Mother of Pearl

Cul de Sac Exit

Fibula Cracks

Lichen

Horticulture

Eleven-Minus

Hales Corner

Tibia Crack

Fungus

Nine-Minus

Roofus

Lichen Planus

Verticulture

Cul-de-Sac

Locate the 3 foot roof on moldy buttress, Cul-de-Sac follows the inside corner to the roof exiting to the right and up. The Crux is definitely at the roof, hike your feet up and commit to the move!

If you are on the hunt for hard, scary classics at Devils Lake, well hold up cause you just found one!! Cul de Sac Exit is a serious lead with the crux of the route being the R rated section... That said, this beautiful and technical route will leave you wishing there was just more of it. 

  Start up Cul de Sac as normal.  At the roof, keep climbing left, up and over to an eight inch wide finger slot.  Work up the arete with thin sidepulls, slopers, and underclings. Follow arete to the top.

worthy top-rope (anybody know ifn they been led yet?).5 feet left of cul-de-sac

Climb the easy and pigeony flakes until they end, then continue up the easy slab to the top.

A classic maneuver:  climb up to the roof, then traverse on holds below the roof until you have "escaped" to the right. 

  There are three possible starts:  back in the dihedral that heads straight up to the large roof, up the little pillar just to the right of the dihedral, or up the wide crack that begins near "Tiba".  The prettiest climbing and surprisingly the best protection is found on the pillar (several cracks are hidden from view). 

  Stop just below the top for the best anchor. 

  After a rain the upper part of this climb may have a film of fine dirt, because the overlook at the top is devoid of vegetation.  The key holds are easily brushed clean as you go.

A distinct line that goes directly up the face between Nine-Minus and Fungus.

Start under Nine-Minus, but move left to the corner, and climb the corner to the ledge.  From the ledge it is possible to move right and top out on Cul-de-Sac, or continue straight up the slab for more sustained climbing.

Tibia Crack is to the left of Cul-De-Sac (the inside corner below the coffee table-sized roof).  Start out by climbing up the very shallow inside corner past some clumps of long grass.  Once you get to the crack, use nice jams and some rightward laybacking to get up to a hanging v-shaped chimney (crux).  Struggle for a while figuring out how to get through this akward chimney.  Pass through the chimney and cruise to the top.

To the right of Nine Minus there is dirt/rock abutment projecting out from the face.  To start the climb move up and around this to the right to the rounded low angle corner above.  Nice, small face hold slab climbing leads up for about 25 ft.  Most reverse the route at this point but it is possible to continue on up easier munge climbing 30 more feet to the top.  I would give this climb more stars if it was longer.

The face to the right of CUL-DE-SAC is lower angled,(Devils Lake version of slab climbing), and has a prominent left facing corner leading to a shallow roof.  NINE-MINUS offers the easiest of several interesting excursions up this face. 

  Climb up the corner but move right before you reach the overhang.  Angle back left above the overhang to easy ground above.  Most climbers don't bother with the upper grungy portion of the climb, Moldy Buttress is aptly named after all. 

  Having mastered the basic line, it is time to crank it up a notch to TEN-MINUS, 5.10a.  Start on the face right of the corner and go up and then left above the overhang as in NINE-MINUS.  For a still greater challenge go straight up the face right of the the corner and don't curve left above the overhang, ELEVEN-MINUS, 5.10d. 

  I have always thought the names were a more accurate reflection of the ratings, but as the 1970 guide says, "This climb is such an easy F9 that it is F8",F8B in fact.

Use any of the "Horticulture" starts.  At the large first roof, traverse left.  A delicate traverse and a couple of strong side pulls allow you to turn the corner.  Continue up the lichen-y face to the top.

(An autoimmune condition of the skin.  There is no cure.)  A slip on this route could result in a nasty skin condition! 

  Start just right of "Lichen", and continue more or less straight up.  At about 15 feet you will be tempted to move right to the wide dirty crack, but use the knobs and friction to squeak past the crux.  Breath a sigh of relief and continue on easier ground to the top.

If "Horticulture" isn't steep enough for you, there is "Verticulture." 

  Climb "Horticulture" by any of it's starts, passing the large first roof to the right.  Then, instead of finishing to the right, escape the second roof by traversing to the left.  The holds are surprisingly positive as you step out over the void.

Moldy Buttress is a smaller formation containing a handful of good climbs.  Climbs here range in difficulty from 5.2 to 5.12b.

Description

Protection

Routes in 10: Moldy Buttress