From May 4–7, Matt Meinzer and I established a new free climb on the southwest face of Notch Peak in the House Range of Utah’s West Desert area. The Southwest Face Left (400m, IV 5.11 R) proved to be a serious and slightly loose affair. We placed a total of 26 stainless-steel bolts, 13 of which were used to equip anchors and 13 to protect the climbing.

On day one we climbed and equipped the first 200m. Day two was a rest day filled with hot springing and dirt road driving around the desolate surrounding valleys. On day three we re-climbed the initial 200m and then climbed and equipped the upper 200m of the face in an 11-hour effort from the car to the summit. We had intended to rappel the face, but the upper portion of the route proved too loose to make this a safe decision. Not abseiling resulted in a painful walk-off down the backside of the mountain in our free climbing shoes.

Eighty percent of the new route was 5.9 or less on good dolomite rock. The remaining 20 percent proved to be 5.10 and harder, and we encountered some loose rock typical of a limestone face of this size. A strong team of experienced alpinists should find this to be an enjoyable adventure. Climbers not accustomed to dealing with loose rock would do better to climb the established and relatively cleaner classics on the other side of the mountain. 

– Nate Brown