Avoiding the Issue

The easiest route up the south buttress of the Mezzanines, this line wanders through the easiest terrain up the central drainage/bowl of the buttress.

From the top of the approach ridge, traverse left into the drainage, the upper portion of which is guarded by a steep section streaked with the passage of water. Climb the left side of this steeper section (5.3 or 5.4, but exposed) on comparatively smooth rock to gain the drainage. Angle up and left on easy talus, then switchback right to a landing below a series of stacked roofs.

From the landing, step right onto the prow/buttress and scramble up, passing a number of short, steeper sections (5.0-5.4, generally with ledges below). Once the roof has been bypassed, step back left into the drainage and head pretty much straight up to the right side of the cap roof (4th/low 5th). Walk left along the ledge under the roof, then step out left around the roof and back right above it (5.4, a bit exposed). Another 60 or 80 feet of scrambling leads to the top.

APPROACH:

The approach described here serves the entire South Buttress. From the Douglas Street trailhead, switch back up the hill to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. From here, head directly across the intersection up a sandy trail straight up the ridge.

The trail goes right around a decent sized boulder. At this point head left up a faint trail to stay on the ridge (don't go right and down into the drainage. Navigate the gaps in the scrub oak to another trail that runs across the ridge just in front of a small buttress with dense scrub oak on its right.

Push into the dense scrub oak via a small foot path, climbing up just right of the rock buttress. Pop out into a sandy drainage and head up and left to stay on the ridge at its high point. Follow this all the way to the base of the cliff, then traverse left to the base of "Avoiding the Issue." (Head straight up or right for other routes).

DESCENT:

Three descent options exist, the least desirable of which is described on the main Mezzanines page (

mountainproject.com/v/the-m…

).

The remaining two options involve either a short rappel and some 3rd class or some exposed 4th/low 5th downclimbing:

Rappel to 3rd Class:

For the rappel, locate the gully that heads almost due south into the canyon descent (see overview here:

mountainproject.com/v/11212…

). A 20m rappel from a juniper places you in the top of the gully. To identify this location, walk along the rim of the cliff top heading east toward the canyon descent until you come to the location indicated in the beta photo (see:

mountainproject.com/v/11201…

). A cairn may be present.

From here, head pretty much directly down the gully, angling right when possible near the mouth of the gully to leave the drainage and cross back over a ridge and another drainage to the approach trail.

4th/5th Downclimb:

This option is a shorter distance but is likely only more expedient if you are familiar with the descent and comfortable with some exposed down climbing. Again, traverse along the rim until the pictured location mentioned above. About 80 feet of careful downclimbing (beware loose rock) leads to the top of a casual ramp/gully heads southwest and cuts across the upper portion of the southern aspect of the buttress. This ultimately leads to a point near the base of "Deathblock Dihedral." From here, trend generally right, swithbacking or downclimbing when necessary to rejoin the approach trail at the base of the cliff.

Single rack to #3 is adequate. The route makes for a pleasant solo as well and can be used as an accessible bailout option for other routes on the buttress should the need arise.