Shune's Buttress, Red Arch Mountain III/IV 5.11

Zion National Park, Utah, USA

Currently 0.0/5

Avg time to climb route: 1 day

Approach time: 30 minutes

Descent time: 1.5 hours

Number of pitches: 8

Height of route: 900' route, 1100' total

Overview

FA: Dave Jones and Steve Chardon 9/23/80. FFA: Dave Jones and Conrad Anker, 5/17/92.

Shune’s Buttress is definitely one of Zion’s finest routes of its grade. The route follows clean cracks and corners up the northwest prow of Red Arch Mountain. The northern aspect of this climb offers good shade in the warmer months. Pitch 1 of Shune’s has two options. The original and more obvious line climbs a beautiful left-facing corner with a one-inch finger crack in it. A variation and slightly easier pitch added later climbs a crack 100 feet to the right of the original start. The right-hand variation is a 60m pitch that starts in a crack right on the prow that begins below a small roof. Either variation to Pitch 1 tops out at the same place on a 165-foot tower. Pitch 2 also has two options; climb the right-facing chimney/corner or climb the finger and hand crack in the black face to the right.

Rack: 2 ea to 4”, 5” optional, extra .5-2”, nuts, 2 ropes.

Descent: from the top of the route walk west along the rim and locate a bolted anchor and do two rappels down the west face of the buttress (off route, see topo). This takes you to the belay at the top of the 5.11 face climbing traverse pitch or belay just below at the top of Pitch 5. Continue to rappel the bottom two thirds of the route.

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