed the summit for about an hour before we packed up and got organized for the descent.








The easiest way down the wall is to rappel directly back down the route - so, 15 rappels later we were back on the ground where we had started. We were exhausted and ravenous, but we had prepared for this and had delicious sandwiches waiting to be devoured at our bivy site. Let me tell you...no sandwich has ever tasted as good as those sandwiches did!

Sandwiches - YUM!! (Photo by Adam)

We still had daylight to spare, and debated about making the 3 hour hike out, however, we decided to spend one more night at the base of the wall. We woke up early the next morning, packed up all our gear, and hiked out (with the motivation of pizza propelling us forward)! I'd say our first big wall experience was a huge success!

So what now?? Hmm, perhaps Moonlight Buttress...




Here is a time-lapse video of the first three pitches of the climb...