Dorado Needle, West Buttress, 1985. In October 1985, Dan Cauthorn and I found our way to Dorado Needle. Our route starts in a recess to the right of the buttress proper and ascends a wall just left of a chimney for the first pitch. Several more moderate pitches lead to a huge slabby platform. A loose pitch up a gully leads to a chimney on the exposed crest. Ledges, edges, and blocks lead left across the buttress face, then up to the blocky crest. Another lead works along the crest, past a tower (5.7), to the base of the inviting slabs forming the upper pillar. Three excellent pitches up faces and along narrow arêtes lead to gullies which are followed left to the regular route and summit. (III, 5.7.)

William Pilling