kevinhansen's Logbook (45 ascents)

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I wish I would have taken a liter of water per pitch. Temps were in the 90s and I was the only one on any walls. I set up the ledge at the hanging belay on P4. I didn't like how close the crack resembled Touchstone. Instead of thinking "What piece of gear would work best..?" I found myself saying "Wow, that scar was made by a #1 cam, and above it is a scar made by a brown camp tricam, and then a #5 nut above it,.. and...." Not too much creativity. It became more of a guessing match to see what the previous 500 climbers used at that spot. That said, many placements weren't good any more. Too eroded.
Take a lot of nuts the more off sets the better.

Want Advice?
1) I STRONGLY ADVISE SCOUTING OUT THE FIRST 30 MINUTES ABOVE CMC CAMP.
2) Leave camp no earlier than 4am.
3) As always watch out for thundershowers around noon.
4) Pack yer gear after you check in at Jenney Lake and get your required bear can and permits.
5) Early in the season means melt water near camp.
6) Sticky rubber trail shoes are perfect. Sport shoes are good for beginners. Take comfy shoes for the walk off and rapp's.

We spent 11 hours car to car, and only 6 hours climbing.
I remember saying, I'll never go back. But I'm already thinking about doing another route. mountain project dot com has real good info too.
4 liters of water should do it. Leave 1 in the car, 1 at the base of the fixed line, and 2 while on the tower.

The best thing that could happen to this tower is for someone to rap bolt a set of rap anchors every 30 meters down the North face. That way tourists could photo your decent from Point Imperial, you'd be rapping in the shade, and you'd only need one 60 meter rope to do the tower. I noticed a growing number of new rap anchors in bushes on the South face. This is not good and can just clog the southern face with climbers and rappellers.
The approach is the crux fo show.. Leather gloves, carrharts, and old gore-tex coat make it nicer.
Good Luck!! And watch out for afternoon thunderstorms.

Park at the little pullout for Ashtar Command tower west of the guard shack just west of the big tunnel. Hike back to the tunnel then take the trail up climbers left. Follow it for a few 100 feet till you see it. You'll know it when you do for sure.
Yea after the first pitch I was gassed. The crack is solid hand jams the whole way. The first belay isn't comfy but solid. Second belay nice stance. Third belay is good too.

When I was there, the stream was flowing behind a shell of ice inches to a foot thick. Temps were perfect to make plastic ice... The first pitch is very short (30 feet) but steep. You may want one screw before you pull the lip, but I didn't bother.
Pitches 2 and 3 are hardly worth roping up for. They are short and very low angle. Think WI 1-2. Pitch 4 is what totaly redeamed this route. Steep ramp for the first 30 feet, then 85 degree ice up to a slot canyon finish. I placed 2 screws, but should have protected the top more. I'd think 4 screws would be more than enough to lead. What a great climb!

I'm always looking for a climbing partener. I live in Kanab 1 hour south of Zion.
kevin_likes_to_climb_much@hotmail.com

I Solo aided this with a GriGri after an ACL surgery in 2002. The doc said I couldn't climb but I could go up an ladder. Thats when I took up aid climbing. I lassoed a stump as a belay and put some toons on and went for it. I pretended I was in Yosemite.

This is the last time I lead this route! I'm tired of being the nice guy and setting this up for noob's who don't have the stones to lead a 5.9! I guess the reason why it gets climbed so much is because it one of the easiest routes at the rock.

This route isn't as known for the downwardly mobile, but be vigilant. If you see some trash, grab it, and walk 5 steps and put it in your car.
Good times. Every time I climb something smelly, I'm reminded of this route and climbing during my highschool days.

We rapped the route to set up on the top anchors. I got worked and never went back.