Sunset Tower 5.8 C2
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| Type: | Trad, Aid, 2 pitches, 210 feet, Grade II |
| Consensus: | 5.8 A1-2 [details] |
| FA: | Mike Baker, Leslie Henderson 11/95 |
| Submitted By: | Ben Kiessel on Jan 21, 2012 |
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Follow the Splitter.
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Description Pitch 1: Climb a shallow corner to a beding seam, move left two feet and continue up the crack. Move left to another crack when the one your in peters out. Continue up past a drilled pin to an awesome bolted belay. 100' C2. Pitch 2: Climb the crack until you reach a drilled pin and step right to a corner. Climb the corner for about 10 feet to another awesome bolted belay. 5.8 C2 100'. Descent: One 70 meter rope will get you down in two rappels.
Location Located on the North side of Hwy 313 a mile or two west of Hwy 191. Look for a finger crack ground to summit on a face. Park on the road and hike about ten minutes to the base.
Protection Double or triple set from small to #3 camalot, Hybrid aliens, Tricams, stoppers, one 70 meter.
Looking up the steep 2nd pitch.
| Sunset as seen from a western approach. Unless you...
| BETA PHOTO: The route is just right of the center of the face.
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By Ben Kiessel Jan 21, 2012
| A 60 meter rope might work, but I'm not sure. |
By Bret Ruckman Jan 23, 2012
| On April 20, 2001, Marco Cornacchione was able to free climb Sunset Tower. After working the first pitch on several days, spread out over perhaps a year, he was able to put his project "to rest". He "French freed" the first pitch, then top-roped it, then pulled the rope and led it clean, placing all gear on lead in perfect style. If I recall, it had a thin bit at the crack switch which was the technical crux, and required some critical face holds. Above that section was a perfect off-fingers splitter all the way to the belay, the endurance crux of the route. The lead took him 4 times longer than his top-rope ascent, and he was carrying a fairly hefty rack. It pushed him absolutely to his limit, but somehow he rose to the daunting challenge. I would definitely rate this pitch 5.13 a or b. With the first pitch under his belt, the pressure was on to lead the second pitch free. On a previous attempt of the second pitch, he had rested on a piece, but on this special day he led it without falls, and even looked solid on the dicey final moves, where it was very thin and sandy. This second pitch was probably 5.12b. Sunset Tower is an amazing splitter for most of two pitches, with a short approach, south-facing aspect, and close to Moab. |
By Ben Folsom Jan 24, 2012
| That is great to know. I always thought that would be an amazing free climb. Cheers to Marco! |
By A. Roberts From: Boulder, CO May 2, 2013 rating: 5.8 C1+
| This is a great, straight forward, clean aid route (for most of us anyway). It's located about a mile down on the right from 191, at the end of the rock band, just before the alcove where "Class Act" is located. The belay's are in great shape, but the top of the 1st pitch is small and sloping. My calves were burning for the rest of my trip from standing in the aiders. |
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