Jughandle Mountain, various routes. The northwest face of Jughandle Mountain (8,340') is directly above picturesque Louie Lake, near McCall, in the Salmon River Mountains. I ran across this face in 1999 during a hike with my kids. Over the last few years I’ve put up seven routes on the 600' face. The routes range from 5.10a-5.13b, some with minimal bolting. Four of the routes are 5.13s. They offer steep granite with sparse cracks, mostly face climbing. Some routes have runouts and ledge-fall potential, and the rock quality varies from good to dirty, but the setting of the wall is stunning and makes for an adventurous day out.

The most exciting routes include Wall of the Oceanman (5.13b), in the center of the wall, with a potentially very dangerous fall from the crux of the 5.12 third pitch. Brave Like a Girl (5.13b), four pitches, climbs through the yellow overhanging wall in the center, connecting with Oceanman on its third pitch. Brave like a Girl is a safer lead, though it is the most spectacular route on the wall. Dreamcatcher (5.13) is four pitches, with an awesome 100' thin crack at the crux. Renegade is a four-pitch 5.13a line with two steep boulder problems on the second pitch.

I established all routes ground-up, without top-rope inspections. I drilled bolts on lead, without using hooks. A big thanks to my friends and climbing partners, Mike Teschner, Jeff Smith, Sean Wolff, Brad Heller, and Adam Chitwood.

Mikf. Stoger