Low angle, easy romp high up in the canyon. Doesn't get much traffic.

Descent:

Walk off right.

Broken Prow

Prime Rib

Piecrust Promise

Tick Itch

Zig Zag

Sparerib

Patriot Act

Mr Friendly

Ski Tracks

This is the beautiful featured face climb noticed as a plumb line of bolts when rapping Mr. Friendly. Mostly solid moves to great holds with a couple thin and cryptic sequences in between to keep things interesting. Less continuous/ abjectly cruxy than other area mid-5.11s (say, Soft in the Middle) but definitely long enough to keep the pump at that level. Rap almost exactly 30m from chain anchors.

Prime Rib

starts 10 ft left of the route

Mr. Friendly

. This route has difficult pro at the start, and is very dirty at present. If you still want to lead this,  head up crack to R facing dihedral (tricky pro) to the small roof (crux) that protects well. Make strenuous moves out the L side of the roof and continue up cracks to the anchors of Mr. Friendly on the right (around arete). This route might be pretty fun if it cleans up a little bit- Bring a brush!!

Piecrust Promise, two-star 11a in Bozeman Rock Climbs (page 179 / route #201), is definitely worthy of the two stars it gets in the guidebook. HOWEVER, it is one of the more extreme sandbags I've encountered in Gallatin Canyon. Crux low on the route with 3 bolts, 5.11a, how bad could it be?? Well, I ended up feeling a bit like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy's football... should have known better, it's Gallatin Canyon!

The crux felt like maybe 11c, followed by lots of very sustained 5.10 with some 11a moves thrown in here and there. In the entire 70' pitch there are very few rests where you can shake out, and nothing close to hands-free.

Moreover, while I don't think I'd give it an R rating, it is still a somewhat serious undertaking due to the very sustained climbing with multiple tricky and fairly desperate gear placements above the bolt protected crux. I placed several clusters of two or more pieces because there were very few placements I felt great about. And even the crux felt serious because clipping the second bolt felt a bit desperate, and if you fell trying to make the clip there's a good change of hitting the ledge/giant flake that you stand on to make the first clip.

The bottom line is that this is a pretty cool route, but it would probably be rated 12- at least in the local gym. Consider top-roping rather than leading unless you're feeling really strong and confident.

Climb the face for a few moves and move right into the wavy crack. Follow good cracks around right of a small roof. Continue up the narrow ramp, passing a few good rest stances and good pro. About 2/3 of the way up, slot the perfect keyhole nut placement, and say goodbye to protection (minus 1 sketchy BD 0.3) for about 25'. Don't fall. Cheer loudly as you reach the hand crack again just below the belay ledge. 120'

This goes at 5.8 in both local guidebooks, but it is harder than both Sparerib and Zig Zag.

Descent:

Rappel from chains. 60m rope would probably make it to the ground with stretch. We used a 70m.

This is a good route. Be careful there is some rotten rock on the route and as the name of the climb denotes, it challenges your route finding skills.

P1

. Ascend  crack to small ledge with tree (30') and follow zig zag crack to top of the rib.

P2

. Veer up and left following dirty low-angled chimney all the way to the top.

Descent

: Double rope rappel from large tree or walk off.

This route is amazing. The crux is on the second pitch. For 5.8, it is very exposed but well worth the hike and effort. I can't say that there is anything bad about this route. To find the route look for the "tallest and most prominent clean rib/buttress on the Sparerib formation." There are two sets of double cracks that divide the west face of this rib.

P1

. (5.6) Climb right through the middle of the buttress along a beautiful 2' wide groove ending on an ample ledge. Bolted anchor. (50')

P2.

In this superb pitch, follow the right hand set of double cracks past two small overhangs (crux) then end at the top of the rib. Two bolts for an anchor. (150')

Descent

: Walk off either side of the buttress.

A very cool, long pitch starting with arête moves past 4 bolts and then ventures onto the face with interesting traversing sections past many bolts and a 1.5" cam placement in a horizontal. Ends at a two bolt anchor. Rappel EXACTLY 30 meters to a ledge.

Pitch 1: (

5.4, 120')

Climb the low angle, easy terrain up through the mossy cracks. Near a tree with a webbing anchor on it, head up and left into the wide chimney like feature. Gear belay under the roof in the alcove (big gear/chockstone).

Pitch 2: (

5.8, 120')

There are several moderate variations on this 2nd pitch. This way seemed most straightforward. Head up and right through the roof, and climb the steep hand/fist crack (crux) to easier ground to the top. Careful of the occasional loose rock. Gear belay/sling large blocks.

Descent:

Walk off climbers right.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Sparerib Area