Omega Buttress

Category: Wyoming (Tetons)Summit Elev: 9,120 ftRock Type: Gneiss & Schist
Date: July 22, 2023 (Sat)Trip Report #: 632Partner: Erin Houlihan

Route: Dihedral of Horrors (5.9, 4-6p)

High-quality featured rock, great protection, and multiple pitches of entertaining climbing combine to make this route a must-do non-alpine Tetons climbing objective.

Intro

This was my second trip to the Tetons this summer. In early July I had climbed for four days in the Tetons with my sister Jenny. It was a great time with my sister and I was reminded of how much I love the Tetons. Plus, Jackson Hole is an easy place to find places to work remotely (so I can work a bit around the edges) and there is plenty of easy free camping in the area if you know where to look. I returned two weeks later, not batting an eye at the eight-hour drive from Estes Park to Jackson Hole. This time I climbed with Erin, a newfound and equally-psyched climbing partner from Boulder. Erin and I climbed for four days. I drove up after work on Tuesday, worked remotely out of the Jackson Hole library and explored town on Wednesday while Erin drove up, and climbed with Erin on Thursday to Sunday. We climbed Guide's Wall (5.8+to 5.10, 6p) on Storm Point (Thursday), Armed Robbery (5.9, 8p) on Cloudveil Dome (Friday), Dihedral of Horrors (5.9, 4-6p) on Omega Buttress (Saturday), and Caveat Emptor (5.10, 6p) on Cathedral Buttress (Sunday). It was great to have a partner on the same page— i.e. a rest day just means a sligtly shorter route with a slightly shorter approach. I drove back to Estes Park on Monday, after putting in a full day working remotely from the library and Whole Foods in Jackson Hole. What a stellar four days of climbing!

This page gives a trip report for Dihedral of Horrors (5.9, 4-6p) on Omega Buttress. Omega Buttress refers to the entire wild collection of cliffs, walls, and towers that lies between two major gullies in Death Canyon. The central section consists of a flatiron-like tower (sometimes referred to as Ship's Prow). There are two conspicuous sharp-edged left-facing corners. The right dihedral, capped by a large black roof with a white vein of rock in it, is the Dihedral of Horrors. The rock on this route is super gneiss, and the climbing is well-protected and quite entertaining. Erin and I had a blast on this "rest day" after our 15.5-hour day the previous day on Cloudveil Dome.

It was an unusually warm day. Although we had not even considered it when choosing this climb as the day's objective, Dihedral of Horrors turned out to be a great hot-day route, since the corner stays shady until mid-afternoon.

The following page gives a route overlay, time stats, and photos from our climb.

Route Overlay

Time Stats

Trailhead to base of route: 1 hour 20 minutes
Climb route: 2 hours 30 minutes
Descend to base of route: 40 minutes
Hike back to trailhead: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total car-to-car (includes breaks): 6 hours 45 minutes

Pitch-by-Pitch Photos

Approach

3rd

Follow the Death Canyon trail past the two switchback corners in the canyon proper to the talus slope from which the Omega Buttress is readily visible. The dihedral of Dihedral of Horrors is obvious. Find a steep climbers trail and hike just left of the talus to the base of a wall, go right up a gully and past a 4th class step and up to the bench below the buttress.

Death Canyon Trailhead.

Shortly after we passed this sign....

....we spotted a bear cub 15 feet from the trail! We passed by warily, on the lookout for the mother (who we never saw).

Harebell basking in the sun alongside the trail.

Sunflower basking in the sun alongside the trail.

The climbers' trail begins here, which is just after a switchback and below the obvious Omega Buttress above (which you can get a glimse of before the switchback). There is a nice map on mountainproject detailing the approach.

Head up this gully. There is a short 4th class step on the right.

The short 4th class step.

Ascending the gully to the base of the route, just above the 4th class step. Photo by Erin.

Stonecrop.

We hung our packs at the base of the route.

Pitch 1

5.7 R

Climb a slab with minimal pro and trend left. Aim for a large, talus-covered ledge with a big tree.

Note: The ledge can be reached by a gully to the left, but this is often wet, has much loose rock, and is generally unpleasant. You can also avoid the runout 5.7 portion by climbing an easy crack just to its right. But for the highest quality pitch, climb the 5.7R.

Erin leading the 5.7R. Nice lead Erin.

Pitch 2

5.easy to 5.7

Move the belay up and leftward to the right end of the broad ledge and the base of the next pitch. This is more moving the belay than actual climbing, although there is an option for a short 5.7 crack if you want.

This is where Erin belayed at the top of Pitch 1. We continued up the nice crack just above her (felt about 5.7, super fun), and then cut left to the base of the next pitch. It is also possibe to head left from where I took the photo on easier ground to move the belay to the base of the next pitch.

Pitch 3

5.9

Climb a dihedral with a punchy 5.9 section near its top, and above this trend right heading for the base of the obvious dihedral.

Looking up the dihedral.

Gear belay at the top of the pitch.

Pitch 4

5.9

This is a stellar pitch of climbing. Layback, stem, and otherwise climb cracks up the steep beautiful dihedral. There are several nice rests, and the climbing is quite entertaining and the rock quality is great. Finish on a small belay ledge on the left underneath the giant roof. Or keep going and link into the next pitch.

Erin leading the beautiful dihedral.

Another view up the beautiful dihedral.

Steph nearing the top of the pitch. This may have been the crux section of the pitch. Photo by Erin.

Climbing is so fun! Photo by Erin.

Pitch 5

5.9

Climb up to the diamond-shaped roof and then make a traverse beneath it to the right with great feet and great holds and pull up onto a nice perch at the end of the roof. This is an awesome belay spot so belay here. (It is not recommended to continue up due to rope drag and because this belay perch is pretty cool.)

Pitches 4 and 5 can be linked.

A view up at the roof. I started the lead on the left side of the white block in the photo and finished at a nice belay perch on the right end of the roof.

Steph leading the pitch. Photo by Erin.

A view down the pitch from the belay pitch after the roof.

Steph at the belay, taken by Erin midway through the roof traverse.

Pitch 6

5.7

Continue up for 20 feet in an easy crack to complete the climb. Belay off a boulder. This is a short pitch.

The hand crack above the belay perch.

Descent

Rappels

The descent involves two rappels and some scrambling. A 70m rope (or double ropes) is required for the first rappel. Locate the huge tree with lots of slings. A rap leads to a gully. Down climb a short bit of 4th if you have a 70. Follow the trail to skiers left, and look for a tree with rap slings BEFORE the huge gully. Rap to a mellow ramp. From here take a climbers trail down the gully back to the base of the route.