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5918 Hits
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71.06% Score
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1 Votes
Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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40.61940°N / 111.7874°W |
Route Type:
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Sport, Trad - Single/Multi-Pitch |
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Time Required:
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Less than two hours |
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Difficulty:
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5.4-5.13a |
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Approach
Drive 2.85 miles up from the neon sign. You can either park on one of the pullouts on the right side of the road, or park in the Storm Mountain picnic ground ($4.00) on the left side of the road. The entrance says that it costs $2 to use the area for any reason, but I'm not sure if this applies to climbers rather than just picnickers. The host has never said anything as I've walked by, and I've never seen climbers paying fees.
Static Wall: After crossing the bridge, you can see a ridge rising above the trees across from a clearing. This is Reservoir Ridge. You can either approach this ridge and follow the cliff base to Static Wall, or pick your way across the clearing directly to its base.
Reservoir Alcove:
From here, walk across a bridge that crosses a stream. To access the Reservoir area, pick your way up some trails that take you to an old concrete barrier that extends out from the reservoir spillway. Follow this wall to the shady base of Reservoir Ridge. I'm calling the alcove to the right the Reservoir Alcove for lack of a known official name.
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Area Description
These are popular climbing areas due to their shady bottoms and proximity to the Storm Mountain picnic ground. Static Wall has steep and physically challenging routes while the Reservoir Alcove has easy sport and trad climbs.
Another nice thing about climbing here is that if a route is taken, one needs only to walk a couple of minutes to look for free routes on the cliffs across the field to the west or south, such as Storm Mountain Island.
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Transformer - 5.8
This is a steep, pumpy 5.8. There are a few overhangs and vertical climbing, but the holds, while slick, are also bomber. This is physical climbing with widely spaced bolts.
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Reservoir Ridge - 5.4
This is a good ridge to practice leading on. In my opinion, its not stellar, but still an interesting route. This route is 3 pitches, but they can be linked into 2 pitches.
Pitch #1: (5.4) Begin at the base of the ridge by a fallen log and climb straight up. There aren't really any places for pro here, but don't despair as there is an occasional bolt. Stay on the west end of the arete and soon some bolted chains are reached. If you have a 60m rope, you can probably clip it and keep climbing, making your belay at the end of Pitch #2.
Pitch #2: (5.4) Bolts become more sparse and you must rely more on pro that you place yourself. At one point a wall is reached. DO NOT traverse around the left side of the wall on an appealing looking ledge. Instead, climb up to the right of it and out onto the Reservoir Wall. Its easier than it looks and placements for pro can be found here. Traverse over and up on the face, and beyond a wide crack and a large flat ledge there are some chains. Climb just past these to another ledge on the arete and set up your belay here.
Pitch #3: (4th-low 5th) Climb up the remaining spine to the ridge's junction with a large wall. Its hard to set up a belay here - I used a combination of scrub and stones.
Descent: Apparently there is a class 3-4 descent to the west. Down-climb cracks and ramps with some exposure. DO NOT descend to the east.
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Essential Gear
These routes are mostly sport and as such, only some slings and quickdraws are needed. For Reservoir Ridge, I used my smallest nut and largest hex, and other pieces in between.
Other Info
If you have additional info for routes described or have done a route not described in depth, please put the info here and I'll integrate it into the page!