Buchannon Gardens

Brendon Goble hanging out above the technical face/slab

Normally it is hard to compare routes at different crags. Reading through Randall Green's introduction in his guide to Montana Rock reminded me of this the other day. Comparing the grades of a crack climb to a face climb is, at best hard. After all, how many 5.10 wall climbers find a series of 5.7 hand jam all but impossible. Once you move over to judging aesthetics, things get a bit more tricky. While it's easy to say whether you enjoyed a particular route at Stonehill more than another at Grassi, you can't always project this onto other people. So when Anne, an avowed slab hater, said Viking press was the best route she had done in the area, I thought, well maybe she is right. So, if you like technical routes, and pulling of match stick sized sidepulls, this route maybe for you. The 10d crux just below the last bolt may make you scream. If you're like me this may either be from how close you came to the top before falling, the fear from pulling a crux ABOVE a bolt , or the gorgeous views of the pounding waterfalls.



Viking Press - 10d or so

To get up to Buchannon Gardens, you can park at Little Prairie (the gate up Cameron Highway where the skiing starts), cross the creek on a bridge just upstream, and then walk back down the trail (left) until you see some cordoroy on the trail and a gravel bed stream on the right. Walk up here until you hit the creek, and follow a very faint trail up the ridgeline before crossing the creek under a small waterfall and some more uphill bashing to the cliffs.