This is a famous and popular route on the sunny south side of Moses. It is possible to bypass the first pitch (at 5.11+ one of the hardest) by means of a devious 5.8 traverse from the notch to the east.
To get to the normal start walk around the right side of the spire. P1: Climb an inverted V slot (5.11+) to a 2 bolt belay at about the level of the notch to the east.
To do the alternate start walk around the left side of the spire, passing the base of Pale Fire to the notch east of Moses.
P1: Climb down a few feet (but not more) and then up onto an exposed ledge which leads around the corner to the west. Follow this ledge to the belay bolts (5.8).
P2: Work up to the left edge of a roof, and fire up a beautiful finger crack to a roof (5.10). Continue up via liebacks and jamming (5.10). Head left before the crack ends to a belay under a roof.
P3: This pitch is very short and actually starts about 10' below the previous belay. If the second traverses left at the correct spot while following the previous pitch, the leader can simply lower the rack down (otherwise, downclimb from the belay). From here, stem and hand traverse left to a thin crack, and climb this (5.10-) for only about 30' to a huge sloping ledge with 3 bolts. This ledge is only a little bit higher than the previous belay. From here the upper section of the route is visible and awe inspiring.
P4: Follow a straight in crack to a pod, then up a right facing dihedral (5.10 hands and then fist) to a 2 bolt belay. This pitch looks tough from below, but a convenient foothold off to the right at one roof makes it easier than one might think.
P5: Continue up a weird 5.9 crack to the base of the ear (large cam may be useful), optional hanging belay here. Lieback or offwidth the ear (5.11+), or aid up using 6 bolts to the right of the corner. After the last bolt you used to have to free climb 15-20' to the top of the ear. The crack here is over 6", but halfway up this section look for a smaller crack inside that offers some protection. [A new bolt in this section has eliminated this sporting runout]
P6: Chimney behind a large flake and head straight up (5.8) to a 2 bolt belay. Alternatively, you can follow 1 or 2 bolts above the belay (5.10 face).
P7: This is the same as the last pitch on the Dunn Route. Face climb past 2 bolts to the top. You can easily combine P6 & P7.
Descent: We rapped the North Face (Pale Fire route). Do a single rope rap from the top, then 3 long double rope raps to the base, with 2 hanging stances. Supposedly you can also rap the aid route left of Primrose, but we couldn't find these anchors.
Protection
Standard desert rack (including a double set of camming units). Bring RP's for the first (standard) pitch. You may want more finger sized pieces for pitch 2, and a #4 Camalot on pitch 5.
I forgot to add, P6 and P7 easily combined even with a 50m rope. Lengthwise, it is conceivable to combine P2 and P3 but this would not be easy due to the descent and going around a corner.
The best tower I have done for climbing-Pitch 4 is as good as it gets.
Concerning the start(s), having done both. The 5.11 is butt hard, with difficult moves protected by a #4 camalot in an up-side-down flare (otherwise, leave the #4 on the ground). The moves are not in character with the rest of the climbing (bouldery and facey), other than being right underneith the route. The 5.8 is interesting, airy, and relatively safe but some may say you didn't climb "Primrose Dihedrals".
Bring stoppers for the pitch leading into the ear. You need a bunch-like the top half of a set of stoppers (big ones).
Concerning the descent, you can rap Pale Fire with a single 60M rope. The second rap is a real rope stretcher and you need to be careful not to let the rope snap up (I think you could still reach it) as you get off the belay. Make sure you have the middle mark dead on. Way better than lugging two ropes up.
George, thanks for putting the topo in there. Cool stuff.
Double ropes are nice for the down-left-up pitch because both climbers are on toprope for the down climb and traverse. A #3 BigBro is nice for the ear after the last bolt (it is also the most solid piece for the pitch). The bolt ladder can easily be aided with slings and the follower can re-aid the pitch so no actual aid gear is necessary. Stellar climb - somewhere near the top of my list.
One more thing, for the first 5.11 pitch you can easily pull on gear to get through the hard move. There was a fixed nut (5/02) and the #4 Camalot in the flare gets you throught the moves. Not recommended for the strict ethic-minded folk but if you want to enjoy a lot of great 5.10 crack climbing and get up the tower - pull away.
Though this route is undoubtedly a classic and fully deserving of three stars, I must admit that I was a little disappointed by it. It just wasn't as great a route to me as the, "best route in the desert" hype that I'd heard. I actually enjoyed Fine Jade and Castleton N. Face more. In any case, its definitely a top-10 desert route and probably has one of the easier approaches (not including the 4WD approach) of the desert towers.
Pitch 5 (The Ear): best way to protect it is to offwidth it to clip the drilled peg, then slither down and layback it, at which point the peg is out of easy reach. Wish I'd worked this out before taking a hang. Wish my partner had worked it out too, then he wouldn't have left a quickdraw (BD Hotwire/Quicksilver) on the peg!
Pitch 6 is excellent if face-climbed rightwards; fairly safe 5.10 (very photogenic and very exposed) leads to a couple of runout 5.9 slab moves on good rock.
We rapped back down Primrose Dihedrals using twin 60m ropes. The first rap reaches the twin drilled-peg belay. After that, it's all downhill...
I would recommend not even considering the hanging belay partway up pitch 5 as an option. It consists of slings around a suspect chockstone, and would be backed up with cams in hollow flakes.
I would highly recommend rapping Pale Fire (N.Face) with double ropes. All the raps are from new bolted anchors wit beefy chains, plus Pale Fire is an amazing route to stare at for many reasons! The anchors on Primrose are variable quality, and the aid route to the left is not equipped for rappel, according to a note from Jim Beyers in the summit register.
WARNING! Shameless (but helpful) beta:
At the top of the bolt ladder, things are a bit scary (I was expecting this to be the mandatory, and therefore scary 5.10 free-climbing on the route, and it looked quite scary from below), but I was able to place a good green camalot jr (.75 size) higher up in a small crack, while still standing on the last drilled angle (I'm 5'11" tall). Since I was still in aid mode, I had no qualms about yarding on the cam, and it held my 180 pounds just fine.
I'll echo Charles' remarks and suggest skipping that hanging belay. It doesn't even make sense to use it, as the two resulting pitches would be ridiculously short considering their ease.
In the offwidth, I found it an easier lieback than pure offwidth, at least until the top part. You can still reach the bolts if you strain.
I'm also going to recommend the direct start. I gather that a lot of people skip it, and use the 5.8 traverse to reach the route. The direct may be rated .11d, but the hard section consists of about 3 moves only 5 feet above a decent, if wobbly, cam. The rest of the pitch is only 5.8. The pitch is a fun one, and I've heard the traverse is lame. Besides, the direct adds to a sense of aesthetics.
This was easily one of the best desert routes I've done. Every pitch was classic.
Pale Fire is a beauty to behold, isn't it? I did Primrose with the late Ryan Sayers last fall and we also rapped Pale Fire. I swore I'd someday come back and give it a whirl. Especially for the upper half - so clean looking!
Yeah, Pale Fire has some of the most amazing splitter cracks in a desert full of them, followed by a true museum, including every vintage of ancient bolt that I've ever seen. It might be worth, if necessary, dogging/aiding the crux (although it would be a shame on such a pretty crack) to get to the 2 pitches of perfect hands, and then all that history and exciting face climbing!
"I'm also going to recommend the direct start. I gather that a lot of people skip it, and use the 5.8 traverse to reach the route. The direct may be rated .11d, but the hard section consists of about 3 moves only 5 feet above a decent, if wobbly, cam."
Hmmmmmm... recommended, eh? 3 moves of 11d... *only* 5 feet above a wobbly cam... while an easier 5.8 version exists? Excuse the sarcasm, but this "recommendation" is not very convincing... looks more like a sandbag to me. Looking at a 10 or more foot fall onto a wobbly cam while climbing 11+ sounds like pretty serious business. Perhaps the protection isn't as bad or far below as you remember? In any case, there was a fixed nut in the 11+ slot/roof when we climbed this route (via the 5.8 traverse) a few years ago.
I'm not sandbagging it, I'm recommending it. I don't climb any harder than 5.11 in the desert, so it was hard for me, but it felt quite reasonable because it was a short crux. I said the cam was decent, and it was. I hung on it to test and it was fine. It was wobbly because the placement is a bit flared, but not in an "I'm about to pop out" kind of way, more like "I'm shifty but I'll be fine." It was a #4 or #4.5, something like that - they almost always move a bit.
Don't get me wrong, it made me think. But it was reasonable and more importantly, VERY GOOD!
The fixed nut is there (and bomber) but is lower. I'm not sure if it would catch you at the crux, can't remember. I do remember thinking that it would feel to risky without the cam.
According to a Rock & Ice press release on www.rockandice.com, this route is slated for bolt replacement. I also read somewhere on the web that the bolts on the Titan were replaced in the past month, but I can't find this site any more.
By Mike Munger From: Boulder, Colorado Oct 4, 2004
Just did Primrose on 10-03-04 and the ear had been rebolted. There are 5 bolts and two drilled pins now. With the last two bolts above where the old ring pin was the run out has been eliminated. No need to bring any big gear, just draws for the ear. It's sport climbing in the desert. Kind of changes the character of the route, takes the adventure out of it. Now the question is, should this have been changed into a sport pitch and if so then why not just bolt all the cracks in Indian creek if they take gear that's not convenient.
Mike,I met the guy who did this in Indian Creek this weekend. He made it seem like he just replaced bad gear (that he pulled pins out with his fingers). Sounds like maybe he did a bit more ??? Sorry to miss you guys out there.
By Mike Munger From: Boulder, Colorado Oct 6, 2004
There are also chain anchors with 2 or 3 bolts at most of the belay stations which make it possible to descend the route in three raps from the summit. First rap goes directly to the ledge at the top of The Ear with one rope doubled. Second rap is 155 ft free to the ledge at the end of the traverse pitch. Third rap is 120 ft to the ground. As convienient as this is, it also changes the character of the route by making it a lot less committing.Now it is possible to retreat from anywhere on the route without leaving any gear. Unfortunately, with the addition of more bolts and drilled pins on The Ear, and chain anchors at the belays, almost all of the feeling of adventure and commitment has been eliminated from this route.In my opinion, there was no need for these additions. The old bolts and the ring pin needed to be replaced but adding more fixed gear is not adding to the route, it is taking away from the essence and spirit of the climb.
I'm kinda curious if Ed Webster originally bolted all the way to the top of the Ear on the FA. His topo (above) would suggest so. I also remember reading a trip report by Gary Clark from a while back where the author described standing on the final pin and feeling an empty hole above. (When I did it I was too busy thrutching around and getting sand in my eyes to notice empty holes, if any). If so, I'm wondering if this truly is a case of retrobolting or not. Either way I'm kinda sad 'cause that was one of the most memorable parts of the route.
I vaguely remember there being a couple empty bolt holes above the last bolt, the one that I said was excessively manky. I don't know if the upper ones were ripped out or where chopped. This route was originally done as an aid climb. I am glad the bolts were replaced, and I have no complaints if someone replaced the ones that had fallen out or were removed after the FA. There was NOT any run out if you had a green big bro as I have mentioned above. The spectacular nature of the climbing should not be dictated by the available protection or you choice not to place it, i.e. no run out with the bolt and no run out without the bolt and either way awesome climbing on a stellar climb. Replacing these bolts is not relative in comparison to bolting Indian Creek cracks. I do not support bolting next to bomber cracks but however also support the ethics used by the FA and their choice of protection. I have not seen any criticism of Mr. Webster on bolting the ear instead of using 2x4s for natural protection. This is only my opinion and my vague memory recollection clouded by trips in the desert. -casey
I climbed Primrose last Sunday with Mike Munger. We had done the route 2 years ago when the last piece of fixed protection on the Ear was a piton that was sticking out the rock. We had not brought a big bro to protect the last 15 ft of this pitch and Mike spent much time at that piton summoning the nerve to climb that 15 ft.
We returned this year, armed with a #4 big bro to protect the end of the Ear pitch. Mike was very much excited to challenge himself by freeclimbing the ear while placing the big bro. When we got to the Ear and realized there was a new bolt that eliminated the 15ft runout, I personally had a feeling of disappointment. Granted, I was not leading the pitch, and now, with the new bolt, I would be more likely to try it on lead, but the scariest part of the climb had been eliminated, which eliminated much of the sense of adventure and fear that surrounds this climb.
If you read the description of the climb on Climbing Moab, pitch 5, the Ear, is described as _ you must free climb and it is over 15 feet to the top of the ear. This is a spectacular and run out lead , even when aiding._ Those 2 sentences can now be eliminated from the description. Pitch 5, the Ear, can now be described as; Once you leave the 5. 9 crack, you only need 8 draws, (6 for the bolts and 2 for the anchor) and a purple Camalot to sew up the Ear. If aiding, short people may not be able to reach the Camalot placement from standing on the last bolt, so they may have to climb 3 ft before getting more pro in.
The nature of this climb has been drastically changed from two years ago, when the Ear struck fear in our hearts and finding the rap stations down the opposite side of the tower were part of the adventure. There may have been a bolt ladder when the original ascent party freed this route, but hundreds have done the route without the bolt ladder. I applaud the person who replaced the old bolts that were there with new ones, but I don't agree with the added bolt.
Just went for a hike around Zeus and Moses this past Sat. 11/6/04. There were three parties on Primrose and two parties waiting on the ground to start climbing! When I climbed this route three (or was it four?!) years ago we were the only people back there. I can't help but think the tamer nature of the last pitch is what drew these crowds. But maybe that's just my elitist nature making projections. Oh well, glad I did it when I did.
Wow, just read somebody bolted the belays a couple belays on this thing! That completely changes the route. What a shame. This wasn't he asca was it? I thought they were a little cooler than that.
I was one of those people waiting to climb Primrose that day. I also climbed the route back in 2000. Back then it was possible to rap the primrose route, I know this because that's what I did. So as far as I'm concerned, the new rap anchors aren't really that new. I don't know if another bolt was added to the ear, but I wasn't drawn out of the woodwork because I heard it was all bolted up now, as someone has suggested.
I still think this is the best tower route. I did it a few years ago before the rebolting effort.
A few notes on the pics. -At the A-frame crux I went left instead of right as the climber in the photo.
-The Ear pitch is one my hardest sends but I did it with left side in. The runout at the top wasn't really that bad but the idea of having to climb on runout terrain on a offwidth pitch was stimulating. I guess that's a non-issue now.
im not entirely sure why people are so bent out of shape about the new bolt. it kind of amazes me that so many comments have been placed about the bolt, and very few about the actual route. if the bolt bothers you that much (and you are very concerned about the integrity) chop it. if you dont feel that strong, just dont clip it. it makes for the same adventure for you and makes the route safer for others.
My Ideas: -If you can, have the second lower or throw down the big cam after the crux start. you wont need it again and it is a pain to lug up there. we used a new #5 Camalot. BTW- the fixed off-set/stopper is no longer there... -link the first 2 pitches, pretty straight forward, just bring enough runners (12-15), and if you have two ropes, alternate them appropriately. -link the 3rd and 4th pitches. The third can be easily navigated by shuffling cams as you go up, thus eliminating drag and setting you up to link with next pitch. Again, use two ropes appropriately. -consider bringing an extra #3 Camalot for 4th pitch -link the 5th pitch into the Ear pitch (6th). Bring plenty of med-large stoppers for pitch 5 and again, you will need plenty o' draws -link the last 2 pitches -Have a damn good time!
My recommended rack: Doubles -blue & yellow TCU -red and gold Camalalot
Triples -orange Metolius -purple and green Camalot -blue camalot (more if you are not comfortable shuffling on this size)
-one large cam (old #4 camalot, new #5) -Medium/large stoppers -off-sets (if you would like for first move)
By toddgordon From: Joshua Tree, California Jun 9, 2007
This route is easily done in 4 pitches. We did the 5.8 pitch 1, linked 2 and 3. Then linked 4, 5, and 6 (the ear), then the last 2 to the summit. Our 3rd pitch was very long and we used a 70m, a 60 would make it with about 3-8 feet over simulclimbing at bad timing. Also, if you led the 5.11 first pitch and would like to return directly to your gear, or for any other reason would like to rappel Primrose, it is VERY easy and quick. I just did it with double 60s (mandatory). You first rappel from the summit to the top of the ear with a single rope. Then to the top of the 3rd, (the traversing pitch), this is a 58 meter hanging rappel but lands you right at the anchors. Then a 45-50 meter rappel past the 5.11 first pitch to the ground. Very quick and from all nice steel anchors. Enjoy.
This was my second time on top, first was the Dunn route 15 yrs ago. Good news, the torn fixed nut has been replaced with a new small nut on pitch 1. Definitely used all 3 of my #3 camalots on pitch 4 with some leapfrogging.
Early spring of 1978, Kim Holebrock, Scott Vischer and I made the first attempt of Primrose. We were stopped above the traverse-to-wild-stacked-flakes and did a storm rappel off the first two bably angles I'd ever placed. To hear that the drilled gear is all bomber is like a dream come true. Has Fred Beckey's route been replaced?
A new route on Moses looked both doable and sunny in the picture on page 44 of Ascent Mountaineering Journal, 1973 (article by Fred Beckey). With little confidence in my VW van, we backpacked in during several days of snowy-cold March weather, bagged the Zeus ladder, and struggled on Moses. Bad weather and a failure-guaranteed bolt stash kept us from getting up the Primrose Dihedrals. Ed Webster had the bolt thing much better organized than we. Lesson Learned! He was also a better climber than us, even as a soloist.
I'd done the NA the previous November in storms and thought I was pretty hot stuff. Later Ed did tell me how excessive my use of pins seemed. In case you didn't know, Ed Webster is a bonafide hardman.
By eric dixon From: Durango, CO May 24, 2008 rating: 5.11+
Great tower route! Definitely one of the best. Just a few things... (1) P1 & P2 can be combined, just watch for rope drag (2) Combine P5 & P6 (The Ear) to avoid the uncomfortable hanging belay (3) On the face variation to P7 there is currently only one bolt (4) It is possible to rap the route in 3 rappels with 60m ropes
By ben kenobi From: Portland, OR & Olympia, WA Nov 16, 2008
Climbed it in 5 pitches by linking P2 & P3, P5 & P6, and then went one pitch to the top from the top of the Ear. Make sure you bring some 48" runners for linking 2 & 3. P1 was the 5.8 traverse.
Rack: Triple set of cams, from blue TCU (nothing smaller is needed) to #3 camalot. We brought a #4 camalot, but never placed it; in other words, don't bring any cams larger than a #3 (unless you do the original first pitch). Four #3's would be nice on P4, but not necessary. Definately bring 1 set of medium to large stoppers for P5, they are essential. Two 60m ropes gets you down the North Face rappels.
Amazing climbing! P4 was like a #3 sized version of Incredible Hand Crack. P3 has some scary sounding flakes that are getting ready to peel. P2 seemed quite a bit harder than P4, as it was ring-locks and thin hands (for my hands) with some awkward roof moves.
On a final note: don't scratch your initials into the rock! At nearly every belay, initials were scratched in. We did our best to rub them out. NPS is aware of the problem and will hopefully be removing some of this graffiti soon.
Moses
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