A long fun pumpy route that bears big side pulls, a couple gastons, and a little bit of panic. I suggest stick clipping the second bolt, hanging a long draw on the third, and climbing left of the bolts until the top slab. Start with very tricky climbing on the basalt, cop a rest above the mini roof, then maintain the pump as you head up the sustained climbing in the angled crack. At the slab use left facing side pulls to first climb right (rest here on a small ledge if you need) then climb left and up to clip mussy hooks.

Panic!

Bruce's Crack

Bitch With A Broomstick

Light Tension

Egyptian

Hole A Day

Easy Ramp

Blazing Star

Welcome to Billings

Jesus Loves You

Big Ben

Redhead

Spring Cleaning

Pea Green Limosine

Squintch

Silent Spaz

Free Time

Gunpowder

Aah... Me Wrikey

At the Radio

Value Jet

Mild Thing

Rain or shine

Certain Damage

Arrowhead

Feelin' All Right

Digital Jedi

Community Service

Search

Balls?

Illegal Dihedral

Crimp Master 5000

The Horn of Plenty

In With The New

Spider Pig

Brighton Rock

Mind Games

Last Freedom

Bobby and The Bosch

Rescue

Wild Thing

Rub the Nub

Cruise up the jet black basalt blocky start to enter the big 'V' feature.  Stem your way up the V to the reddish orange rock to find the crux and very sustained climbing for about 30 feet.  There is a great rest before the angle slackens and the bolts spread apart.  Smaller edges and tetchy climbing deposit you on top of the Island.  Perhaps the longest single pitch at the Island.

This climb was originally established by Ben Franklin, a Cody local back in the 80's and early 90's.  Ben installed this route circa 1993, with several bolts and perhaps janky gear placements as was the method in that era.  After being berrated by another local climber for putting up a dangerous route, Ben removed the bolts but left the anchor and thus erased the route.  I remember this route as it was there the year I started climbing and then randomly disappeared sometime shortly after.  I learned to rappel and ascend a fixed line on the remaining anchor.  Recently I returned to inspect the line for climbing and found perfect rock up high and hollow blocks in the basalt section down low.  I pried off the hollow/loose stuff, scrubbed it clean and installed bolts to create a modern sport climb of super high quality.  I named it Big Ben in honor of Mr. Franklins find so long ago.

Great crack system shooting up through a blocky roof.  Widens from hands to almost OW near the anchor.  Slabby and easy to protect.  Get a great read from the ground and go for it.

Follow well spaced bolts up the ladder like slab to a closer to vert finish on small edges.  Easier to climb right of the bolts near the top where the bigger holds are.

Begin by climbing up to a ledge to attain the slabby dihedral.  Up the dihedral to attain a downward sloping ledge on the right.  Launch up the headwall to the left, following small edges at first then various crack systems.  A long pitch that is pumpy towards the end.

First sport route bolted here; circa 1984?  Head straight up the cool black streaked section to a surprise at the top. Walk like an Egyptian to escape, then mantle to top out.

Boulder up on an insecure ledge and step right to gain a good hold.  Shoot straight up from there.  The roof is tricky.

Fun route to warm up on.  A little dirt here and there(mostly in the cracks). Watch for the occasional loose hold!  A 60m rope will be just fine.  Be careful not to dislodge loose rocks onto your belayer.

Begin either in the corner reaching to the right to clip the bolts or climb straight over them. Either way you will eventually veer away from the corner crack and roll up onto the slab placing you below the steep headwall.  Head through the white section and punch it up the red shield using mostly side pulls staying a bit right of the bolts near the top.

There has evolved two separate finishes over the past couple seasons as this route has gained popularity.  The left finish, now called Falling Star goes at 5.12c and stays left of the final bolt eliminating a half dozen hard moves.  The original ending stays decidedly right of the last bolt and produces a completely different sequence and thus a higher grade.  Many still call it 5.13a, you decide.

Climb the slab past four bolts.  Cross a slanted shelf to the juggy and steeper ending.

Follow bolt line straight up to the massive ledge.  Good easier line. Opens the wall up for TR opportunities.

Just right of the tree step off the ramp and shoot up the steepest section on thin holds.  A brief pause in the center to contemplate the rounded crack systems above may get you to the chains.  Tough!

This route was conceived of by Pat Mees and perhaps Bobby Model had a hand in the intial recon.  A top rope was set up but no fixed protection was installed.  During the Summer of 1994, Richard Plummer lived in Cody and stayed busy with his drill adding a handful of routes.  I talked him into equipping this line as I knew it would be the hardest thing in town and was just too tempting to let it sit.  He installed the anchors and most of the bolts, I helped down low with the first few bolts but placed them in hard to clip places so they had to be moved.  Long story short,  many tried and failed until Dan Miller moved to town in 1998, he nabbed the FA shortly thereafter in 1999.

Techy cruxy climbing between 2nd and 4th bolt.  Clipping number 3 can be a bit spicy.  Topping out this climb causes the rope to drag through the dirt.

Follow bolts on steep terrain to a large slot.  Exit the slot up and onto the arete and face to the right.  Strange moves turn the faint lip to the slabby finish.

Short and manageable with a savage bouldery crux toward the end.

Climb easy ground left of Egyptian to a puzzling crux.

Scramble up the notch and onto a ledge with a pyramid shaped block.  The wall kicks back several degrees and the fun begins.  Climb good square cut edges and ears to the fourth bolt.  The route stays on the pillar and the crux is on thinner crimps and slopers, finish standing on a small ledge at the top of the steep pillar.  Exiting left into Illegal dihedral at any point is OFF route and you may as well continue up that route.

A tricky but easy start goes past the first 3 bolts to an undercling clip at the 4th marking the last rest before a distinct crux. A few easy mantles takes you to the anchors, Don't forget to check out the old piton stuck at the anchors!

Follow bolts up the slabby dihedral under a small roof.  Pull the roof and follow rounded holds up to the ledge at the base of the steeper red section. Lay-aways and smaller holds will bring you to the sport anchor

Climb the stepped dihedral to right of Illegal Dihedral.

Climb into the 'V' and clip a bolt before mantling the ledge.  Using the crack, layback to the right climbing this steep panel to mantle again up into the dihedral.  Fun moves on big holds with easy stemming get you going toward the crux.  Solve this powerful little trick and keep it together as it gets easier again reaching another small ledge.  Rest if you need it, then begin stemming and pinching sweet features leading to the flying saucer flake near the top.  Never fear, this thing is bomber and you'll need it to top out and clip the anchor.  A long pumpy journey!

Complete a god awful boulder problem to get to the second bolt (or preclip with a stick clip).  Then wander slalom style up through the bolts, bumping squarely into the neighboring Egyptian near the 5th bolt.

Begin just right of the old stone water fountain. Follow giant jugs all the way up to a mantle at the top or just stretch for the chains.  Fantastic moderate!

Powerful boulder problem off the ground, to a good ledge.  Then a slow build up to another harder one and sketchy slopey madness to the anchor.  Lovely!

Trend up the ramp placing gear where needed, to the first bolt.  Head straight up on good edges.  Tricky and commiting.

Climb the arete or face up the reddish colored granite.  A crack system leads up to the anvil feature.  Pull around this and head for the runnel above and left.  Funky moves take you to a sport anchor or top out to the Welcome to Billings rap anchor.

Climb past two bolts from the original start of Illegal Dihedral to a ledge. Continue straight up on good edges, then expect slopey madness at the fourth bolt.  Cruise up jugs to a thin and balancy, classic Island sequence.  A funky mantle and head right to the anchor.

Climb a sparsely featured vert section up under a roof.  Find a way over the roof and chug up the face just right of the faint arete.  Sack up for the end. A great one for budding leaders.

Head up the slab following the central line of bolts toward the chains.  There are many options on this route as you can climb right or left of the bolts nearly the whole way.  Clip the chains and continue up and left out the roof for an airy 5.11a finish to some easy to use sport clips that allows you to avoid threading and retying the chains.

Climb up the dihedralish feature to a shelf.  Clip the second bolt and squirrel your way through a tricky crux on slopey holds.  Cruise up generally good holds including some rounded balls to the upper headwall.  As with so many Island routes, there is a test at the end.  Choose right or left...  Good Luck!

Bouldery start up three clips to a right trending ledge.  Trend right to steeper jug hauling to attain the crack system and awesome stemming dihedral.  Finish by laybacking a steep flake system.  Perhaps the best route at the island!

Climb the gently overhung wall staying left of the basalt outcrop to the right until around the fifth bolt. Bust back across the wall to the left to the arete.

For nearly 30 years this route was known simply as Black Wall.  A recent name change removes any hint of non-PC insinuations despite it climbing a face that is, well... black.

Climb the old school boulder problem 'Kirts Corner' exiting to the right onto the short headwall.  Follow great slots and edges to another cool crux.  Finish on the generous horn. Stick clip the first or bring a crash pad for the initial boulder problem.

A re-do of an old dirty, rarely if ever climbed, line. A ton of effort went into cleaning this line, as evidenced by the pile of detritus at the base.

Scurry up past the first bolt to a large ledge, being careful here as the sediment tends to collect here making it somewhat slippery. Using face holds and stemming, follow right facing corner for a couple more bolts. Work over or around flake to left to gain a no hands stance. Continue up face, just left of left facing corner on positive holds to clip and lower sport anchor.

The first sport route to go to the top of the Tunnel Wall which ranges from 120' to 200' tall. Airy and fun, this well protected climb is challenging and ascends fantastic rock the entire way.

Pitch 1: Steep right from the start for 15' to the ledge. Head straight up on good jugs to slopier holds around the sixth bolt. Several mantles higher up will keep you on your toes. Bypass the sporty single pitch anchor via a thin slanting rail to mantle yet another ledge and find a chain anchor. 5.11a 80'

Alt Pitch 1: Climb Digital Jedi 5.11c/d, the route to the left which climbs to the same anchor. Another excellent climb.

Pitch 2: Follow the bolt line rambling upward over slabby terrain. Easier climbing on fun features lead to a slanting ledge. Follow three more bolts up steeper right trending features to the larger dirt ledge and another chain anchor. 5.8 65'

Pitch 3: Step to the right side of the ledge and follow ten bolts up the steep wall on generally good rails the whole way. Very sustained with bouldery sequences from the time you leave the ledge. Clip the sport anchor or top out. If you do top out, there is currently no anchor on top near the edge, but there are several trees as anchor options. 5.12b 65'

Crack through the roof, left of Search. Aune's guide has this as a 5.6, but... I'm not sure if that is the crack referenced there.

Fun face climbing and a couple of jams because you can. Solid rock and fairly clean, a couple of resident pigeons in the wide section.

Starts on the right side of the slanted arete and moves onto slab about halfway up.  Clip the first bolt then make a committing move to better holds and the next bolt.  Route gets a little more delicate and technical near the top.  Doesn't have its own anchors so you can choose to move right or left at top to clip a neighboring route's anchors.

This climb begins with an old boulder problem named The Monte Madsen Prememorial.  A techy vert edging problem with several solutions gets you to the first bolt. Stick clip?  A rest, then a slow build up to another problem followed by a bit of a run out to the anchor.  Heads up!

Stay right of the bolts until the third clip, then stay to the left until you reach the small shelf. Balance your way through the last half to the commiting moves near the end. Thanx to Rick for finding this line and for letting me put in a proper anchor and a few more bolts.

Follow the bolt line right of Search.  Stealthily stays away from the arete until the bitter end. Sustained the whole trip.

Begin climbing just left of the old stone water fountain.  Clip shiny bolts leading to the crack and mantle at the end.

This line was originally established by Bobby Model in the early nineties.  I asked Bobby years ago if we could split it into two routes since the bolts didn't really protect the finish very well and people generally escaped to the right after falling repeatedly trying to do the mantle on the left.  The runout on the right exit was scary but easy and the falls mantling the looseness on the left produced crazy swinging whippers.  Bobby grumbled a bit at the suggestion, but agreed that two separate routes might be a better idea.  Sadly Bobby left us before we could make that happen.

Bryant Hall and I returned recently to make the split and update the aging hardware.  We found that the original line crossed some dangerously hollow blocks and the rock on either side was solid, thus making more sense to abandon the the original beginning.  There are now two great lines on either side leading up into each of the finishes as their own routes.  In addition we installed two separate anchors lower down so as to eliminate the rope drag over the ledge and through the dirt at the top.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Island