Santiam Highway Ledges

If you are excited about an adventurous route at smith, This route will not dissapoint. The climbing is easy and the rock and pro is reasonable considering the location. Route finding would probably be the hardest part of the climb but even that shouldn't be a problem if you've done adventurous climbs before. Pitch 1- third class scrambling leads to a large 20 foot wide ledge with anchors on the ground next to the edge where you step out of the alcove. Pitch 2- 5.8 on questionable rock. once you clip that first bolt, shoot straight up to the next ledge 20' up and look right for bolted anchors. Pitch 3- 5.10a, go to the bolt line on the far right side of the ledge. Follow questionable rock up a solid bolt line and turn a corner joining a crack heading up to the dihedral above. Expect to use gear in between bolts that are about 20' spaced higher up. follow the crack all the way to a large ledge where the thumb is. anchors on left. Unavoidable rope drag on this pitch. minimize with alpine slings on the lower and upper sections. (detour)- climb the thumb. It's worth it. pitch 4- 5.7 unexposed move to a cool gully protected on both sides. continue up the path of least resistance to the first false summit. there are anchors at the top but it's easy to solo and mostly unexposed. Pitch 5- this is a very long and sometimes very exposed 4th class traverse across several peaks until you reach the true summit with new rap anchors that take you a short distance down the back side to the ground. expect this traverse to be the most exposed part of the whole day and one of the highlights of the climb.(not for the inexperienced) To get back Walk off north along the cliff band to a small pass and cut downhill back to the start. Have fun!!!

This route should be studied via topos such as those found in Alan Watts 2010 falcon guide book to be certain of your location. There are a lot of routes surrounding this route that would be bad to get lost on.

Gear to 3". I used a single rack to 3" and still had plenty of gear left over.