Manufactured Crisis

Manufactured Crisis is something of an anomaly in the Tetons. Featuring two fat bolts at the crux, the route seems like a good tick for someone climbing at the grade. However, it is somewhat gritty (probably due to the lack of ascents) and my partner pulled out the upper pin which is marked on the topo when the rock surrounding it broke. The moves are fun, but the upper section felt devious and slightly dangerous to me.

P1- Follow the main dihedral up about 15-20', traverse right on good holds to avoid an obvious difficulty in the main corner, then cut back left to blocky rock. Pull a quick lieback and end at fixed slings around a horn. 5.8, 100'.

P2- Pull a quick 5.8 mantle above the belay (#5 stopper key) and continue up the dihedral to the short bolted face. Pull the crux on crimps (or A0 the section :)) and continue up and slightly left, always continuing up the corner. Clip an OK looking pin and continue upward. Find gear when you can, and pull a small bulge at the top of the corner. 85', 5.11b

P3- From a semi-hanging belay, continue up the corner using crack and lieback technique. 5.9, 85'

NOTE: Pitches 2 & 3 can be linked.

The route is on a buttress adjacent to the main Omega Buttress on the left. From the trail, look for a huge black roof framed by two dihedrals. MC climbs the left dihedral. For descent, use the fixed anchors on top of pitches 1 and 3 for double rope rappels. Use the standard Omega Buttress approach, following the cliff left from the base of the 5.7 approach slab for Annals of Time/Dihedral of Horrors.

For the crux pitch, small gear (TCUs-.75 Camalot) is great. In my opinion, there wasn't much, and the rock surrounding the upper piton in the topo broke, rendering it useless. The upper pitch takes good hand-sized gear to a #3 Camalot.