Summit Cliff (The Highlands)

Summit Cliff is a huge chunk of schist high up Rattlesnake mountain in the north west area of the Rumney crags. About 200 feet tall and hosting over a dozen routes, its a great place to shake off the crowds.

Much of the rock here is clean, high quality stuff with interesting, demanding and sometimes quite long routes. As you approve the crags via the gully between Yellowknife Buttress and Prudential the first routes you see are on a toe of rock that is about vertical. The right hand route Three Bump Dumper 5.11a is super good, pumpy and a bit commiting in parts. There are a few more climbs up to the left but the majority of the climbing is up the main gully to the right. Routes from 10a to 12a dominate but there is a fun 5.7 as well.

The coolest climb I've done at Summit is Path of the Righteous a 16 bolt 5.10b that might be one of the best 5.10s at Rumney. There are a couple routes that require one to scramble up a slippery green slab/gully to access at a bolted anchor. Two of these routes are hard open projects just waiting for a lucky climber to clean up. While the Summit Cliff approach might scare most away, those with an adventurous nature might enjoy checking out this gem which seems hidden regardless of the fact that you can see it as clear as day from Route 25.