Cloud Tower

One of the best long free climbs of its grade in the country. On a par with The Naked Edge, the Prow, and Astroman. This route should not be missed. If you climb at this level, you'll not have lead a full life without experiencing The Cloud Tower!

Approach: Same as Crimson Chrysalis. Average approach time about an hour, unless you're an old geezer like me. Cloud Tower begins about 100-130 feet right and downhill of CC, at an obvious chimney that leads to a left facing dihedral. N.B. some pitches are described differently than as suggested by the guides. Aspect: North facing until the last pitch which faces west and soaks up the afternoon sun. The initial pitches can be chilly.

Standard Climb

P1. Climb the squeeze chimney and up the hand crack in the left facing corner (5.8). Rather than stopping at the ledge (135'), we kept climbing up the corner above for another 100 feet or so (5.8) and stopped on the next obvious ledge. (5.8, 225')

P2. Traverse up and way left, past a tree, to the base of a beautiful splitter handcrack, climb it (5.10) and then trend up and left to the base of an awesome right facing, right angling corner. Another rope stretcher. (5.10, 210+')

P3. IMO, the crux pitch. Face climb discontinuous cracks up and left past a bolt into the corner, ascend the corner with Eldorado-like face climbing and stemming and then tips laybacking for what seems like an eternity. (5.12-, 115'; Rack: 1.5F, nuts, blue/black aliens, green aliens, 1F, 1.5-2.5F)

P4. A long "easy" pitch (120', 5.10) that will be exciting if your rack is short on larger sizes or if your wide flaring crack technique is wanting. (Rack: I am embarrassed to confess having 3 each of 2.5-3.5 F, 2 4Fs and a 4 Camalot and using them all.)

P5. The Harding Slot of Red Rocks. The guide describes climbing a scary offwidth to the top of the tower at 5.10+. We climbed a short wide section (5.7) and then tunneled through the tower. The crux was squeezing through a taper for about 3 feet onto the west face. Not recommended for the bulbous or the claustrophobic. Some friends have climbed to the top of the tower as the guide suggests, while others traversed the tower (climbed right from the belay around the tower). No one has expressed great joy at the thought of repeating any of these options. (5.?, 45-50')

P6. After emerging from the birth canal, you are suddenly transplanted onto the west face of the tower at the base of a stellar Indian Creekish hand crack. Climb the flaring hand crack through several awkward bulges (5.11), while shedding as much clothing as you can remove. Potential radical temperature difference after the north face experience. Save a 1 camalot and some energy for the final hard moves to the belay. (5.11+, 110', Rack: (2) 1 camalots, (2-3 each) 2.5-3.5Fs)

Extension

P6 - Overhanging ~.12d on sandy rock and fragile flakes - easily pulled through due to close bolts. Also easily combined with the 35m hand crack pitch below.

P7 - Climb the smooth 5.10 OW/Squeeze above, which would be hard to protect with anything smaller than a #6, and even that might not work. Or simply walk to the right 10m and then follow a 5.easy corner leftish to the same large ledge. You'll be under a big blank wall with a mungy corner out right or a steep chimney up and left.

P8 - The Chimney - This thing is the gaping chasm in the prow of the wall up and to the left. It looks horrendous but it is actually splitter and awesome, with numerous short good cracks and fun climbing behind large chockstones. 5.10b


Now after truly topping out on the feature, it is possible to walk down and right, eventually picking up cairns and a goat trail, and even a hand line at one point, which descends and cuts across toward the bowl beneath Rainbow Wall. You have to lose several hundred feet of elevation and deal with typical desert convoluted terrain in passing across a major gully, so it is more complex than simply walking across the hill at the level of the bottom of Rainbow Wall.

2022 UPDATED RAP BETA - 70m Rope:

Just climbed this and there are glue-in bolts for the whole rap line. Mostly follows the old rap line, but stays away from the trees a bit more. One 70m rope works.

1- From the top of the hand-crack pitch, rap straight down to an anchor in the middle of the blank wall.
2- Rap straight down to an anchor on the edge of the big ledge. You can also reach this anchor from the slung chockstone after the tunnel pitch. No longer go to the old bolted anchor far right that would take you to the tree.
3- Rap straight down the clean wall to an anchor at a small stance in a stem-box.
4- Rap straight down and slightly to the right to an anchor on a ledge by a small boulder.
5- Rap straight down the slab between the trees to an anchor just above and right of the old gnarled tree.
6- Rap down the gully / slot to a white boulder on the big ledge. Pull rope and walk left back to top of pitch 1/2.
7- Rap straight down to anchor.
8- Rap to ground.

RPs/brass and offset nuts optional. 4-6 cams in the .1-.2 size (000 C3 was used as well), doubles from .3-1, 3 #2's, 3 #3's, 1 or 2 #4's.

For the rap 2, 70-meter ropes are recommended, but two 60's would probably work as well.