Turk's Head Ridge 

Turk's Head has been soloed "car-to-car" in 25 minutes.

Wow! Who did it?

The time can definately be bettered by a competant individual. The rules are simple: start your watch at the West Bluff lot, climb the Entire ridge and the 5.2 up Wiessner's, and stop the watch back at the West Bluff lot. Above all, be SAFE and IN CONTROL on the climbing--really make your time up on the running sections. Water on the cottage road may add more time. Oh, and I did it.

I mean no offense, but why not just do it in one pitch? 25 minutes, huh? Hmmm... I guess I'm not compitent. Just slow. However, I think we should skip the whole "time-line" thing here and stick to the basics. One person doing it in 25 minutes and saying a compitent person's time would be better doesn't mean a person who can only do it in an hour (like me) isn't compitent. Right? I'm sure no offense was intended, but it sounds offensive. I think we should just encourage others to try (and try their best) by letting them know of the possibilities and "cool" they are. Since when has climbing become a ratings and time game? Damn, that Chris Sharma! :)

Not saying you think that. Climbing is a recreation. A recreation to be enjoyed. Agreed? Hope so. Sorry if I sound brash. I don't mean to be. Just pointing out a few things and, by the way, soloed in 25 minutes. Impressive.

My "compitent" comment was not meant to be offensive in any way. I simply envisioned someone, in the spirit of friendly competition, trying to better the time and getting way over his head and climbing simply for the sake of speed. I would hate for someone to get hurt, thats all. I would feel partly responsible.

I do not mean to suggest that I am more compitent than others. Perhaps I am just more bored than others and looking for new and interesting challenges at the Lake. So, I soloed a route I have climbed 30 times for time. So I posted the time on the net. So want people to try to better that time, but I don't want anyone to get hurt. What is wrong with that?

Oh, and I wrote the last post.

Oh. I never assumed you meant to do anything hurtful. I was impressed with the 25 minutes from car to car. It would take me 25 minutes to get to the face from the lot, via the lakeside trail and boulder field. Then 10 minutes to climb the darn thing followed by 20 minutes of panting and 10 more to admire the view. The a liesurely walk back down the main trail, stopping along the way to re-admire the view! Did you jog it or something? Or, are you a super speed walker? I'm impressed, I am, really.

Like you get bored, I get tired. Tired of the circus act climbing has turned into because of, in part, guys like Sharma. Most guys can be vain and do things to impress. Heck even I do it from time to time. Just not with climbing because I only bother with routes 5.9 and under. Then again, Mr. Sharma could be misrepresented. After all, look at the magazine that features him often. Climbing Magazine? Enough said. I guess I am tired of the whole ratings game.

Please don't get me wrong. I didn't mean to be offensive, if I was. I just think people should stop considering climbing a sport, which to me it surely is not (in my opinion), and think of it more as setting goals and an outlet to pushing personal limits. Besides, if it was a sport, there would be stupid team logos, Nike sponsorships and NCAA drafting! :) :) :)

If not, there is one thing about climbing I don't think even the most vain climber can ignore. The view.

Hey, I'm all for anything. I just misunderstood and in doing so, please forgive me.

I did Turk's Head Ridge this weekend with Jan Brown and I really enjoyed it! We did the 5.5 and under variation and in my opinion the experience is highly recommended. Give it a try. It does somewhat resemble alpine climbing although the pitches are [much] shorter.

The photo you call "pitch two" is actually pitch three. Pitch two is below the spire near the base (I know, its pretty contrived) and is defined by a darker looking inside corner with a wide crack. It is only about 20 feet tall...from the top of this pitch you are staring at the cracks in the photo you call "pitch two".

A great variation to the third pitch is to lead the right-to-left diagonaling thin crack--5.8 but pretty short and easy to jump off. Or, you could also do the unprotected 5.6 face to the right of the 5.8 (really bad fall potential, into a rock crevasse)--if you are bold or soloing or both.

From the author of that topo:

It is in NO WAY authoritative. As anyone who has climbed this beast knows, it's less of a "route" and more of a "pick your own way" type of climb. Please add additions/subtractions/modifications. I made that topo as an attempt to give those new to the climb a general idea of what the ridge we're all talking about is.

Does anyone do this thing in the winter, preferably during nasty stormy conditions, or is it just me (I doubt it's just me)?

And, if you're going to climb this (not necessarily for speed) you must finish on the 5.7-ish face route on Wiessner, not the 5.2 cheater (which I use, admittedly, at times). A spectacular finish.

A possible modification to the gear list: I don't think there's a need for anything larger than 1.5 inches. Maybe on top of the last pitch, but you can use the rock spike or sling one of the monster blocks behind the face (not the loose boulders).

Joe, If you climb the "true" second pitch--the inside corner to the left of the tower and below what you call the "30 foot wall"--big gear may be helpful for the wide crack. I think it is a shame to skip this pitch, or should we call it a pitch-let? It is more of a boulder problem, and the moves are scary and insecure for it's sandbag 5.6 rating. The Swartling guide lists the pitch as an alternative to the tower and calls it a "20 foot overhanging dirty inside corner". Sounds classic, eh?

I actually have that "pitchlet" listed as an alternate in a write-up that Tom has on Turk's Ridge. I believe he's going to post it at some point. It basically follows the description in The Guide, but adds more variations at the top of the Ridge. And as you know, having climbed the ridge, there really are a few good variations down low as well, variations/pitches The Guide seems to omit. Sometime this fall I plan to get out there with my GPS and a digital camera and finally nail down a good description of the ridge, the stuff below Turk's Head, and the stuff below and to the south of the Needle.Thinking about the second pitch (to the right of the tower), you're right, it does take some big gear.I've been climbing Turk's Ridge for a decade now and it's still hard, at times, to nail down a good descirption of the area. I was happy as hell to see yours, though, knowing that someone else actually really likes the formation.

Jay,If/when Tom posts my descirption of Turk's Ridge, it would be great if you modify it to reflect your true second pitch down low. I see that what I call the 2nd pitch would be the third, by your description (which I think is better).Or, Tom, if you're reading this (which I suppose you are), I can just resubmit that route description to reflect Jay's detailed descriptions down low on the ridge (and then my descrpition seems to fill out the upper pitches).

Hey guys,Just so you don't hold your breath too long, I plan to post the description Joe sent me very soon. I'll post it as a "feature" and I'll post a comment on this route that will link to it.

For what it's worth, I have usally climbed the ridge in this order:Pitch 1: the Tower 5.2, Pitch 2: The Dirty Inside Corner 5.6, Pitch 3: The 30 Foot Wall 5.8 or 5.6, Pitch 4: The 15 Foot 5.1 Groove, Pitch 5: The 40 Foot Inside Corner/Ridge 5.4, Pitch 6: The short Rightward Diagonalling Crack 5.4, Pitch 7: The Double Cracks (pictured above) 5.5, Pitch 8: Wiessner's Chimney 5.4, Pitch 9: either Wiessner's Face 5.7 or The Crack Above The Tree 5.2.

I feel as though, when climbed this way, you maximize both the quality and the quantity of the climbing. There are, however, numerous variations possible. It may be worthwhile to note that all timed ascents have followed this route (bypassing Wiessner's Face for the 5.2, of course). It is always possible to bail out left and thrash your way up the scree/talus/agent-orange slope, but I feel this way may be lacking in asthetics.

We're pretty much on the same page. My description just combines several of your pitches into one pitch (but I can't look at your description with the way this posting page works, so...) Wandering right towards the top (about 100 feet below the base of Wiessner) takes you into a rather interesting and undocumented area directly below Turk's Head. I'm pretty sure if you go right after the 40 foot "ridge" section (going from memory here) it's possible to link up into some more continuous climbing until you reach the base of the "little" tower in front of Turk's Head. You know you've gone right too soon if you end up in a big talus field (some interesting variations in the winter there, though, and a little bit of ice on occasion).

Check out Joe Block's terrific article on Multipitch climbing in the "Features" section of the site. Click on the "Community" button to the left in the sidebar, then click on "Issues" at the top of the page. Thanks a lot Joe for this great contribution!

Having just spent two days tromping around the ridge, I've discovered a few things.First, Tom, if you can lighten the photo of the whole ridge, it will reveal a bit more detail. I can provide another photo with the modifications if necessary.Second, the rock to the right (north) of the ridge is much more extensive than I thought. It's all undeveloped (and pretty overgrown this time of year), but surprisingly vertical. It is broken into short pitches, or steps, but is rather wide.There are actually three distinct bands of rock that make up the ridge.

1. The uppermost band extends from the Cleo Amphitheater to the Wiessner Wall to Turk's Head. 2. The middle band extends from the "40 foot ridge" on the south to the broken walls and towers on my topo.3. The lower band extends from several buttresses south (and above) the first tower to a series of overgrown and just less-than-vertical walls to the north.

The abovementioned "fixed" photo really helps you see this description. Once you see it this way, the ridge's terrain is much easier to decipher. Tackling the northern side of the ridge (the right side) is more committing, offering less walk-arounds and trickier third-classing. The "40 foot ridge" section forms the southern side of this band, and is quite impressive. The left side of the ridge (south) is the least committing and easiest route.Now that I've wandered a bit more around there and modified the picture, I can see an easier way to write up a route description, providing hints on pitches to link up. I suspect in the winter the ridge could be done in three long pitches (with some hard climbing), separated by scrambling.The interesting part is the fact that there is, as far as I can tell, a fair amount of virgin rock north of the ridge. The "middle band" particularly offers up a possible continuation of the route via a traverse underneath Turk's Head. I don't know where it ends up, but I suspect it peters out in the wide basin between Turk's Head ridge and Prospect point. (The top of the bluff drops a bit at this point)(The drawn overview map in The Climber's Guide hints at these sections of rock. It's much clearer in the older, '79 edition)I'll post a better description of the pitches in a few weeks.

This is a fun solo, especially in the winter, when there's no snow for skiing. I avoid the 5.8 on the 30-foot wall and opt for the 5.6. I also like to finish on Turk's Head (5.5), instead of Wiessner's.

Had a great time on a shorter variation of this route. It was dirty and wild. I loved it! The variation was a low angled slab to the right of a wall that had the left to right angling crack that looked about 5.8ish. And went up through a series of ledges for about 120 ft to a ledge N of Turks Head. It was low grade probably like a 5.4 or something, but man was it dirty fun!

What fun this is. A bit grovely at the beginning, but turns into a nice enjoyable climb. Really fun to do pitch after pitch and no stopping. Do it on a nice cool day. I did it in the sun on a warm humid day, sweating balls on every pitch.

This thing definitely needs more traffic. It was full of cobwebs when John and I did it this weekend...