Snow Canyon. Many new routes have been established in this state park just northwest of St. George. 1986 saw several first free ascents of note. Todd Gordon eliminated the aid from the second pitch of Pygmy Alien, thus freeing the route at 5.9. Chris Pendleton freed the aid on the second pitch of Trouble No More, a very aesthetic hand-crack that saw numerous repeats. I freed the first pitch of Highlander (5. l0d), which was originally soloed with aid; this provided meter for meter the finest quality sandstone I have ever found. Most noteworthy of all was a visit by Rob Robinson, who drove all the way from the AAC Annual Meeting in Denver to free The Journey From the Future, an awesome overhanging fist crack near the mouth of the canyon on the east side. The eleventh- hour attempt was successful despite two falls with a lowering to rest. This produced the canyon’s hardest route at 5.12b. This is no elevated bouldering problem. Robinson carried four N° 4 Friends and “could have used more.”

Ron Olevsky