Really a variation of Jigs Up as it follows the thin crack system that is 6 to 8 feet to the left of Jigs Up and 10 to 12 feet to the right of the East Dihedrals.

Above the common belay for the second pitch of Steort's Ridge and Jigs Up there is a small roof. Jigs Up goes up the parallel cracks to the right of it. Instead surmount the roof directly on the left side (5.8-). A parallel set of thin finger cracks leads above, follow them as they continue up, always staying between the East Dihedrals and Jigs Up. At times the cracks are but a seam however there are great holds on the face (5.6-5.7). After 140' finish the pitch at the belay for Jigs Up.

From the belay continue one can follow the traditional exit pitch to Jigs Up by going up and left. Or as has been previously done climb the crack system to the right of the small left facing corner. Following the crack system involves a barn door move as it goes by the small roof (5.7+).

HIstorical notes: This variation in all likelihood has been done sometime in the past. However, there is fair amount of lichen under the roof which indicates that if it has been done it has been rarely repeated. As such I have listed this simply as the First Recorded Ascent (FRA).

As for the name. A rather nervous young woman who was climbing Steort's Ridge for the first time thought she was not going to make it. Midway through the 2nd pitch in a weak voice she asked me to "Tell my boyfriend that if I die, I love him" I just laughed and said sure but you will die another day.

Die Another Day

Funk

Rock!

Ad Lib

Force of Nature

East Dihedrals

Tiger's Den

Steorts' Ridge

Social Engineering

North Dihedrals

Jig's Up

Time Going By

Alor 1

Gypsy Girl

Dead Snag Direttissima

Call Me Slim

Double Bock

The East Dihedrals route is probably the most obvious line on the Dead Snag when looking from a distance.  This route starts just a small ways left of Steort's.  The anchors for the top of pitches 1 & 2 are both gear anchors.

P1) This pitch climbs the deep right facing dihedral just left of Steort's.  Wander up through an easy opening to a bulge move to start the main dihedral.  Pull through this cool move, then up the dihedral.  When this feature dies out, wander up easy climbing heading a little left to a good ledge/pod below a steep hand crack.

P2) Climb up this hand crack, through another small bulge, then cruise up an easy right facing dihedral until a belay ledge.  Another gear anchor.

P3) Take your choice of 5.easy routes to the chain anchors on a big ledge.  This pitch is short.  Maybe could be combined with P2 with a 60m rope?

Descent) Rap 3 times, using fixed chain anchors.  All raps require only one rope and are on good ledges.

Head up the Dead Snag rappel.  At the lowest chains (don't stop here), there is a obvious small crack system that goes right.  Follow this, linking thin cracks as they arc back left to the big ledge.

On busy days, watch for "down" traffic.

Go up the Dead Snag Rappel.  Easy, but runout climbing to the first set of chains (don't stop here).  The best line goes straight up from the chains, but you can go slightly left for easier climbing (and less pro).  Follow the right crack past a small bush to the right edge of the roof.  Gain the roof through either of the two notches.  Ascend the small dihedral to the ledge, or come out onto the face when convenient.  Beware loose rocks.

Named for the dangers from other parties above.

This is the obvious right-leaning thin crack just left of a low angle right-leaning, left-facing dihedral on the north face of Dead Snag.  A mix of jamming and face moves gets progressively more difficult toward the top.  Stuart gave the route one out of three stars when he and Libby cleaned and climbed it in 1986, but lichen and vegetation invaded the crack until it was restored in March 2015.  Get it before it grows back!   The north face of Dead Snag rarely gets sun, so it's comfortable all day during the dog days of summer.

Force of Nature

is the thin crack system right of

Call Me Slim

.  Begin by climbing a slightly right-angling broken crack until possible to step left to blocky face ending on the ledge.  If cherry-picking the "best" line, gain the ledge by starting on

Slim

, but since you probably did

Slim

to warm up, consider diversifying by taking the start described here.   Above the ledge, a small apex roof poses the first difficulty, followed by some thin jamming to face climbing past five bolts (some interspersed gear) to another thin crack heading toward a crack through a roof band.  Pull the roof and continue up a 1-inch crack to the chains.  Named to memorialize a full day of cleaning.

Entirely ignored,

Tiger's Den

is the ultimate

Steourt's Ridge

wild card. Labeled as 5.8? in the Ruckman Guide, the

Tiger's Den

remains as dark and mysterious as its enclosed start.  Difficulty may vary depending on experience, height, or ability. 5.8?, 5.10? or harder?? I'll leave the rating as it is in the book 5.8? Treat yourself to a surprise and help keep the mystery alive for others.

P1:

Jam or lie-back a large, leaning block to access the route. Follow an easy, well protected corner until a clean, smooth face comes into sight. Move left to gain the face and aim towards a difficult to see bolt.  Here is where the routes gets its character; follow a seam up the face to reach the crux. Mount a ledge and build a belay in the corner of the

East Dihedral's

2nd pitch start. (5.?)

P2

:  Continue up the

East Dihedral's

second pitch, or make the

Tiger's Den

completely independent and more fun by following an incipient crack system straight up the face. (5.7)

Descent

: Rappel the standard

Steouts

rap line just left of the routes finish.

Locate the obvious arete that divides the north and east faces of the cliff.  Begin left of the arete.

Pitch 1:Face and crack climb up and over the roof (5.6). Continue up easier, broken rock to belay on good ledge atop pillar below slanted roof.

Pitch 2:Climb up right and follow wide crack left of arete to small belay stance on the arete.

Pitch 3:Face climb up the steep, exposed arete, stay out on the arete as much as possible moving at times from one side to the other when necessary.  After clipping a bolt, I seem to remember that there wasn't much protection above it, so if you see a gear placement opportunity, do not pass it up.  Climb to the top of the arete and belay from the trees on top.

Descent:Follow a path left along the top of the wall until you come to a rappel station.  3 single rope, 80 foot rappels to the ground.

This is the left-most of the three parallel thin crack systems starting off a ledge about 30 feet off the ground on the north face of Dead Snag crag.

Social Engineering

starts by face climbing straight up past the left-most of the pair of bolts that protect access to the ledge (the right-most bolt marks the start of

Call Me Slim

).  From the ledge, take the broken-looking crack on the left to get established in the nice thin crack above.  Finger jamming leads to a break below a bulging bolt-protected headwall.  Follow the bolts to chains.  Between the second and third headwall bolt, you'll likely want some gear -- see below.

This climb starts just around the corner to the right of Steort's Ridge and under the roof.

The climb follows the right side (north face)of Steorts Arete, climbing in the obvious dihedrals up faces and corners.  In the Ruckman guidebook it shows 4 pitches, however, this depends on your rope length and comfort setting up belays.  We climbed this in three.  I don't recall each belay, however the first 3/4 of the climb is 5.5, with the last moves of the climb being the crux.  You finish on the same ledge as Steort's Ridge.

The climb is a bit dirty and loose in spots, but it is worth climbing.  There are definitely good sections of climbing.  We ended up here because Steort's had a line, and it seemed like a good place to take a beginner.  It was.  If there are people on Steort's you will be climbing just to the right of them the whole way.  It is a fun variation.

The beginning of the route is just left of the arete that borders the east and north face of the Dead Snag Arete.  This is the same 1st pitch as Steort's Ridge.  Climb the broken face and work the easy roof, then continue up the face to the ledges after about 120 feet.  Skip the 1st ledge and hit the 2nd one which has a piton (It is bigger and easier to set up an anchor).  Pitch 2 makes this climb as it works the finger/hand cracks that climb this face.  The consistency of these cracks are incredible, and this is where the cams are nice to have.  These cracks angle slightly leftward and are not the wide crack close to the arete.  After about 180 feet of jamming, one gains a ledge within sight of the top.  This ledge is small, but will suffice for a belay station, and it protects well.  Sit down, take off your shoes and belay your second.  Enjoy the view when he/she gets there.Finally, put on your shoes and work left off the ledge, along an easy section, avoiding the left-facing corner.  This 20 foot finish ends the climb with 1 or 2 moves worthy of your rope.Walk to the south, where you can reach the anchors from East Dihedrals and do 3 1-rope rappels.

Again, I can not express the importance of placing your SLCD's carefully as there are 5 lost on this route.

PLEASE NOTE; Typical for climbing new routes in BCC, tread carefully and please wear a helmet. Be aware that some loose rocks may still exist despite extensive route cleaning. The belayer should stand away from the line of fire and have the rope in a protected spot.

Pitch #1: The start to this fun climb is just to the looker's left of the trad route Ad Lib. It follows a unique pillar/staircase feature up a a buttress and curves around back right to share the same belay  anchors as Ad Lib. 7 bolts, 5.8.

Rappel the route. Please TR and lower off your own Locking Carabiners.

The first of a series.  Starts with a boulder problem over a bulge past a bolt into slightly right-leaning thin crack/seam.  Climb the seam until it peters out and easy, broken ground is reached.  Scramble to the first solid looking rock and belay (We set a belay near a small tree).  The pro above the bolt is tricky but adequate.

This route goes straight up the Dead Snag rappel.  Runout, but easy climging past the first set of chains gets you to the flakes below the roof.  Beware of loose blocks here and there, but most of it is sound.  Pull the roof past a bolt, and continue up the thin face past one more bolt to the ledge.  1 pitch.

Rob originally led this in August, 2006 without the bolts.  The bolts were added in October, 2006.

About 10 minutes up the gully from Steort's is a short bolted route that isn't a total waste of bolts.  Definitely an acceptable climb for the young 'uns.  Also, it is harder for the kids due to reaches.

"I wish some day to make a route, and from the summit let fall a drop of water, and this is where my route will have gone"

-- Emilio Comici

Of all the expanse of rock and places to climb on the Dead Snag, this stretch contains some of the best rock, most improbable moves (that are pretty easy) and highest angle of climbing.

Two 100+ pitches with a stance belay in the middle. This might share space with Tigers Den?

I found this route while adventure soloing. Kept climbing higher and higher thinking it would get ugly and I could traverse off. Never got hard, never traversed off - so - I came back with my son and lead it as a 'sort of' real climb.

This may be one of the longest and better moderate finger cracks in BCC, with some tricky face climbing to get to it.  Warm up by face climbing past the right-most of the pair of bolts that gives access to the ledge that is about 25 feet up.  Two more bolts above the ledge protect face moves into the crack.  Jam and layaway to crack's end and chains.

Probably done before, but the nice start seems to get almost no traffic.  Worthwhile as one long pitch right to the raps.  I suspect a pair of Alpenbockers did this back when, so named in their honor.

Start at the thin seam as for Dead Snag Direttissima.  Climb essentially straight up for about 100' until you see an opportunity to move left towards a ledge.  Traverse the ledge into a right-facing corner system with a finger to hand crack.  This crack deposits you at the second rap station off the Dead Snag.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Dead Snag