Trip Report: Pioneer Route up Monkey Face, Smith Rock State Park, OR
When: 03/27/2017
Location: Monkey Face, Smith Rock State Park, OR
Conditions: 50º, 10-25mph winds, slightly cloudy
Duration: 8 am-2 pm
Difficulty: Advanced
Kid Friendly: No
Pet Friendly: No
Useful links: mountainproject.com
The Full Report
Smith rock climbers and hikers alike are unable to ignore the massive pinnacle that dominates the back side of the park. Monkey Face, aptly named given its striking resemblance to a monkey’s head, has several wonderful and challenging routes. Most of them range between 5.11 and 5.13, although the Pioneer Route provides a fun alternative to those seeking the summit but are unable to broach the harder grades.
We approached via the Misery Ridge trail, which is the fastest approach despite gaining the most elevation. We arrived at 8 a.m. and decided that given our early start and the absence of other climbers, we would rope up for the exposed 4th class approach. I belayed my partner to the flat ledge just before the notch, and then followed him up.
The climb has three real pitches, each of which offers a different type of climbing. I led the first pitch, a quick 5.5 trad route up to the ledge called Bohn Street. I placed a few pieces, clipped the piton and one bolt on the slab near the top. The pitch is fun because the climbing is easy but the moment you start climbing above the notch, you’re climbing with some exposure over the West side. This pitch begins up a dihedral that felt stiff for 5.5. and was certainly difficult with a heavy backpack on.
I setup an anchor on the solid bolts at Bohn Street, and my partner met me there. He then led the aid pitch, which ascending 20 bolts on an overhung wall to the mouth cave of the monkey. While many people “French Free” this pitch by simply hanging on the rope, clipping the next bolt, and pulling up on the next draw and then having their belayer take (each bolt is reachable from the previous one), my partner opted for some real aid climbing, using aid ladders. It took him roughly 40 minutes to ascend this pitch (it was his very first time aid climbing), and once in the mouth of the monkey, he fixed the rope. I tied the end of the rope to our heavy pack, which contained both a second rope for our descent and half a trad rack, and began ascending the fixed rope with two prussiks. I frequently retied a figure eight on a bight and clipped it to my belay loop as a backup, should the prussiks fail. I found that the ascending was not so difficult but that getting draws of the wall with the rope weighted was, at times, challenging.
Upon my arrival to the cave, the wind began to blow ferociously. Gusts chilled us despite the fact that we wore every layer we’d brought. We hauled the pack up and reracked, while our feet rested and warmed in the sun. After sitting in the cave for 20ish minutes, I began to lead the third famed pitch.
The third pitch begins at a spot known as the “Panic Point.” The leader moves from the comfort of the cave out to an exposed face over nearly 200 feet of exposure. Luckily, you can clip the first bolt from inside the cave, and the short 5.7 pitch is extraordinarily well protected. I stopped at the anchors on the nose boulder and belayed my partner up. Barely able to feel the rock due to the chilling wind, and struggling with a heavy pack, he found himself more scared on the pitch than I had. Nonetheless, we made it to the nose, where he belayed me over the short distance over the boulder and up the 5.4 finishing moves. We stopped at the anchor just a few feet shy of the summit, where my partner fixed the rope and walked up to the top. I carefully soloed the relatively flat but very very exposed moves (I would not recommend this—on the way down, I had him toss me a fixed bit of rope so I had some protection).
After eating a celebratory lunch and taking some photos, we returned to the anchor and did the odd and uncomfortable rappel to the nose boulder. From there, we did one double rope rappel using two 70m ropes down past the mouth cave to the spot where we had originally roped up. Two 60m ropes would surely get you down to a set of rappel rings near the start of pitch one, and might even get you down to 3rd class terrain.
Our ascent of Monkey Face via the Pioneer Route was a fun and exciting experience. While the route required little climbing ability, it requires many technical skills, a lot of systems knowledge, and comfort at exposure.
The climb has three real pitches, each of which offers a different type of climbing. I led the first pitch, a quick 5.5 trad route up to the ledge called Bohn Street. I placed a few pieces, clipped the piton and one bolt on the slab near the top. The pitch is fun because the climbing is easy but the moment you start climbing above the notch, you’re climbing with some exposure over the West side. This pitch begins up a dihedral that felt stiff for 5.5. and was certainly difficult with a heavy backpack on.
I setup an anchor on the solid bolts at Bohn Street, and my partner met me there. He then led the aid pitch, which ascending 20 bolts on an overhung wall to the mouth cave of the monkey. While many people “French Free” this pitch by simply hanging on the rope, clipping the next bolt, and pulling up on the next draw and then having their belayer take (each bolt is reachable from the previous one), my partner opted for some real aid climbing, using aid ladders. It took him roughly 40 minutes to ascend this pitch (it was his very first time aid climbing), and once in the mouth of the monkey, he fixed the rope. I tied the end of the rope to our heavy pack, which contained both a second rope for our descent and half a trad rack, and began ascending the fixed rope with two prussiks. I frequently retied a figure eight on a bight and clipped it to my belay loop as a backup, should the prussiks fail. I found that the ascending was not so difficult but that getting draws of the wall with the rope weighted was, at times, challenging.
Upon my arrival to the cave, the wind began to blow ferociously. Gusts chilled us despite the fact that we wore every layer we’d brought. We hauled the pack up and reracked, while our feet rested and warmed in the sun. After sitting in the cave for 20ish minutes, I began to lead the third famed pitch.
The third pitch begins at a spot known as the “Panic Point.” The leader moves from the comfort of the cave out to an exposed face over nearly 200 feet of exposure. Luckily, you can clip the first bolt from inside the cave, and the short 5.7 pitch is extraordinarily well protected. I stopped at the anchors on the nose boulder and belayed my partner up. Barely able to feel the rock due to the chilling wind, and struggling with a heavy pack, he found himself more scared on the pitch than I had. Nonetheless, we made it to the nose, where he belayed me over the short distance over the boulder and up the 5.4 finishing moves. We stopped at the anchor just a few feet shy of the summit, where my partner fixed the rope and walked up to the top. I carefully soloed the relatively flat but very very exposed moves (I would not recommend this—on the way down, I had him toss me a fixed bit of rope so I had some protection).
After eating a celebratory lunch and taking some photos, we returned to the anchor and did the odd and uncomfortable rappel to the nose boulder. From there, we did one double rope rappel using two 70m ropes down past the mouth cave to the spot where we had originally roped up. Two 60m ropes would surely get you down to a set of rappel rings near the start of pitch one, and might even get you down to 3rd class terrain.
Our ascent of Monkey Face via the Pioneer Route was a fun and exciting experience. While the route required little climbing ability, it requires many technical skills, a lot of systems knowledge, and comfort at exposure.