V Buttress, The

The V Buttress is an area on the upper Central Wall between the Cathedral Direct Chimney and the White Eye Chimney. Climbs were developed mostly in 2009 and are reminiscent of steeper lines on the South Buttress or the Diagonal area of Cathedral. All have mixed bolts and gear.

Expect to feel a lot of air beneath your feet. Because of their high position, routes here are quick drying. All routes can be easily top roped. If leading, fix a line from the the rap tree (KNOT THE END!!!) and bring a separate lead line. Use 60M ropes.

There are 2-bolt rap anchors all the way to the ground, with the last rappel being a free hanging rappel over Cathedral Cave. It might be possible to rap in 4 rappels with one 70 M rope, but I've never tried. This is a good alternative to the Saigons rap if you've climbed Thin Air and have 2 ropes.

Anchors are situated as follows: - 50 ft down from the rap tree for top roping Crabnebula, the FOF hand crack, and the second pitch of Triplet, and for leading Crabnebula in one pitch

• 100 ft down from the rap tree, second pitch anchor for for Triplet and FOF. Easy to TR the first pitch of Triplet from here.

• 190 ft down from the rap tree, starting ledge for the three climbs. 120' to Bonfire ledge.

• Bonfire ledge. 110' to the ground.

If you're rapping to the ground from the tree ledge, rap first to the 190' belay, then to Bonfire, then to the ground.

NOTE: Despite the 190' rap, you can not lead back up without stopping to belay (climbing length is longer than rappel length).

The V Buttress is clearly visible on the upper central wall as you drive down Cathedral Ledge Road-- it's the giant white V. And no, we didn't bleach the face, just scrubbed the shit out of it.

I'm adding these routes to MP because they are beginning to collect some dust-- the cleaning effort to establish them was massive, they are of excellent quality and deserve traffic.

Page 226 in the Handren guide.