Horns Of Satan

Clay Watson called on Thursday looking for a climbing partner for Friday. Clay seems to always have something in mind that exceeds the norms of climbing. In our phone conversation, he briefly mentioned a route in Albion basin on Devil's Castle, an eight pitch line named The Horns of Satan. I was in! The next morning we met at Clay's house which is at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Along with Erik, another one of Clay's climbing partners, we were on our way.



The route just left of the black streak


After driving up Little Cottonwood Canyon, we arrived at the campground in Albion Basin in the Alta ski area. We sorted our gear and headed up the valley toward the prominent wall in the circ-like formation. Forty minutes later we arrived at the base of the wall, racked up, and with Erik linking up the first two pitches, we started climbing. The first two pitches proved to be as expected, loose and dirty, as a constant rain of gravel sized rock pelted Clay and me.

We used a method for accomodating three people on a climb that worked quite well. The leader ascends the climb with two ropes, sets up his belay, and brings up the remaining two climbers simultaneously, each on their own rope. With the second and third climbers staggered 10 - 15 ft apart, it surprisingly goes quite smoothly. The problem is, if you have never used this system the belay area can quickly become a rats' nest of tangled rope. Clay took the third 5.10 pitch, and it turned out to be one of the better sections of rock.



Clay, looking for pro


I linked up the forth and fifth pitches and ended up meandering around on a 45 degree loose section of rock with no gear, searching for the route. 150 ft above the belay ledge and unable to find the anchors for the next pitch, I set up a belay in some crappy rock and brought Clay and Eric up. Erik took off on pitch six and seven. After rambling around unprotected for fifteen minutes, he finally found the anchors that I had missed. Clay and I were quite relieved to have Eric clip in to some solid pro.



Clay topping out on pitch six



Erik and me



Erik finished off a great lead on the 5.9 section of the climb and began belaying Clay and me. Halfway up the 5.9, I gingerly passed a huge flake that looked suspect. As I was moaning and cursing the loose rock under my breath, I barely weighted the tip of the flake with my right foot. Instinctively, Clay quickly moved out from beneath me as the slab of rock tore loose and pummeled the earth below. We finished the pitch, which turned out to be quite fun, and organized our ropes and gear on the roomy ledge.

Clay took the lead on the stellar 5.10c crux pitch, and was soon bringing Erik and me up. Erik led the final 5.6 pitch to the top of the ridge line. The hike off is essentially following the ridge toward Sugarloaf, then a quick descent to the car via a well beaten trail.



On the ridge line