Trust in Tusting (T.iN.T.)

This area was originally explored by my friend Paul Tusting, author of "Uinta Rock: a guide to climbing on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway". Paul mentioned that this buttress may contain some of the cleanest and most consistently steep rock that he had seen in the Uintas. With his blessing, I decided to check it out for myself and was pleasantly surprised to find some great rock climbing in a DYNAMITE alpine setting.

This mixed route can be done in one long pitch with double 70m ropes, but is more easily done in two pitches.

Pitch 1 clocks in around 11b and is fully protected by bolts. Start on the left side of the buttress and follow the bolts up to the left side of a roof. Traverse under the roof to the right and pull through the right side of the roof to a small ledge and anchor.

Pitch 2 continues directly above the belay and angles right to a roof on the right side of the face. After the 2nd bolt, there is a small pod that will take the crucial .3/.4 offset cam or similar sized nut. Pull the roof, traverse left to a perma-draw, pull through another roof on wide hands / fists and cruise to the top. This pitch is mixed and requires gear.

You can scramble another 10 feet or so to the top of the feature if you want to hang out. There is another anchor on top.

To descend the route it is best to use 2 ropes and make one rappel to the ground. However, if you only have one 70m rope you can descend the route by using the lower anchors with chains, clipping the rope into the perma-draw that protects the traverse, and continuing to kick off the face to maintain some swing to make it easier to grab the anchor at the top of pitch 1. From there it is one more rappel to the ground.

This route is located on the large detached buttress that is roughly in the center of the cliff line. The route is easily identified by a bolt line that starts on the left side of the slightly overhung face. To approach the climb, ascend the talus on the west side of the cliff and walk the base of the cliff to the climb.

4 quick draws, 2 long draws, a .3/.4 offset cam or similar sized stopper, 1 x 0.5, 2 x 0.75, 2 x 3, 1 x 4