One of the longer climbs at the Columns.  Sussed out initially by the Tieton pioneers but never finished this sat for years with only anchors at the top and two bolts at the bottom.  Local BJ Mazzola had an eye on this route but never got around to equipping it.  Upon inspection it became obvious this route would make a great mixed route.  The whole route could have been bolted yet there are still a few of us on the Tieton who believe gear should be used when possible.  This seems especially fitting at the Columnes.

Chasing Amy

The Sorcerer

Slot Machine

Nimrod's Nemesis

Double Trouble

Twin Cracks

Render Us Weightless Roof

Unknown 5.6 (Left)

Not So Easy

Little Known Wonder

Switchback

Ignorant Pursuit

Rolling Stone

Good Timer

Inca Roads

Too Far Out

Slash

Bridger

Rattler

Ball and Chain

Unknown 5.7

Level Head

The Apprentice

First Blood

Nimble Novice

Rock-n-Roll Chimney

Journeyman Crack

Wild Child/variation

Render Us Weightless/Ball & Chain--Direct Start

Imperial Master

Nobody Loves Me

Gray Digger

Humble Pie

Hard Last

Mush Maker

Slacker

Extra Action

Contraction Action

The Arete-Acal

Unknown 5.6

Slime Puppy

Jam and stem two corner cracks to the top.Two bolt anchor.

Start left and follow easiest line to the left side of the broken pillar. At the top of the broken pillar, follow double cracks to the top of the ledge.

Scramble to a ledge under an obvious roof. Pull around the roof to a hand/fist crack that widens to a squirm before the next ledge.

I added this as 5.5, in keeping with the original rating. But be advised that it feels more like 5.7 when you move around the roof.

Starts out as double crack, jogs left around roof.

The length of this climb is deceptive from the ground - it's a full 90-100 feet to the top.  Start out on easy, lower angled rock climbing the twin cracks that are easy on the hands and provide great protection.  The cracks continue to converge until you reach a horizontal break about 3/4 of the way to the top.  The last 30 feet has the best climbing with positive holds in the cracks and more great gear.  At the top, traverse right to the anchors above the roof.

Unlike the other double crack climbs that work up a face between two pillars, Twin Cracks climbs two cracks that are fairly close together in a corner.  Felt harder than the 5.6 rating, and much more difficult than it's neighbor - Double Trouble.  Climb up easy, lower angled rock to a small ledge on the left side.  Above this point, the climb is sustained with few rests.  Jam up the two cracks - stemming options are limited.  Great gear throughout.

Wander up the low angled start to the easy offwidth. Up the offwidth to the base of the the roof. Angle up and right thru the roof. Follow the sweet handcrack up the face and left at the end to the chains. While surmounting the roof is the crux its way easier than it looks.

5.10- Variation: There's a bolted direct pillar start that has become very popular. Follow the bolt line up the main pillar then continue on the original route up the roof.

I am adding this route because the Yoder book says gear to 3" and it will be poorly protected if that is the largest you bring. We used a #4 Camalot in the middle and had to move it up higher, so you may want 2 #4.

This is a good line thats been somewhat neglected. It starts with an escape from a cool little pod into a nice layback section following the face crack up and slightly right till it nears the arete.  Nice holds appear as needed.  Then switch back 4-5 feet to the left to another crack and finish straight up. Its definitely climbable in its current state but there are a lot of big,loose blocks stacked above it that you'll have to negotiate on your way to a somewhat offline anchor.  We picked the one to the left above the now finished project(?)

Start in the widening crack under the large roof.  Like Double Trouble, the angle continues to increase as you climb.  Jam the crack and use great face holds below the roof.  The crux is passing the roof and getting established in the wide crack above.  There are some good holds under the roof, and lots of small holds on the face.  Once past the roof, continue up the wide crack to the anchors.

Fun route with the crux being a fun hand jam through a blank section.  Crappy, crumbly rock at the top makes the finish interesting.

Another good crack line. Hands to fingers. Sucks up gear. Was rated 5.9 in the old guidebook.

Wide corner crack that funnels up to the same ledge as Not So Easy and adjacent routes.

Start up an easy/fun hand crack to a small ledge. Mantle and move left to the arete to climb an increasingly tricky three-bolt face/arete (crux), teetering over to the right to finish on the steep upper flake system.

An inobvious route, but fun and worth adding to a tour of Columns 5.10s.

I always thought this was an area classic. For 5.6 it is really fun with it's double crack. It and Western Front with all the easier cracks here were some of my first trad leads. Tieton climbs tend to be pretty stiff, which is good because ratings in Wa. tend to be soft, so this better prepares you for places like Co. Utah and Ca.

Climb up left side of broken pillar to its top, then up wide crack set on main wall.

Begin on the offwidth (Ignorant Pursuit) or use the bolted direct start (

mountainproject.com/route/1…

) to get to the base of the roof. Pull the roof on the right to the start of a finger crack and climb to the top of the pillar.

Good route.  Mostly face climbing with good pro.  Can experiment with jams near the top.  Crux seems to be the very last move to the huge ledge.  Compared with the other ratings of routes in the area, this 5.7 seems pretty easy.

Two cracks can be climbed by jamming, face holds, stemming, lots of options.  Good warm up or early lead.

Start left and follow easiest line to the left side of the broken pillar. Follow left crack after reaching broken pillar top. At second ledge I started up a slightly off-width crack that did not seem like a 5.3 (red dotted line in picture) so I followed the crack directly left of this crack. Build an anchor on top or belay from the rap station at the top of The Sorcerer. Rope drag wasn't too bad belaying from the rap station at the top of The Sorcerer. Deceptively long. It was a full 90-100 feet to the reach the rap station at the top of The Sorcerer.

Starts semi-wide with decent cupped jams in deep.  Slims down to good hands and intersects with a 1" arcing crack on the left before the final semi-wide section.  No mandatory OW technique necessary.  Fun jamming.

A fun route that starts as a slab and a crack with plenty of holds. After the slab there is a dual crack section, and that is followed by 10-15 feet of off-width which finishes on the ledge that has anchors.

Steep fist crack up two straight pillars.

Take two cracks to the roof and continue around the roof to the top. The variation steps left of the roof, and takes the diagonal crack to the top.

Scramble up easy terrain to a high first bolt.  Then it's on like Donkey Kong with smears, edges, sidepulls and finger pods.  Finish either directly through the improbable looking roof of Render Us Weightless (5.8 or so) or by skirting to the right to the cool finger crack of Ball & Chain (5.10a).

Very sustained with multiple cruxes.  The hardest moves are probably on the starting slab, but it's not over till you rock onto the top ledge.  A proud send for the grade!

Newly rebolted in 2011.  A fun climb that gets better the higher you go.  Skirts the large roof on the right, then finishes directly above it with great position.  More than a few thought-provoking moves.

An excellent sport route with a wide variety of interesting moves throughout. Start on the top of the column between Mush Maker and First Blood. Face climb up to the small roof, move right into the first crack then left into the second crack. The two cruxes for me were down low near the third bolt and about 2/3s the way up just before the cracks.

The straight in hand crack. An area classic. Sustained.

The hardest part is dealing with the crappy rock at the top.  Getting around the roof is likely the crux, but it is not technically difficult.

No anchor chains, requires gear anchor for follower. The follower can clean then get to anchor chains for First Blood/Hard Last/Mush Maker, then flick the rope over and lower down First Blood. Beware the choss at the top.

Similar to First Blood, OW technique somewhat more mandatory.

Crack to the right of the obvious roof. Not really a squeeze chimney like advertised in the book.

This route used to end on a tiny ledge below a menacing block.  Then the block found its way to the ground, clearing the way for the route to go full length.

Scamper up the crack to the right and stretch over to pre-clip the first bolt.  Back on the ground, start directly under the roof at the bottom of the arete.  The hardest crux is still getting past the first bolt, but the extension adds a second crux where the big block used to sit.  In between is some fun technical edging and arete pulling.  The route ends on a mini-freestanding summit; for a total alpine experience, balance up and raise your arms in victory.

Starts in recessed cracks in the corner behind the bushes. The crack is good for hand jams. But the crack and face provides plenty of jugs that you wouldn't need any jams. I have kept the rating as 5.6 as per the guidebook, but this is way easier than the other 5.5s in this area. I would rate it 5.5.

Rarely climbed with several bushes on the first half.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Main Face