For the full-day trip, we have the time to hike to routes that grant us incredible solitude, and explore the longer routes on offer in the area. We are able to take the time to cover intermediate to advanced topics such as speed vs time-efficiency, belaying strategies, and descending longer routes.

The Cottonwood Canyons have literally everything you can think of; slabs, cracks, steeps and overhangs, and our unique diversity of rock from granite, quartzite to limestone. Some walls in Little Cottonwood Canyon reach 1,100ft feet in height and offer up to 10 pitches! Grades vary from 5.4 to 5.12.

We’ll take you to our favorite single pitch crag, do multi-pitch routes, or a mix of both.

Some of our favorites include:

• West Slabs (10 pitches, 5.5)
• Steort’s Ridge (three pitches, 5.6)
• Schoolroom (five pitches, 5.6)
• Outside Corner (four pitches 5.7)
• Tingey’s Terror (seven pitches, 5.7)
• Pentapitch (three to five pitches, 5.8)
• The Dorsal Fin (three pitches, 5.10d)
• Triple Overhangs (four pitches, 5.10a)
• Stiffler’s Mom (seven pitches, 5.11a)

… just to name a few. There are hundreds more to discover!

Full-Day: 6-8 Hours

• Single Pitch Client to Guide Ratio: Max 4:1 (large groups permitted with multiple guides)
• Multi-Pitch Client to Guide Ratio: Max 2:1
• Duration: 6-8 hours

The tighter ratio on multi-pitch terrain is not a technicality. Managing two climbers on a long route is a fundamentally different job than managing four at a single-pitch crag, and the 2:1 limit is what makes real multi-pitch possible on a guided day.

If you have never climbed outside. Expect a day built around instruction and single-pitch climbing, with the option to finish on an easy multi-pitch route if things are going well. West Slabs and Schoolroom are common first multi-pitch objectives for fit beginners.

If you climb in the gym and want to go outside. A full day is the standard bridge. Outdoor footwork, real anchors, rope management, and rappelling are all new skills regardless of how hard you pull indoors.

If you are an experienced climber visiting Utah. Tell us the grade you are comfortable at and we will build a day around it. Local guides know which aspects are in condition, which routes are wet, and where the crowds are not.

If you are working toward climbing on your own. Say so when you book. We can shift the day toward systems, anchor building, and self-rescue basics rather than pure mileage, or point you to our education courses.

Included

• Private IFMGA/AMGA guide, certified Wilderness First Responder 
• All technical equipment: ropes, harness, helmet, climbing shoes, belay devices, rack and protection
• Instruction, coaching, and route selection
• Permits and land-use fees

Bring

• Personal climbing gear (available for rent): climbing harness, shoes, and helmet
• Comfortable athletic clothing you can move in
• Approach shoes or trail runners
• Two liters of water minimum, more in summer
• Lunch and snacks for a full day out
• Sun protection: sunscreen, sunglasses, hat
• A light insulating layer and a shell. Wasatch weather changes fast, and afternoon thunderstorms are common in July and August
• A small pack to carry your own food and layers

Not included

Transportation to the meeting point, food, and gratuity.

Single-pitch climbing means one rope length. You climb up, you come down, and you are never far from the ground or your pack. It is the fastest way to log lots of routes and the right choice for instruction, for groups, and for anyone climbing at their limit.

Multi-pitch means the route is longer than one rope length, so you climb it in stages, building anchors and swapping over at ledges along the way. You end up on top of something and descend by walking off or rappelling. The climbing itself is often easier than what you would do at a crag. The challenge is the commitment, the exposure, and the systems.

Most first-time multi-pitch climbers find the movement well within reach and the position genuinely memorable. If that is the day you are after, book the full day. Four hours is not enough time to do it well.

No. Full days work well for complete beginners, and no prior climbing is required. If you have never climbed, expect a day weighted toward instruction with easier objectives.

More than for a half-day. Plan on being active for six to eight hours, with an approach hike that may run 20 to 45 minutes on uneven ground, often uphill, sometimes at elevation. If you can hike a few miles with some vertical gain and still have energy left, you are in good shape for it.

Beyond the climbing itself, a full day gives your guide room to teach:

• Movement, footwork, and body position on real rock
• Belaying and rope management outdoors
• Anchor recognition and, if you want it, anchor building
• Rappelling and descending longer routes
• Route finding and reading terrain
• Efficiency: the transitions and small decisions that determine how far you get in a day
• Hazard awareness, including rockfall, weather, and terrain assessment in the Wasatch specifically

How much of this you cover is up to you. Some guests want a pure climbing day. Others want to leave knowing how to do more of it themselves.

Little Cottonwood Canyon

Granite, and the most famous rock in the state. Walls start almost immediately past the canyon mouth, and the biggest of them run over 1,000 feet. This is where most of the multi-pitch routes above live, and where a full day pays off most obviously. Roughly 20 to 25 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City.

Big Cottonwood Canyon

Quartzite lower down, with limestone and dolomite higher up. More featured and blocky than Little Cottonwood’s granite, with an enormous spread of single- and multi-pitch options and a strong concentration of moderate routes. Often the better call on a hot day thanks to more shade and higher elevation.

American Fork Canyon and Rock Canyon

South of Salt Lake in Utah County, American Fork is Utah’s best-known limestone sport climbing, and Rock Canyon in Provo offers quartzite and limestone right above town. If you want to climb down there, see our guided rock climbing in Utah County trip.

How your guide chooses

Venue is decided the morning of the trip based on temperature, sun and shade, recent precipitation, canyon traffic, and your group’s goals. Having several distinct rock types and elevations available is what lets us find good conditions across a long season.

Of course! We love planning group activities. Contact us to inquire for a qoute.

We are a local outfitter based in the Wasatch, not a booking platform that routes you to whoever is free. Our guides hold IFMGA and AMGA certifications, the international and national standards for professional mountain guiding, and they have spent years on this specific rock. On a long route, that is the difference between being taken somewhere safe and being taken somewhere worth going.

Local knowledge matters more the longer the day gets. Which aspect is in the shade at 2pm in July. Which line seeps for a week after a storm. Which descent gully is actually the descent gully. Where the crowds are on a Saturday and how to be somewhere else. None of that is in a guidebook, and all of it determines whether a full day feels like a great one.

Every trip is private, built around your group, and adjusted on the fly to conditions and how you are moving. Meet the team on our guides page.