Pitch 1: 5.9 Low Hanging Fruit. Left facing corner to step right under a roof. Up face to anchors. Gear and 1 bolt, 30 meters.

Pitch 2: 5.8 Traverse right and climb moderate face. Belay at the right set of anchors. 2 bolts, 20 meters.

Pitch 3: 5.10a Lieback up past bolts to reach a crack system that runs up and right to the next belay. Gear and 2 bolts, 35 meters.

Pitch 4: 5.10c Start right then follow bolt line to anchor. Slab and face climbing. 8 bolts, 30 meters.

Pitch 5: 5.6 Climb up to a bolt over a ledge and moderate terrain, then up and right to an anchor on a boulder perched up top. Gear and 1 bolt, 25 meters.

Welcome to the midway ledge. Move belay up and right to the beginning of the Regular Route.

Pitch 6: 5.11a Classic pitch. Start as for the Regular Route then bust right onto the face, following a bolt line. Climb face then traverse up and right on slab to a feature that accepts finger sized gear. Straight up over easier terrain to an anchor. Gear and 8 bolts, 40 meters.

Pitch 7: 5.12 The big one. Climb the 5.10 finger to hands crack up to the roof. Burl and finesse (yes, both) your way out the roof to an anchor on a perch above the lip. Gear and 1 bolt equipped with a permadraw, 20 meters.

Pitch 8: 5.11d Follow the moderate wide crack littered with face holds past a bolt to a traverse left. Climb the fun hand crack to the route's slab crux. Exposed arete slab boulder problem past three more bolts leads to an anchor. Great fun. Gear and 4 bolts, 30 meters.

Pitch 9: 5.7 Continue right on the ridge then up blocky crack systems to an anchor. Gear, 30 meters.

Pitch 10: 5.10c Lieback, friction, and face climb while following a bolt line. Stellar finale pitch to Casanova. Gear and 7 bolts, 30 meters.

Move belay through tabletop tunnel through.

Pitch 11: 5.8 Finish on Regular Route. Crack or fun face right of arete to the top. Gear, 15 meters.

Descent:

Walk to far end of ledge to visible rap station. Rappel Joint Effort with single 70 meter rope, 2 bolt rap stations, 5 rappels to midway ledge.

Notes:

It's nice to link pitches 1+2 and 4+5. Make sure to properly extend 1st pitch if linking into 2nd.

All hardware 3/8" and stainless.

Possible to rappel from atop roof with single 70. Anchors 6 and 7 equipped with rings. From 6 rappel down and right, then scramble down ledge system.

With permadraw in pitch 7 roof, there is no fear of leaving gear. Go for it!

Also, possible to traverse into regular route from belay 6 and bypass the pitch 7 roof.

Casanova

Smoothberry

Youngerberry

Thin Ice

Regular Route

Poomerang

A logical way to approach the upper tier of the Elderberry Buttress. This is a fun romp up well protected face and cracks.

P1, 5.9- Head up the left hand side of the low angle slab at the top of the approach. The route on the right hand side in the corner is Smoothberry. Three bolts on this pitch supplement adequate smaller gear placements. Two bolt anchor, or link into P2.

P2, 4th class- Move leftwards. Really more of an anchor move over dirty terrain towards the opposing left and right facing corners capped by a big roof. Gear anchor.

P3, 5.8- Climb between the two opposing corners, aiming for the left hand side of the roof. A weird series of large blocks and a "chimney" gets you through the overhang. Continue up the undercut face following a crack to the right. Belay on a big ledge. Gear anchor.

P4, 5.8- Follow good cracks up and right on from the anchor onto the arete feature. Pass a few bushes, and belay at a good stance at a horizontal 2" crack. Notice the bolt above you on the next pitch. There is no decent way to incorporate that into an anchor. Gear belay takes 1.75-2.5" cams.

P5, 5.10a- The crux pitch, but really a one move wonder. Head up towards the lone bolt. Clip it, then make a tenuous slab move on exfoliating potato chips. Carry on easier terrain following the natural ridge feature to a two bolt anchor and good stance at the terrace below the upper Elderberry Buttress. This pitch can probably be linked with P4 with a 70m rope.

Descend from the P5 anchor, moving right from the route, and ultimately heading into the gully. A series of bolted anchors allow rappels with a 70m rope. With two 70's, you can easily link rappels, though it would still be best to do the first rap with a single rope.

A surprisingly fun route on excellent smooth rock.  The bolts are not tightly spaced and while the climbing is relatively low key, it may feel insecure at times and strangely engaging for the grade.  As the upper part steepens, holds become a bit more positive.

An adventurous 'old-school' style route with typical limited/difficult protection. This route doesn't see much traffic, so there is a lot of exfoliating granite and some lichen/moss on the upper pitches. That said, if you like the challenge of a route that will make you feel like you are on the FA, with cracks, mild O/W, slabby face and some exposure, this is one to go for.  One 70m or two ropes required for the descent.

P1) 5.7. Climb the corner to a break in the roof, and move right through the roof.  The book calls for setting an anchor at that point, but up the crack 15-20' there are better anchor options. The crack at the very start of this pitch has a bush growing out of it, so we slogged a bit higher up the gulley and stepped onto a nice sloping ledge to start.

P2) 5.8. Traverse right on the rust streak to another crack.  There are multiple cracks; we chose the one that appeared to be the second to the last.  Looking up this crack you can see a hand-traverse crack heading right at the top. The anchor is sketchy; the left bolt is a button head through an aluminum angle and the right is an old bolt of indeterminate size and age with a regular hanger. No rings; there were two carabiners with the gates taped shut, which we left in place. It appears you could bail right into the gulley at this point if desired.

P3) 5.10A, 3 bolts.  Climb the face left and up from the anchor; you’ll see the first bolt about 15’ away. At the big ledge, walk to the right end and build an anchor.  Exfoliating granite makes the slabby moves a bit exciting; we had to clean the rock and our shoes for each move. This is a very short pitch and you only need three draws for protection; no other pro.

P4) 5.9, 1 bolt. A bulgy start at the bolt continues with a difficult to protect pitch.  There may be multiple options for this pitch; we stayed to the right at the edge of the drop-off. Good anchor/stances about 20 meters up, but it appears you could combine this pitch with the next. Starting to get into some lichen and heavier exfoliation.

P5) 5.7.  Interesting weathered flakes on this pitch.  More lichen. Easy top out.

Descend via Joint Effort.  Scramble climbers left around the back side of the buttress, keeping an eye out for new rappel rings on the upper face.  Four 35m rappels.  Be sure to rappel pretty much straight down; if you go climbers left to the anchors above the roof on In Dubious Battle, you'll need two ropes to rappel from there.  Hike over to the anchors at the top of Youngerberry, and five more 35m rappels get you back to your packs.

Five pitches of adventurous climbing. Wide is the name of the game, but edges and ways to cheat around the offwidth abound. 2nd pitch roof is stellar. Make sure to traverse right above offwidth after roof of second pitch. All pitches are memorable. I would recommend this route.

Pitch 1: Climb up steep rock just left of a small bush on the wall and then traverse rightward to a pair of cracks.  Pull a burly move (5.11+?) or simply aid on a small cam to get past this short steep section.  Continue up and right on easier cracks to a belay on large ledge w/ 2 bolts. 5.9 C1

Pitch 2: Climb a steep hand crack past a very small tree then straight up a strenuous OW/ chimney.  This short 5.10a section has a bad ledge fall potential unless you bring a 9" cam.  Belay shortly after exiting the OW at a nice big ledge. 5.10a

Pitch 3: Climb up moderate cracks aiming for the big roof/corner above.  Climb up and left in this  corner on steep hand and fist jams to a squeeze chimney exit.  Belay on a spacious ledge with 2 bolts.  5.10c.

Pitch 4: Up moderate cracks to a ledge with multiple short cracks (joins Elderberry Buttress Regular Route here).  Choose a good crack and gain a low angle terrace.  Belay at a slung block at the high end of this terrace near the East Face of Elderberry Buttress. 5.9 old school...

Continue up Regular Route or make 3 raps back to the base of the climb.

Description

Protection

Routes in Elderberry Buttress