Gambit shines like a rough, uncut diamond. Interesting climbing gets increasingly better with each pitch, as one gains the majestic Southwest Face, finishing on the highest summit in Eldorado Canyon State Park. This is a very fun climb.

Due to the loose rocks on the belay ledges, it is NOT advisable to follow another party up Gambit - 120% vigilance is required at the belays, and most of the time you're lost in the views instead, but luckily, you should find Shirt Tail quiet; mostly due to the 45-minute hike. An early start is advisable in the summer as shade is provided all morning until the climber ventures out onto the southwest face. This face can be hot in the afternoon.

The following description breaks the climb into 5 pitches. It can be done by condensing P2 & P3, but by breaking them into two sections, the leader avoids some rope drag approaching the 5.8 roof and also enjoys at least one "normal" belay (read: slightly uncomfortable Serta-lounger-with-a-view on a carpet of pigeon shit). After all, the other three belays are roomy, comfortable, and relatively safe on good ledges. Pitches 4 and 5 combine nicely with a 60m rope.

Approach: follow the newly built (fall 2010) trail up Shirt Tail Peak until it ends at a nice, big, flat rock step.

P1. Start just to the right of the base of the

Tiger Balm Arete

(the blunt arete that narrows and finishes on the West of the summit) from near a large tree growing curiously "around" a bulge in the slab, following a large crack that gets thin, passing a small tree and entering a right-facing dihedral. Once at another small tree, jog up and left entering another short, right-facing dihedral. Fun liebacks gain the first big ledge. Belay by a big tree on this ledge.

P2. Follow the steep, tricky crack straight up from the ledge, mastering a slight overhang. Interesting climbing continues up steep terrain to a second overhang. Master this small roof, and set up a belay on the pigeon shelf, which actually provides a nice view of your second having fun in the crack below. If you plan to continue on (recommended), mind your rope drag with a long sling when protecting the traverse.

P3. From the pigeon shelf, traverse right and stem out across the void with a stunning move into the left-facing dihedral above. A great hand/fist crack follows, splitting the aesthetic dihedral. The crack arcs up and slightly left, ever steepening until it meets an overhang. Jam out the fun roof, and pull onto a roomy ledge with lots of loose rock. [addendum: if you place a #3 in the last ~20 section, there is a good chance that you'll lose it. Place a #2 instead or use a very long sling.]

P4. This pitch packs more punch than may be implied by the 5.7 rating it garners. This one is a classic. Improbably, you must first find a way up and right from the roomy belay, through a narrowing slot. A hanging slab with few holds and a half exposed pin forces climbers into the offwidth on the right. Clip the pin, go set up a nice #4 (I used a 3.8") in the back of the offwidth, reach back, and unclip the (mostly psychological) pin. I won't tell you the secret of the offwidth -- that's half the fun. Surmount the chockstone at the head of the slot, and you'll be standing on a ledge just below the Southwest Face. Now it's party time - step up right and out onto the face, following a right-angling, slightly overhanging hand crack over stupendous exposure with knockout jams...a real treat. Continue up the face until you see a made-to-order 2-foot ledge angling across the face. You get a choice of belays on the ledge, but the crown of the ledge, with two seats, made for airy position and a comfortable crib. You are belaying in space, the flat face dropping away below you. With a 60m rope, you can make it to the top if the drag isn't bad.

P5. Continue up the face on good cracks past blocky, seemingly sketchy rock that ends (thankfully!) right on the summit. Stay left near the top to avoid the worst of the loose rock. Bring your second up, watching to the south the busy Eldorado antics, the fascinating Flatirons to the north, or the Indian Peaks to the west; reveling in the solitude of the upper canyon.

Gambit

Mountaineer's Route

Serrated Jam Crack

Moriarty's Revenge

Destruction

Windlass or 'The Tail'

Double Life

Ginseng Junkie

Mrs. Clean Gets Down

King Of Pain

Future Primitive

The Throne

Cro-Magnon aka The Tail

Missing Link

Sorenson Crack

The Emperor's New Shoes

Can't Find My Way Home

Tiger Balm Arete

Giuoco Piano Direct

Moriarty's Mistake

Missing Link is a variation to the dihedral pitch of Gambit.  From the cramped alcove "belay" midway up pitch 2 (where Gambit cuts right to switch to the left-facing corner), Missing Link instead takes the obvious chalked roof crack out left.  The crack is easier than it appears and involves more underclinging and reaching than jamming.  A balance transfer onto a high foot ledge (flexibility helps here) moves past sharp hand jams and onto some lower angled, lichen-covered rock.  Face climb up to a spacious ledge and continue with Gambit, Ginseng Junkie, or Tiger Balm Arete.  The latter is highly recommended to conclude any Shirt Tail route; moderate and extremely exposed arete crawling in a superb position to gain the loftiest summit in Eldorado.

Trade a three-star pitch for a one-star boulder problem and you've got Missing Link.  Exchange the beautiful, clean, sustained Gambit dihedral for a cruxy, awkward, flaky and unaesthetic variation only if you really want something a little more difficult than 5.8.

Mountaineer's Route ascends the prominant gully separating the two summits of Shirttail. After scrambling up the loose talus gully between Rincon and West Ridge, you'll arrive at a rotten red ledge that runs along the base of the low angle slabs that make up the bottom of Shirttail. Here you'll see a huge pine tree which sits in the gully, 200 feet up from the ledge. Mountaineer's Route starts about 20 feet up and right from this ledge. Just look for the easiest way to reach the obvious gully.

P1: Cruise up and left on slabs and cracks to reach the gully, and continue up to belay at the huge pine tree.

or do what we did: From the top of the talus approach gully, go left along the broken red ledge for about 15 feet. P1: Start in a short, obtuse right-facing dihedral, passing three trees in the first 15 feet. Run it out over easy slabs for 40 feet up to an upward-pointing triangle flake, finally placing gear, then make some tricky (5.7) moves. Now in the obvious gully, continue up to the huge pine tree and belay - 185 feet.

P2: This is obvious. Start in a deep V-slot and make some interesting chimney moves. Continue up the dirty gully for 100 feet (might want a broom) thrashing through some trees along the way. Go right around the overhang/roof and belay at the top of the gully in the ridge crest - 195 feet.

P3: Go north along the sharp ridge/arete to the flat summit. There is some exciting exposure as you look down the expansive southwest face! - 40 feet.

This route can easily be broken into 4 pitches with a 50m rope, but a 60m will get you there in style.

2 stars for the climbing, but three for the unbeatable summit!

Serrated Jam Crack is the companion climb to

Cro-Magnon

, see the

Cro-Magnon

route description for more detail.  Start with P1 of either

Cro-Magnon

or

Mountaineer's Route

.

P2:  Head up through the roof and up the small dihedral, place pro, step right to twin thin cracks and up to sloping ledge (crux, same as

Cro-Magnon

.)  From here, the left crack is

Cro-Magnon

and the right, more obvious line is Serrated.  Cruise up the hand/layback crack (5.7) to the ledge and belay, or cross over to the bolt/pin belay on

The Throne

.  Great climb, less sustained than

Cro-Magnon

.

As I wrote the description for the variation called

Moriarty's Mistake

, and this route is mostly common to that one, I am pasting the relevant text (mine) into this route, and then changing the end as appropriate.

From the big tree, climb the seam up and left (5.9) to reach the trees. This slanting seam/crack is 5.9 and would be difficult to protect, so make sure the belayer has been firmly anchored into the great dihedral. Sling the rightmost tree and then head up the fun and interesting handcrack (great jamming in Eldo- a rarity) for about 30' before its abrupt end. This is 2-2.5" cam sized, which you will need again later, so take extras in this size.

From the end of this crack, look up above. There are two options across a section of unprotectable, vertical face. Either one will reach a new seam or crack after 10-15' of 5.9 face climbing. Either one could produce a spectacular fall if ill-considered or executed. This is the route's physical and mental crux. I chose to aim for the leftmost of the two cracks, as the right most had some dirt and grass in it. This paid off, as after some insecure moves, I once again placed gear and moved up on good stone, continuing on easier moves up and occasionally stepping left or right before reaching the roof. There were a few other runouts, but none were severe. With extra 2.5" cams, it would have been less exciting.

If you have a 60m rope, you may continue. If you are bound by a 50m rope, belay under the roof in an uncomfortable and dubious position.

Moriarty's Mistake

is a variation route goes up and right under the roof and onwards to the summit.  To do the original route, Moriarty's Revenge, head left under the roof, around its left end (5.9 again) and up and left above the roof before doubling back slightly right and on to the summit.  This is slightly harder than

Moriarty's Mistake

.

This route climbs the left side of the prominent bulging prow of Shirt-tail, just left of the crux pitch of Tiger Balm Arete. Continuous climbing, technical gear and sweet exposure make this a memorable pitch. The route was headpointed, and would be a tough, but not unreasonably reckless ground up lead.

Start one pitch up Tiger Balm on a spacious pedestal.Climb Tiger Balm p.2 as far as the bolt, then traverse left around an arete and into a hanging L-facing corner. Climb to the top of this(10+ s/vs) where a shake out and good gear can be had. Battle up and left into another hanging L-facing corner (crux, 12a/b s). Place some tricky gear in the corner (crucial blue alien and #8 rock) then stem up and right (11a s/vs), eventually joining the arete and easier ground. Run up to the large tree and terrace.  You can rap from bolts on top of King of Pain and scramble down to the base.  These bolts can also be used to t.r. off of with a few directionals.

I have entered this climb as both 'The Tail' and 'Windlass' which I believe to be the same climb.  This climb is a lost route in [the] Rossiter book, which states that the location of both routes is unknown, although both start above the huge pine in the dihedral, ending on the top of Gambit.  As well, the FFA of both was listed as by the same folks at the same year...  So I went looking for this route, and I believe I found it (them).

Climbing ~200' feet up the 'Mountaineer's Route' you reach a tremendous pine tree with a fixed sling rap station. Above this perhaps 20' higher in the slot there is a stance on a ledge with a comfortable belay position/ledge.

From this, looking straight up, there is a intermittent crack that rises up to 2 small trees growing out of it, 4-6" in diameter at the trunk. These guard the base of a very nice section of hands-to-thin-hands crack, which is followed to its termination just above a 1.75" section of left-leaning crack. The crux moves are made above small wires just above this, continuing up to reach where the crack will open up again, rising somewhat up and left when it is opportune to reach, at ~58 meters of height, the top of the rock to belay as for Gambit.

This is a seldom climbed section of rock and the path definitely crosses loose rock and lichen. A would-be leader must consider their own safety and the safety of all nearby and below before casting off on this climb, as there is severe fall potential and also death-blocks to avoid pulling on or placing protection behind. A very competent and aware party should not endanger folks below, but if this were a high-traffic route, I'd stay away from Shirt Tail entirely. As it is, I merely advise a "heads up" to anyone below a party on this climb and suggest to assess if you trust them with your life- because that is what you are betting here. In this case a helmet will not help you.

Shirt-Tail Peak is comprised of two main walls split by a massive dihedral/gully, which is climbed via "

The Mountaineer's Route

."   The left hand wall contains the popular classic

Gambit

, and the Right hand wall has several lower quality routes, one of which is Double Life.

The obvious arete/face to the shallow left-facing corner on the prow of the right-hand buttres is the

Giuoco Piano Direct

.

Double Life is a short ways to the right of

GP Direct

, on the South Face of the West wall, starting in a crack system & shallow, right-facing corner. Rossiter gives this route a star (1/1 star rating), which makes me wonder if he's ever climbed it, because I generally really enjoy the routes he highlights in his books, but this one sucks.

The crack system moves up and right for the first pitch, and is better looking from the ground than it is in reality.  For the first 20-30 feet, your main concern is bad rock, not difficulty.  Continue up the crack system for perhaps 80 feet to 2 reasonable pins (with good gear all around them) and execute the 'crux' moving up and left around them.

Once on a large solid ledge, follow another crack system up and right to a false summit, or up and left to join the

GP Direct

.  Neither option is particularly good, clean, or hard.  Do whatever you pick- or maybe spend more time on a better route.  I liked Moriarty's Revenge/

Moriarty's Mistake

a lot better.

As of Feb 2002, the best way off is to traverse to the left-hand summit and rap as for

Gambit

, or to get into the big dihedral/gully as for the

Mountaineer's Route

and rap, although there is no anchor on the top of the last pitch.  Some of the other anchors need some upgrading as well.

Another short pitch on the "Tour of 5.10 Variations to

Gambit

," this one improves slightly over

Missing Link

on quality.  From the big ledge above

Missing Link

(or the top of the dihedral pitch of

Gambit

), belay near a pine tree.  Work up a short, bulging, triangular corner with a fist crack (briefly 5.9) to another ledge, step right to a steep dihedral, and ascend a nice finger crack to a larger ledge (Yosemite Ledge).

From the belay on Yosemite Ledge, continue straight up easier cracks overhead, or, perhaps better, traverse to the left margin of the massive Shirttail face, and join the spectacular summit pitch of

Tiger Balm Arete

.

Approach Shirt Tail Peak to the left, as for Gambit, but continue well left of that route, to the West side of Shirt Tail, above Rincon Wall. Go 20 meters or so up the gully and look up to a large, dark, West-facing wall. Scramble up 20+ meters of easy rock to reach a tree below and west of the West-facing wall, and set a belay. King of Pain and Mrs. Clean Gets Down both ascend the flat wall above.

The start for both routes is the same: Climb up to the left of the obvious slot, placing a nut or two on long slings, then at a hanging flake, step to the right across the slot to the right into a wide stem, and get up onto the main wall. 2 small cams can be placed here. Then up into an odd pod. For King Of Pain, head up and left. For Ms Clean Gets Down, head up and right from the pod towards a bolt on the right. The moves to reach the first bolt are reasonable (5.9) but a fall from here would be ill-advised. Climb up and right past the bolt to a crux (15-foot+ fall if you miss), and then up easier ground on positive edges to the 'tiny wire(s)' placement, which is barely worth the effort to place. Continue up on climbing no harder than 5.9 to reach a tree near the top of the face (hitch for pro) and top out. To the left there is a 2-bolt anchor with cold shuts. Rap off to descend.

There is a 3rd bolt 6' back and left to back up a TR anchor if desired.

Note: These climbs are VERY hard in the afternoon sun.

Approach Shirt Tail Peak to the left, as for

Gambit

, but continue well left of that route, to the West side of Shirt Tail, above Rincon Wall. Go 20 meters or so up the gully and look up to a large, dark, West-facing wall. Scramble up 20+ meters of easy rock to reach a tree below and west of the West-facing wall, and set a belay. King of Pain and

Mrs. Clean Gets Down

both ascend the flat wall above.

The start for both routes is the same: climb up to the left of the obvious slot, placing a nut or two on long slings, then at a hanging flake, step to the right across the slot to the right into a wide stem, and get up onto the main wall. 2 small cams can be placed here. Then move up into an odd pod. For

Mrs. Clean Gets Down

, head up and right towards a bolt on the right. For King Of Pain, head up and left, with good undecrlings left, under a long flake. The moves to reach the first bolt are pretty hard (5.10). Climb upward with increasing difficulty until the 3rd to last bolt, an old "ring bolt" near a mono (old bolt hole?) and a nub. Bump slightly left to stand on the nub and look the crux in the eye... for a while. Up and right is very hard, and it took me several falls to latch a move in that way before peeling off anyway and discovering that the route goes left then up (confirmed later by the topo). The move right is much harder. Finish on 5.11 climbing to a 2-bolt anchor with cold shuts.

There is a 3rd bolt 6' back and left to back up a TR anchor if desired. Rap off to descend.

Note: these climbs are VERY hard in the afternoon sun.

A fun route up the Giucco Piano Arete that ends up on the top of ShirtTail Peak.

P1 -- To start, scramble up and right past the vertical lower section of the arete (Rossiter).  You'll start at a big tree in an alcove, and climb about 40 feet up along a discontinuous L facing dihedral to another large tree with slings.Past the tree it's up a gully, and at 100 head L into a rotten band.

P2 -- Climb through 2 bushes (amusing if you're in the right mood), and head L at the first available crack.  A 3.5 cam fits nicely here, and now the climbing is terrific:  exposed airy moves heading straight to the arete.  A bit loose.  Excellent pro on the far side of the arete for anchors.100 feet.

P3 -- Up the arete, 130 feet, to a false summit.  Beautiful.

P4 -- Climb the SE arete to the summit.  100 feet.

If the first pitch and a half weren't so bushy, I'd say 2 stars.  Still, this is a fun, well-protected moderate climb.

This is the bolted line on the same face that

Cro-Magnon

and

Serrated Jam Crack

are located.  I really liked this climb, lots of good hard face climbing with some nice exposure towards the end.  The route starts on the face just right of the start to

Cro-Magnon

and

Serrated Jam Crack

.  Some hard moves need to be passed before the first bolt, then at which point, make the crux moves out left to join

Cro-Magnon

right before its crux.  The Throne continues to move up and left via some more 11ish face moves to the arete with bolts for protection.  Then just run it out with easier climbing to an anchor with a bolt and two pins.

Shirtail Peak has two prominent aretes;

Tiger Balm

/

Gambit

on the left and

Giouco Piano

on the right.  The

Mountaineer's Route

goes up the big dihedral in between.  Three routes cross the "crux buttress" level with P2 of

Gambit

on the wall between

Gambit

and

Mountaineer's

;

The Throne

, Cro-Magnon and

Serrated Jam Crack

.

P1:  Climb the slab midway between

Mountaineer's

and

Gambit

to a short dihedral/small roof (5.8) and up to a large tree with slings.

P2:  Follow a short finger crack over a roof (5.8) and up the small left-facing dihedral above.  Place gear as the crack in the dihedral ends and traverse one move right and then up thin cracks to a sloping ledge (crux.)  Cro-Magnon takes the left (smaller) of the two cracks above the sloping ledge, the larger crack on the right is

Serrated Jam Crack

.  Follow the thin crack (5.9) up to a short face. Climb the thin face (5.8?) up to the two-pin, one bolt anchor on The Throne.  I clipped the last bolt on

The Throne

for gear here as the flakes seem pretty fragile.

A 60M rope should get you down to the tree with slings and another rap to the ground, or finish up to the top on

Gambit

or something else.  Using a 50M rope left us with a little soloing to do between belays, not hard but exposed.

I really enjoyed this climb so I gave it three stars, I suspect others may only give it two, since it is only the second pitch that it outstanding.  This route is fairly sustained, the pro is good but takes a little thought to place.

A word on loose rock:  Shirtail has it!  There were 5 parties on

Gambit

last Saturday, I got pegged in the head by a pebble and we saw a basketball size boulder crash on the slabs at the base from up high.  This is not a good crag to get too popular, but it seems that the lure of

Gambit

is high.

This is a nice alternate start to

Gambit

. It has great hand jams with good rests on vertical rock. Begin left of the regular start of

Gambit

or climb the first 30' and traverse left, aiming for a big tree on a ledge. The lower half is a bit chossy, so be cautious of you and your belayer, and wear helmets.

This route is best done as a finish to the route "Sunstroke", or after summiting Shirt Tail Peak via one of the other routes on the south face.

From the top of the second (of three) rappels on the descent (the more eastern of 2 sets of rappels that start in the gully), look climber's right to locate a clean wall with a small roof/bulge about 20' up and 2 short parallel cracks above the roof/bulge. The route starts about 10 feet right of an obvious, moderate, hand crack that angles slightly left. Begin on a ledge just left of a large pine tree and ascend easy rock for 10 feet. Work your way up the rest of the face before entering the roof/bulge(tricky gear). Proceed through the roof/bulge(crux)(tricky gear) to a good stance. Make a few more nice moves through the parallel cracks for another 10 feet to a good ledge. Continue up and left to the top of the rappels, or keep climbing up fun, easy rock to the summit.

The relationship between this route and the finish of "Sunstroke" is unknown.

P1-5.8s - Climb up an arete/face feature for about 25ft, then move L. to next cleaner rock and up. Continue to trend L. to cross big ledge with tree. (This is where a single rope rap will land you, then you can scramble off skier's right.)

Climb straight up set of several shallow corners (small cams to start) and aim for big tree with rap slings. Beware loose rock on this pitch. This pitch is contrived and wandering to follow the best climbing with the best chance for protection (while avoiding the worst of the loose rock).

P2-5.9, 60ft - Climb up to next big tree with slings through double cracks through overhang, then move L to finish up crack with tiny tree in it. Longer, though less steep crack/corners exist to left.

P3-5.10-80ft - Above is a sweet looking corner on R or a blocky, stem-boxy overhanging system on L. Right looks better but isn't (we did both). Take the left system and grunt up into it. End at large belay/rappel tree.

This route is a forgotten classic.  After getting on it for the first time, I had to do it again, and SOON.

After a junky first pitch, the climb shows 3-4 beautiful pitches on great stone, each with their own character.  Tiger Balm Arete climbs the solid left-side arete of the Shirt Tail Peak, just left of the climb

Gambit

.

Pitch 1: On the prow of the huge arete on Shirt-tail climb the obvious off-width system or junky, bush-choked cracks to the left (either is 5.8) to reach a big in-cut ledge system with a 7' tall pine tree and good hand-crack above.  Don't belay at this tree- keep going through P2. It would also be just as well to do the first pitch of Gambit to the large belay tree and go up and left on the big shelf the first pitch belay of Tiger Balm Arete.

Pitch 2: This is the first good pitch. From the belay-tree pull up and left into the thin-hands crack.  The hard part will be getting past the tree and into the crack off of the deck.  Climb 45-50' of hand jams and perfect jugs to a final 6' of finger-crack (right) or wide hands crack (left) to finish on the next incut ledge.  This pitch protects well with a few cams 1.5" to 3". If this pitch were longer it would be a classic in and of it's own merit, and there would be lines of climber cued up to do it. Worthy! Belay on the large ledge system above this crack.

Pitch 3: This is the crux pitch. Pull up off of the ledge system to a good, fat bolt on secure holds. Clip the bolt and twist through the big crux move. I found this to be much more technical then powerful. This long move (5.11b) would be extremely difficult without the right body position. Above the crux move there are good holds, but the wall is steep and does not give good rest. Move up and right (5.10a) from the in-cuts to a large horizontal (you can place #4.5- #5 camalots in this broken groove) and then up to a small crack in a right-facing feature (5.9). Load this with RP's or small nuts and a ball-nut before continuing up (5.8) and onto the slab above (5.7).  The slab protects occasionally and should be considered S, but if you get that far, I don't think you will be falling at that point. Continue up the slabby face past a small ledge (5.4) to the next incut ledge and belay from the large pine tree with fixed anchors (100').

Pitch 4:  There are a few options, but the best two both start by climbing straight up above through the finger-crack with 2 big jugs, a fun and physical start. After 30' the route splits Option 4a: Climb up the easy, well protected, left-facing corner and hand traverse (5.9) out the roof to reach the arete.  This will create drag if you were hoping to shoot for the summit from the last belay. Option 4b: Climb up the dark arete up and two your right for 35 feet. This will leave the rope free of drag, and if you have a 60m rope (a 50m MIGHT work), you can run for the summit. This is 5.8- and has no protection at all. A fall would be a career-ender, but the moves are secure and relatively easy. All finish: Continue up the sharp prow of the arete, protecting when ever pro becomes available, as it may not again soon. Since there are no really good belays on the arete, fire for the spectacular summit of Shirt Tail Peak for a belay. The final 35 meter arete is comparable to the summit pitch of

The Yellow Spur

. However, the pitch is a little more vertical, a little more protectable, and in my opinion, a little better.

What a fabulous route!

This route is really good, but in years of looking and asking, I have never seen or heard of anyone doing it. It is a worthy route and the best of the ones I did on Shirt Tail this weekend. A few spots of iffy rock prevent me from giving the 4-star rating. Still, it was a great pitch. The route ascends the smaller, right-most arete of the main wall of Shirt-Tail Peak, well right of

Gambit

, and just right of the huge

Mountaineer's Route

dihedral. The climb takes a short crack system (10M) up to reach a thin dihedral nestled into the arete for 50M more, then to a low angle finish. The route is striking and unmistakeable.

We climbed the meat of the route as a single pitch, leaving the 5.6 upper slabby arete for a second pitch. This can be done on a 60M or 70M rope, depending on the belay you want to reach. The 70M option seems best, and also sets you at eye-level with a set rap station (webbing w/Rapid Link on a tree) on the face to the left, should you opt-out of the easy summit pitch.

Arrive at Shirt-Tail peak to the right, and scramble up the dirty gully until if becomes 'mush.' Step left between two trees to reach a ledge system maybe 40' down and left of the start of the route. Drop the packs, change the shoes, and rack up here. Scramble to the base of the climb and set a belay back and right below the large pine tree. The crack system going straight up is

Double Life

(bomb) but the system heading up and left to the steep wall and corner, G.P. Direct, is a great route. It may be advisable to set the belayer back behind the tree from the climber, in case any loose rock should happen to come off early on the climb.

Pitch1: Proceed up the climb setting small to medium nuts and the occasional cam. Just before the crux, a pink or red tricam places very well in a yellow horizontal slash to the right, then a 2" cam up in a small undercling, and then a few feet higher, a nut. This is the crux pro. Move up over the bulge to a good hold on the right of a pillar of rock just before stepping left in a changing-corners move, then continue up to stand on the pillar. Good 1-1.5" cams or a large stopper can be had here. This ends the real runout and by and large ends the hardest climbing. Continue up in a left-facing corner and some cracks for another 40-50 meters to reach a roof over a finger crack with a fixed angle piton (old but good). Pull the roof and belay on the ledge to the left (60M rope) or continue up to another ledge (70M rope) and belay.  For the higher belay, a cordalette on a big horn and a great seat are backed up with a stopper and a #2 Camalot. If you are sqeamish, take a #4 Camalot for the belay too.

You can escape left from here to a series of raps from trees (2 raps and a scramble on a 70M, but a 60M will not reach the next station) or continue on P2.

Pitch 2: Climb up the easy, runout arete as the angle leans back to reach the summit, 40M. A piece of gear goes here and there, mostly cams in horizontals. A hard move is available up top for an optional finish... a zig-zag finger crack though a bulge. The rock is a little licheny there though.

To descend, Rap the

Mountaineer's Route

(presently no top anchor) or hike to the West and rap as from

Gambit

.

Shirt-Tail Peak is comprised of two main walls split by a massive dihedral/gully, which is climbed via "

The Mountaineer's Route

." The left hand wall contains the popular classic

Gambit

, and the Right hand wall is generally the less solid rock.

Starting from up into the

Mountaineer's Route

, you can reach a very large pine tree after some distance.  This is obvious from the ground below.  About 40' past the big tree, up the gully/dihedral, you can see 2 small pine trees side-by-side on the left hand wall, 15' from the big dihedral.  A left-leaning crack and seam leads up to these.  This is the start of two great routes, [Moriarty's] Mistake and Moriarty's Revenge.

Climb the seam up and left (5.9) to reach the trees.  This slanting seam/crack is 5.9 and would be difficult to protect, so make sure the belayer has been firmly anchored into the great dihedral.  Sling the right-most tree and then head up the fun and interesting handcrack (great jamming in Eldo- a rarity) for about 30' before its abrupt end.  This is 2-2.5" cam sized, which you will need again later.  Take extras in this size.

From the end of this crack look up above.  There are two options across a section of unprotectable vertical face.  Either one will reach a new seam or crack after 10-15' of 5.9 face climbing.  Either one could produce a spectacular fall if ill considered or executed.  This is the route's physical and mental crux.  I chose to aim for the left-most of the two cracks, as the right most had some dirt and grass in it.  This paid off, as after some insecure moves I once again placed gear and moved up on good stone, continuing on easier moves up and occasionally stepping left or right before reaching the roof.  There were a few other runouts, but none were severe.  With extra 2.5" cams, it would have been less exciting.

If you have a 60M rope, you may continue.  If you are bound by a 50M rope, belay under the roof in an uncomfortable and dubious position.

Place a few good pieces under the roof and work up through it's apex on the right hand side at a crack, grabbing one of several solid chockstones.  Again, this is solid 5.9 climbing, and the pro will come and go.  The moves are fun and [exciting], and not always just above protection.  As you move up you will start climbing on chockstones frequently.  I tugged, tapped, and pounded at the critical chockstones that I wanted to use as holds- they did not move.  What a head-game!  A heavy rack will benefit the leader now, as you will have little pro left if you've both carried a light rack and run the two pitches [together].  Move up over on several fun sections until you reach the summit and belay your partner from the huge boulders there.  You can see the ski lifts [of Eldora] from this position.

I would have given this route 3 stars as a single pitch, for it's uniqueness and mind-games.... but not everyone uses those same standards, but it would be hard to give it less than 2 stars for sure.

[Descend] by 3 raps as for

Gambit

.

Description

Protection

Routes in Shirt Tail Peak