Southwest Buttress

Page Type Page Type: Route
Location Lat/Lon: 37.09300°N / 118.545°W
Additional Information Route Type: Technical Rock Climb
Additional Information Time Required: Half a day
Additional Information Difficulty: II, 5.6
Sign the Climber's Log

Approach


Approach from the Dusy Basin side (north):
There is no trail: ramble around small lakes and cross snowfields (small in late summer), trending towards the center of the Southwest buttress.

Route Description


Begin by ascending the large ramp just to the left of center on the buttress. Easy class 5 climbing leads to a corner underneath a blocky roof (see photo in "Route Overviews"). At the end of the corner is the crux: an undercling to the right (5.6). This ends on top of the crest of the buttress. Three more pitches along the blocky top of the buttress end on the summit.

This description closely matches Secor (1999) because first-ascensionist Reese wrote up the route & submitted it to R.J. for publication.

Descend by downclimbing & rappelling from lower points in the summit ridgeline.

First ascent 19 August 1995 by Reese Martin III, Steve Reynolds, & Sharon Reynolds. Done in honor of Reese's dad and our friend Don Hutchings, kidnapped & held hostage in Kashmir.

+ + + ADDENDUM + + +
Reese's dad, Reese Martin II, passed away from cancer several months after this climb together. Don was executed by extremist Muslim militants ~ Dec 1995; his body has never been found.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Reese was tragically killed in a paragliding accident near Lake Chelan, WA on 9 July 2004. My husband Steve & I spent many happy hours with Reese; our Isosceles climb together is a time we will always cherish. It was a perfect, sunny day spent with a dear friend in the mountains we all love. I hope to return to Isosceles in honor of Don & Reese, and to read the summit register again. -SR-

Essential Gear


Needed: standard rack; 50 meter rope. Helmets.

For a late summer climb, ice axes & crampons for the approach are unnecessary.

Miscellaneous Info


If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.


Parents 

Parents

Parents refers to a larger category under which an object falls. For example, theAconcagua mountain page has the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits' asparents and is a parent itself to many routes, photos, and Trip Reports.