Utah·United States
Photo: jfdervin · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Indian Creek's cliffs are split by hundreds of dead-straight cracks of every width, from finger to offwidth, making it the place where modern crack technique was born. Supercrack Buttress and Donnelly Canyon are the classics, all under open desert skies near Canyonlands.
In season: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Peak: Apr, Oct
Pure jamming on sharp sandstone, with a large rack of cams in repeated sizes and taped hands. Rock is fragile after rain, so climbers wait for it to dry, and camping is primitive.
Where most people climb their first Creek cracks
The birthplace of modern crack climbing, splitter lines
Steeper and wider, the testpiece wall
Camp at Superbowl or Creek Pasture and bring doubles or triples of cams. Start at Donnelly Canyon, learn to jam with a guide or experienced partner, and move to Supercrack and the Battle of the Bulge once your technique is solid.
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