Journey to Ixtlan

The pretty west face of Delta has an obvious stemming trough way up high. But how to get to it ?

Start from the south end of the ledge in the middle of the west face (2 old cold shuts there), or do the direct start to reach the ledge from the ground near the South Rib.

From the ledge, move up and right on progressively harder ground to a cool side-pulling, under-clinging crux. Continue up to a line of bizarre chicken-heads that take you on a rising, leftwards traverse towards the stemming trough. Big reach around a corner gets you into the trough. Great palming/stemming up the trough, past some giant heads, takes you to the Mussys.

THE DIRECT START ADDS 30-35 FEET TO THE ROUTE LENGTH SO KEEP AN EYE ON THE END OF THE ROPE. And, if you do the direct, read the description of West Face Direct for info on lessening rope drag.

The direct start (leading to the cold shuts on the ledge) can be done as a decent, 4 bolt, 5.9/5.10 in its own right.

West face.

10 bolts and Mussys if done without the direct start. Direct start adds 4 bolts and intermediate cold shut for a total of 15.

All bolts are SS 3/8 x 3-3/4 installed 2013. Cold shuts and bolts are non-SS and date from 2000ish.

Route has a cable-draw to aid cleaning.