Dates I've climbed this route:
- Date: May 25, 2020 (Mon); Partner: Michael Cantrell
Route Overlay
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Intro
Escape Artist is an old-school 5.9 that has historically been viewed as a standard introductory route to the Black, more sustained than either Maiden Voyage or Leisure Climb, a couple of other popular 5.9's in the Black, and with a few spicy sections of solid 5.9 above gear. The rock is for the most part quite good. The route is known for its wild Vector Traverse pitch, a left-leaning ramp/crack that is one of the most memorable 5.9 pitches in the Black. After that, the route follows a long, left-facing corner system on the left edge of the buttress, and then joins Comic Relief for its final pitches to the top of Comic Relief Buttress. The splitter Lightning Bolt Crack variation on Pitch 5 is one of the best pitches on Comic Relief Buttress.
Michael and I climbed Last Payment as the first of three climbs during a trip to the Black in May 2020, where we did two climbs on the South Rim (Blackjack and Last Payment) before driving 1.5 hours to the North Rim, where we did one more climb (Escape Artist). This was my first time checking out the South Rim, and Michael's first trip to the Black. At the thinnest points on the rim, the South Rim and North Rim are a mere 1,100 feet apart, but it took 1.5 hours to drive around the Black Canyon to get from one rim to the other!
Pitch-by-Pitch Photos
Approach
Descend the SOB gully almost to the river, to a white, polished slabby area under the third prominent buttress on your left. Scramble up to a large vegetated area below the wall; from here, scramble 4th and easy 5th class up and right to a small ledge below the two parallel cracks that lead to the Vector Traverse.
Pitch 1
5.9+
Climb up the right of two parallel, left-arching cracks that lead to the Vector Traverse. The difficulties increase as you climb. Belay near the beginning of the Vector Traverse. This is a long pitch. And quite good.
Pitch 2
5.9+
Vector Traverse pitch! Follow the wild ramp/crack system up and left. Lots of good gear placements throughout give confidence for the committing movement. Belay on a ledge at the end of the traverse.
Pitch 3
5.10-
Climb the steep dihedral. Belay at a stance on the left near an old pin. This pitch is sustained, long, and the gear can be thoughtful at times. The crux is near the top of the pitch.
Pitch 4
5.7
Continue up moderate cracks on the face to the right. Belay on Lighting Bolt Ledge above.
Pitch 5
5.9+ or 5.11c via Lightning Bolt Crack
For the 5.9+ version, climb the obvious corner, eventually moving right to belay on lower-angled terrain above. For an awesome 11c variation, climb the beautiful Lightning Bolt Crack on the overhanging wall right of the corner. Despite referring to this as a variation, this was actually the line of the first ascent by Ed Webster and Chester Drieman in 1982.
Pitches 6&7
5.7 (300' or more)
Climb the lower angle, but at times runout, wall above to the top of the summit ridge.
Excape Pitches or Exit Gully
Escape Pitches (easy 5th) or Exit Gully (4th)
There are two options from the top of Comic Relief Buttress: rappel down and scramble out the Exit Gully (4th), or rappel over to the continuing ridge and climb the "Escape Pitches" (2-3 pitches of easy 5th) up to the rim.
Either requires a short rap to get off the top of Comic Relief Buttress—use the left rap anchor for the gully scramble and the right rap anchor for the Escape Pitches.
Michael and I had a goal of getting back to Boulder before it was dark, so we opted for the Exit Gully. This was quick and surprisingly pleasant.
Top out
Pop out on the canyon rim at the campground. Too bad the campground was closed due to Covid-19, since we had to walk an extra few hundred feet to get to the cool drinks in our car.
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