Fun, sustained climbing on steep golden-brown rock.  Slopey edges and crimpers lead you to a distinct crux half way up.

Mellow Gold

The Gardener

Black Dynamite

The Bridge to Total Freedom

Touchy Subject

Touchy Tuco

Depth of Field

Daisy

The Benefactor

Nettle

Pitbulls on Crack

Tuco's Nettle

Beata

Garden Party

Up in Arms

This is the bolt line between

Mellow Gold

to the right and

Pitbulls on Crack

to the left.  Of the four 12a's on the Choss Pile, this route is probably a touch easier than

Mellow Gold

, but harder than

Depth of Field

and

Pitbulls

.  Almost three stars IMO.

100 feet of overhanging quartzite.  At least half of the moves are unique, and the remainder links up some of the best climbing on the wall.  No additional bolts were required for this line, but expect it to be a bit more run out than the others.  Climb the first 4 bolts of Depth of Field and then begin the leftward traverse which rises through juggy terrain to eventually reach The Benefactor's 3rd bolt.  Traverse into Mellow Gold and charge through a long series of difficult moves taking you to a good rest at The Bridge's 5th bolt, then merge to the crux of Pitbulls for the finish.  You can lower to the ground with a 60m rope.

Bouldery, techie route on the left, with a wicked finish.

Worth some comments. It wasn't set up to climb on chains but this was facilitated by the climbing. The first boulder problem is straight off the ground, and you want it protected, as well as the second clip, which is hard. With belay/gear hanging bolts off the the side, it made sense to have chains. The last bolt, too, is a very hard clip followed by a boulder, and I wanted a fixed draw. That left only a couple, so chained the whole thing.

The bad bolts is almost certainly ok to fall on, since the rock underneath is solid, but this was a sketchy part of the wall with a lot of flakes. Not sure what came off but it could affect the climbing here. Some cleaning would certainly reveal a path that will go. There are a lot of flakes and the basic rock is solid, you're just dealing with flakey-ness that is pretty normal at this crag.

This is a very good route. It starts and finishes hard, and the "rest" isn't all that awesome, so there is definitely a pump factor. I like it more than any 12d in the canyon.

In a place called the

Choss Garden

, almost any route could be named

Touchy Subject

. A climb that only gets better with time, expect no relief on this sustained and continuously line.

Under a blanket of choss hides some very solid rock, finding whats solid is the initial crux. Sucker holds and very small crimps fill this thinning route.  Start off with some small delicate moves and bust up a crack feature to a few big edges, grab a quick rest and keep going. From here a few more difficult moves lead to the real crux. Finish strong on some slightly easier terrain and gain a ledge at a double bolt area. Continue up the original line clipping a hidden pin and finish right at shared anchor on top of the buttress.

Update:

A majority of the bolts on this line have recently been replaced (2012) and a newer, more bold extension has been added. It climbs up and left using a crunchy arete feature after the pin, this extension inarguably increases the rating. Finish at an updated chain anchor. Exciting!

This is the left finish of Touchy Subject.

The left "Tuco" finish is discussed in the TS route but, yes, I go slightly left of whatever horror show Boissal et al are doing. Essentially, from the last bolt on TS go slightly left, then into a shallow groove and clip long off of a good sloper. From here there's a good edge out right, then straight up, using the groove corner from left and good edges for your right. Jugs on top to clip chains. While this section is the crux for all left side routes it's not that hard, maybe elevating things just a touch. Really good for added pump as you get some long routes.

Great route! Start on bolt line furthest to the right.  Climb a good variety of holds up and left.

Classic name, great line, quality climbing (so what if it's short).

The Benefactor

takes an attractive, brown patina-looking swath up the center of the Garden.  More pumpy than technical or powerful, this route might be considered a soft 12b by some, but I'll stick with the rating given by the first ascensionists.  Lowering off the anchors leaves the climber a good 15 feet out from the base of the route.  This may be one of the best 12b's in BCC, better than

Savage Dance

, which gets 3 out of 3 stars in the Ruckmans' 1998 guide.

Some steep pulling leads to a good rest. You can then move right to join DOF (easier) or move back left (harder) and pass a few more bolts. Finish straight up to an out-of-sight two bolt anchor shared with DOF.

This route is the namesake for either a head-banging metal group formed in the late 80s, a bootleg Nirvana album, or a drink made from tequila, bourbon, rum, and Jagermeister.  Whatever pumped up the Ruckman brothers, it sure worked.  The quality of rock here is generally poorer than elsewhere and the line is a bit forced, but

Pitbulls

is worthwhile for the Garden habitué.  The crux comes around the last bolt before the anchors.  The anchors can be reached by skidaddling right and back left or punching straight-up (likely harder).

Climb Nettle through its crux, then head left across Touchy Subject to the Tuco finish.

Less aesthetic than other lines. Just more mileage.

Get full value out of the wall without the shenanigans required of The Gardener. This climbs all the way through the crux of DOF, then heads left through crux of Nettle, passing TS en route to the Tuco finish. Gave it its own name, both named after dogs that passed away this year (2010), because it's got to be one of the best pitches in Big. 70' of consistent steep climbing and great rock. It's an absolutely stunning route. Grade's a little soft but it just seems worth more than the others. Just take it and enjoy.

I could have bolt counts wrong but I think it's 4x on DOF, through crux, where you can hit a big side pull out left and head straight up into the crux of Nettle. Do this to a shake above, then traverse to TS. A little run out but pretty easy climbing to a shake. Then head up the Tuco finish. I think it's 10x's of steep climbing. Rare in this canyon.

Garden Party is a new bolted route on the far right side of the wall and climbs just left of the arete. It has the best belay spot (flat) on the wall and is a great warm-up with good rests and sweet position.

Starts just right of "Depth of Field". Pre-clip 1st bolt as the first crux comes at you right at the start. Move right past 2nd bolt to a nice rest on the arete (harder if you go up straight), then trend left and up past a big pocket and and a perma-draw with difficulties easing near the top.

Up in Arms

is between

Daisy

to the right and

The Benefactor

to the left.  It starts just right of the highest stunted tree growing off the belay ledge that runs along the base of the crag.  The first four bolts have the easiest climbing at the Choss Garden to date (yes, easier than

Daisy

), but get braced for the moves between the 5th and 6th bolts -- legit 11d, particularly if going for the flash.  Maybe height-dependent, and not for the adrenalin-adverse.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Choss Garden