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Elephant Butte Climber's Log

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chicagotransplant	West Fins Date Climbed: Nov 7, 2009
	Climbed through the maze of fins with Jamie, he had been there before so the routefinding went really quick. Only used the rope for the two rappels, we felt the class 5 sections were brief and not too difficult, but all parties should asses their owns skills and risk threshold when it comes to where to rope up, and where not to.
	Posted Nov 9, 2009 10:39 am

shanahan96	maze of fins Date Climbed: May 19, 2009
	11/28/09- toured a cold elephant butte w/aaron and mike garratt. didn't want to linger too long in the shade before a late sun started making things comfortable. 11/7/09- cruised this baby again w/mike. bumped into bob dawson and sharon adams along the way, whom we joined forces with for an enjoyable outing. 5/19/09- summited the maze of elephant butte with jessica and josh. they did awesome for newbies but took more time(5-5.5 hours) than i imagined. the 5.4 crux wasn't what i expected but it wouldn't be an issue for a competent climber whatsoever. can't wait to do it again! jamie
	Posted May 21, 2009 9:08 pm

shknbke	awesome! Date Climbed: Mar 23, 2009
	We ended our memorable UT trip with Elephant Butte, and it was my favorite climb of the weekend. Loads of eye candy and quality scrambling on this one. I wish we had more time to explore it as we had to get down before it got dark. I will have to return someday. Hard to beat the bang for the buck on this one.
	Posted Mar 25, 2009 3:23 pm

SarahThompson	Two times, huge bang for the buck! Date Climbed: Mar 23, 2009
	3/23/09 - This climb is an absolute gem, short but very sweet. Fun and relatively easy scrambling nearly the whole way. Awesome scenery, never a dull moment. We got a late start at 4pm but it only took 2:30 car to car. The route description here worked well for us. 4/11/09 - Returned with my brother and his girlfriend. Despite never having scrambled or climbed before, they did a great job and had fun. It rained for a few minutes during/after the ascent rappel, making the slickrock a little slick. Luckily it stopped and the rock dried out very quickly. It took us about 3 hrs this time as the newbies needed a little help here and there. Note about the crux: We felt it was more like 5.2, not 5.4. The newbies had little problem climbing it (roped of course). Despite what the poster says below, setting up a proper belay at the top is perfectly reasonable. Its true that the leader must climb it unprotected, but exposure is minimal and a fall wouldn't be the end of the world. A spot from below would be fairly effective in breaking a fall.
	Posted Mar 24, 2009 12:12 pm

weeds19	Unknown Wonder! Date Climbed: Mar 21, 2003
	We drove down from Ogden for this climb on a sunny winter day. The route didn't disappoint as the climbing was fun and the views great. Only a few summitters over the years, but this is one of my favorite climbs/hikes that I've done.
	Posted Oct 17, 2007 9:54 pm

cp0915	West Fins Date Climbed: Sep 1, 2007
	Very enjoyable.
	Posted Sep 4, 2007 10:17 am

haytraci	Awesome Adventure Date Climbed: May 11, 2007
	What an amazing adventure! Took an afternoon to find the correct entrance, but once we did, it was on. Some of the best hiking/scrambling/rappelling I've done thus far...and all in one half-day. (Not even really. Took us just over 4 hours roundtrip.) Would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. By the way, we spoke to a ranger who had climbed it the day before we did, and mentioned they had just added new webbing to the rap stations.
	Posted May 17, 2007 11:26 am

JJ	Sweet!!!! Date Climbed: May 11, 2007
	This place is a trip!!! Definitely an adventure. We had originally went up the wrong canyon and had to retrace our steps and go find the correct route. This gave us a more intimate feel for the terrain and man it is sweet! Very fun route but still not to be taken lightly. You can get into some serious trouble in those canyons but don't let that stop you. Have fun!!
	Posted May 13, 2007 1:10 pm

roughinit2	Almost Summited Date Climbed: Mar 23, 2007
	The route description is pretty good - definately enough to get you in trouble. I'd like to touch on the "5.4" climbing pitch. After you scramble out of the sandy beach (10' sandstone ramp to a 30' blocky corner) you arrive at a giant sandstone bowl. You enter the area from the bottom, where some large boulders are sitting. The bowl has a 3" wide sloping ledge around it that you can walk on. You have to scramble up 10' or so to the base of the climbing section and then ascend the 15' of "5.4" rock. I would rate it at least 5.5X. There is no option for pro and while a belay sounds like a good idea, it will more likely result in 2 dead bodies instead of 1. A fall on this would break plenty of bones as you bounce from ledge to ledge and hit the boulders in the base of the bowl. A solid 5.4 climber would not be comfortable doing this unless he/she can forget that there is such a danger below. Then, even if you get past this short scary part, there is a second steep face you have to get over to get to the anchors. This is no walk in the park either (not protectable). We got lucky. An experienced climber happened to show up just as we were turning back. We weren't going to risk it. The drizzle that began didn't instill any confidence either. Dave helped us by giving us a fixed rope. Even with a fixed line, it was a little sketchy. I've never hesitated getting on a 5.4, as long as the protection was there. This move seemed ackward and harder, definately deserving an R or X rating. After the rappel, the rain picked up. This made the ascent up tough. We got to just below the upper cliff band when our shoes became pretty slippery and we decided to head down. We were close, but didn't know how long the rain would last. It drenched the rocks and made mini streams and pools. After getting into the correct drainage, just before the rappel, the rain stopped. The pool was quite full and water was going over the edge during the rappel. It was fun. After the rappel, there is one more section of downclimbing that took a little thought. There are hand and foot holds, but they are not easy to see from above. We followed the drainage out to the road and then back to the car. Looking back, Elephant Butte is a quality adventure. Having a solid climber in the group is a must. Just because it says "scramble" doesn't mean easy. The large pack I had was a hinderance. We never used the climbing shoes or the small amount of pro I brought. Rain makes it a lot scarier. Wet lichen is like an oil slick. Be safe.
	Posted Mar 26, 2007 4:17 am

cdog	E.B. Date Climbed: Mar 4, 2006
	great scramble on a cool formation. soloed in tennies. looking at the register, the influence of the internet is quite apparent on the numbers climbing this over the years...
	Posted Mar 7, 2006 4:27 am

Day Hiker	Route Climbed: West Fiins Date Climbed: Dec 25, 2005
	Thanks to Scott for a great route in a great park. I would like to do this one again sometime.
	Posted Dec 29, 2005 2:20 pm

Scott	Route Climbed: West Fins Date Climbed: December 25, 2005
	We got a late start so we could attend church in the morning. After meeting SP member Day Hiker in Moab, my wife, kids, and I, drove to the trailhead. The kids, wife, and I did a few quick scrambles, becfore they headed off to the Windows to do some hikes there. Dayhiker and I then climbed to the summit of Elephant Butte arriving at the car just in time to see the sunset on Balanced Rock. Great climb, and one of the best views in the world.
	Posted Dec 28, 2005 12:29 pm

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