This is located on the southwest face of North Gateway Rock, known as the Finger Face for the namesake and easily identifiable "Finger", just right of the Tourist Gully.

Finger Ramp ascends the left-leaning ramp past several good bolts to a three bolt chain belay in the Finger alcove.  The crux, exciting for both the leader and second, is the traverse on the outside of the Finger between the last bolt and the belay.  A pink tricam in a pocket will provide psychological protection before the first bolt.

Finger Ramp

Chatters

Upper Finger Traverse

Place in the Sun

Upper Finger Direct

Son of Tidricks

Lower Finger Direct

Tidrick's

Lower Finger Traverse

Pig Dreams

Clip It or Skip It (aka Skip It or Clip It)

No Ethics Required

East-Ledge Traverse

This would be a bold lead indeed, with only a single unreliable drilled angle (placed after the FA) near the crux.  A fall below the pin would probably result in, at best, a ride to the hospital.  It is best done as a TR after climbing

Finger Ramp

or

Lower Finger Traverse

, and definitely worth doing when set up in this fashion.

Climb straight up the improbable slab directly beneath the anchor in the finger alcove, moving slightly left and then back right.  Because the rock is a bit soft and has few positive holds, the route requires finesse and balance rather than brute strength.

After securing your belayer to the second large eyebolt on Tourist Gully, begin the climb up thin, hollow, flaky, Garden-type slab climbing to a small bulge near the second piton. From there, you can progress over the bulge straight through or do a funky right layback. A few more 5.9 moves will get you to the last bolt before a scary runout left traverse to the anchors.  Don't be scared.... It's not as bad as it sounds (as long as you don't fall).

This route is on the Finger Face on North Gateway Rock.  Begin by climbing the

Lower Finger Traverse

(or the Finger Ramp) then continue above the chain anchor in the alcove by chimneying up and behind the flake, and belaying at the top of the Finger formation at two drilled pins.

From the top of the Finger Pillar, climb up to an old Star drive bolt, which sticks out slightly, but seems solid.  Step up and right, then traverse right (first crux) to a good stance where you can clip a solid drilled pin.  Now down-climb and traverse right simultaneously (second crux) until you can step across to a good stance and another drilled pin (use a long runner here).  Climb up and right past a few more drilled pins, then make a steep pull up and over some delicate potholes, with 2 psychological threads for protection, and continue easily to the anchor.

I give this climb a PG-13 rating as the climbing is sustained and sequential, and a bit run-out.  A fall at the first crux, prior to clipping the first drilled piton could be quite dangerous, especially if the star drive bolt rips.  Any fall on the traverse would provide quite the swinger for either the leader or follower.  Also, the potholes were a bit fragile, although the climbing through them isn't too hard.

We climbed this with a 70m rope, and it did NOT reach the ground.  Instead, we replaced the webbing on the anchor using a magic-x, rappelled down slightly lower than the Finger Pillar and did a fun running pendulum to get back to the top of the pillar, and down to the chain anchor in the alcove at the top of the first pitch.  Another recommendation would be to climb with 2 60m double-ropes which would allow you to rappel all the way to the ground, and may be a nice option for offering a little more protection to the follower if needed.  However, if you think you might fall off this route, you probably shouldn't climb it.

Climb Tourist Gully from below the Finger alcove to the second eyebolt.  Belay from the second eyebolt and examine the route - it starts with a 10' descent and traverse to the first two pitons, not directly up to the closer chain setup (that's

Son of Tidricks

, another good 5.8).  The route generally arcs out right, up, and then back left in a crescent.

Two cruxes exist, in between the second and third pitons (flakes no longer exist) and right at the third.  The route is thin but the feet are much better than they feel.  Really.  Be very careful from the last bolt to the anchors not to damage the extremely friable flakey sandstone, and don't climb this at all when it's wet or damp!  Many good flakes are gone because of irresponsible climbing and not following the 'down not out' sandstone mantra.

Rap from the belay eyebolt to the ground with a 60m rope.  Classic route, but getting harder (somewhat sandbagged as a straight 8) each season.  A second pitch continues up at 5.9 from the chains.

This is a direct pitch up the steep slab above the Finger on the Finger Face of North Gateway Rock, leading up to the upper anchor on

Tidrick's

.  The climb is very sustained for the first 50 feet and is quite dangerous getting to the second fixed piece of protection.

Leading off from the 2-pin anchor at the top of the Finger, climb about 10 feet to a scary Star-drive bolt that sticks about half-way out.  Then climb another 20 feet or so to reach a solid, ring-angle piton.  This section is rather difficult and scary (right up to where you can reach the piton) and a fall before clipping would probably guarantee serious injury, as the Star-drive will likely rip, leading to a factor 2 fall onto the anchor, as well as likely falling onto your belayer and/or the Finger pillar itself.  After clipping, move left then up another 20 feet or so to another pin, followed by a pothole thread.  From here, it appears you could climb straight up to the big ledge, but the flakes look very loose here, and this would not be recommended if your partner or other climbers are below.  Instead, move left where you can join the last pitch of

Tidrick's

at its final pin, then up to the anchor.

Due to the serious nature of this route, it is not recommended as a lead, unless you are an extremely strong climber.  To approach, climb the

Lower Finger Direct

,

Lower Finger Traverse

, or

Finger Ramp

, and continue above the chain anchor to the top of the pillar which is the Finger.

To toprope, climb

Tidrick's

,

Upper Finger Traverse

, or the Boucher-Twombly Route to access the upper anchor of

Tidrick's

, then rappel or lower in.

Climb up Tourist Gully (5.4) to the second large eyebolt.  Belay from there and move up and right past 4 drilled pins to the obvious chain anchors.  The anchors are about 45 feet above the eyebolt and have a huge quicklink to rap off of.

As an option you can continue up past two bolts on

Tidrick's

route.  After the second bolt traverse right (5.6) to the anchors on

Place in the Sun

to finish off

Tidrick's

.  Rap back to the eyebolt from there or use two ropes to get to the ground.

This is one of the few moderate, multi-pitch routes at the Garden that about any intermediate leader should be able to do.  It is a three pitch route that wanders up the Finger Face.

Pitch 1:  Climb the Tourist Gully to the FIRST large eyebolt.  From here head out to the right past three pins and get an ascent of the

Lower Finger Traverse

(5.7).  Anchor in at the chains in the alcove below the "finger".

Pitch 2:  From the anchors, head up and left past two (maybe 1?) runout bolts.  There are some natural pro possibilities, they may help more with your mental climbing than actually stopping a fall.  Pull the cruxish move between the second and third bolts (5.8), scamper up to the third bolt, clip, catch your breath, and prepare for another fun traverse.  You will want to head left across an apparently blank looking face to the visible anchors at the top of

Son of Tidrick's

. Plan your attack, trust your feet, get across the face, grab the jug, and do a slight downclimb to the anchors.  Belay your partner across and watch them sketch through the traverse.

Pitch 3: (5.7) Not many people do this pitch, but fun if you have the time.  Head straight up from the anchors through three bolts.  At the third bolt do yet another traverse right, to

Place in the Sun's

anchors which are not visible from the end of the second pitch.

DESCENT:  Two ropes (recommended) should at least get you to the initial eyebolt.  One rope would get you to the second or third eyebolts.

This is a devious 5.7.  Climb up the Tourist Gully to an eyebolt just below the level of the Finger alcove and belay here.  Make an interesting traverse straight right to the alcove, and its bolted belay, passing 3 bolts along the way.

Rap from the chain anchor in the alcove or continue on

Upper Finger Traverse

(5.9).

This is a high quality route with a beautiful position high on the Finger Face of North Gateway Rock.  Scramble up the Tourist Gully for a few hundred feet to a flat area with three large eyebolts.  The climb is the second one to the left of Clip It Or Skip It, which is an obvious line with many many pitons spaced very closely together.

P1) Start from about the height of the eyebolts, and traverse in from the left.  Undercling to get some high feet at the first piton, then continue traversing right past two more pitons.  About five feet right of the third piton, step up and then back left on easier terrain, but a bit runout to the anchor.  (5.9+, 45 feet).

** Two variations exist to this first pitch.  One is a 5.11d TR climbing straight up the blank face to the third piton.  The other is a 5.10R finish, which goes straight up from the third piton, instead of traversing right and up.

P2) Step down from the anchor and then traverse right about ten feet to some easy ground up past some horns and along a sort of left-facing corner type formation.  There are couple potholes where you could place a #2 or #4 Camalot, which is recommended, as otherwise, you climb about 30 feet to the first piton, which sticks out pretty far and would maybe rip if you fell on it.  Continue up and right past the second piton, pulling up and right into an alcove which is climbed through the weakness in the headwall above.  Watch out for loose rock, and piece together some great moves through the bulge and past 4 more pitons, eventually stepping left to the anchor.  The crux is an awkward mantle-type move at the top of the headwall, but there's one more difficult move passing the final piton.  (5.10a, 70 feet).

The crux of the route is trying not to aid it as you slip and slide your way up the sandy, breakable, dime-size ledges.  Luckily there are about 16 or so pitons on the first pitch, and it is great for your head until you reach the last one with a healthy 30' runout to the anchors.  If you decide to continue on, it is probably better to skip the anchors and head to the top on much more brittle terrain with standard Garden protection of spaced out, manky pitons.

This is a good face route that climbs thin edges through a bulge.  The route is pretty sustained 5.9, with one crux at the fourth piton, involving tricky and thin footwork.  This fourth piton is a bit difficult to clip for shorter climbers.  It is definitely much harder route than

Son of Tidrick's

or

Place in the Sun

.

The majority of this climb is along the east face of North Gateway, but since it starts on the SW face, it makes more sense to place it here. This is a fun, but seldom climbed, traverse of North Gateway on its prominent eastern face. This line is more walking than climbing but has a few fun moves and provides a unique view of the park. Just be prepared to be on display for everyone and their dog walking in from the main lot. THIS FULL LINE REQURIES TWO ROPES. I believe two 50s should be enough, but I've used 60s just to be safe.

This line starts in Tourist Gully but then makes a rappel to a ledge wrapping around the east face to the hidden valley/briar patch. I believe the anchors on all almost all of the pitches were installed quite a few years ago, likely just to practice rappelling down the east face, but they are still very solid. These anchors are all on a prominent ledge wrapping around the east face, and this has probably been linked up by people just running between anchors for a long time; however, while climbing around top recently, I noticed some shiny glue-ins connecting two anchors (thanks whoever put 'em in!), making the line overall well-protected where the ledge is smaller.

This is also a fun route to work on rope management and team coordination. Leave from the main parking lot, run down the crowded sidewalk to the start of the climb, then move quickly along the ridge, and rappel back in close to the parking lot.

Description

Protection

Routes in Southwest Face / Finger Face