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West Face

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A Bridge Too Far 
Astro Glide 
Avalon 
Bloodguard 
Blotter is my Spotter 
Brokedown Palace 
Buster Cattlefield 
California Dreaming 
Carl's Face 
Carol's Crack 
Centennial 
Dead Point 
Deadwood Express 
Digital Extraction 
Double Feature 
El Matador 
Fractal 
Harkness variation 
Heatwave 
House that D & E Built, The 
Jerry's Kids 
La Vaca Solitaria 
Livin' the Dream 
Man Without a Planet 
McCarthy West Face (Variant) 
McCarthy West Face/Hong 
Mr. Clean 
One Way Sunset 
Park Politics 
Spank The Monkey 
Tulgey Wood 
Up In Smoke 
Way Layed 
Wrong Way (direct start to One Way Sunset) 

West Face

Submitted By: Brian Milhaupt on Jul 19, 2002
Administrator: Peter Gram
Views: 52,465 page views

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BETA PHOTO: Taken June, 2000


Description 

These are the routes you can see from the parking lot. They are all accessed by the west face approach and encompass all routes from the NE shoulder on the left to the large leaning pillar on top of the SW buttress (Durrance pillar) on the right. The routes on the West face are some of the cleanest and most accessible routes on the tower. Ultra-classics include Carol's crack, McCarthy's west face, El Matador, Tugley Wood, and many more. As with the other sides of the tower, the "good" climbing is on the lower 2/3 with easy bolted rappels before the less appealing rock. Most routes will require a two-rope descent.


Getting There 

Leave the main trail shortly after the trail starts heading south parallel to the tower, at the same place the Durrance approach leaves the trail. Hike up the boulderfield to the base of the tower. Locate the obvious stem box with two five-foot wide dihedrals facing each other for 150' and a ledge at the end of the left pillar (El Matador). Most west face routes are left of here. Right of El Matador, see Durrance Approach. Sparse poison ivy is often encountered on the hike/scramble north to Carol's crack area.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for West Face:
Tulgey Wood   5.10a     Trad, 3 pitches, 300 feet, Grade II   
Fractal   5.10a     Trad, 1 pitch, 130 feet   
Jerry's Kids   5.10b     Trad, 1 pitch, 120 feet   
McCarthy West Face (Variant)   5.10b     Trad, 2 pitches, 300 feet   
Up In Smoke   5.10b     Trad, 1 pitch, 110 feet   
Carl's Face   5.10c     Sport, 1 pitch, 110 feet   
One Way Sunset   5.10c     Trad, 4 pitches, 440 feet, Grade II   
Spank The Monkey   5.10d     Trad, 1 pitch, 150 feet   
El Matador   5.10d     Trad, 2 pitches, 250 feet, Grade III   
Mr. Clean   5.11a     Trad, 3 pitches, 500 feet   
Way Layed   5.11a     Trad, 1 pitch, 160 feet   
Carol's Crack   5.11a     Trad, 3 pitches, 320 feet, Grade II   
California Dreaming   5.11b     Trad, 1 pitch, 100 feet   
McCarthy West Face/Hong   5.11c     Trad, 2 pitches, 230 feet   
Bloodguard   5.11+     Trad, 1 pitch, 160 feet   
Browse More Classics in West Face

Featured Route For West Face
Mike Cronin starting up the stellar first pitch of One-Way Sunset.

One Way Sunset 5.10c  WY : Devil's Tower : West Face
Another fine route at Devil's Tower, and with more balanced difficulty- fun for everyone and in a variety of sizes!Like Carol's crack, this remains open when the rest of the West Face is closed for Falcons!Appraoch this route via the West Face trail and skirt the left-hand edge of the trial towards the north-most edge of the West Face. You will see a double hanging roof where two pillars are broken off from below. This route ascends the system ...[more]   Browse More Classics in WY


Photos of West Face Slideshow Add Photo
Devil's Tower from the left side of the Wedst Face. An Imposing feature. Image By Tony Bubb, July 2001.

Devil's Tower from the left side of the Wedst Face...


Comments on West Face Add Comment
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By Eric Rhicard
Feb 28, 2006

In August of 1999 with his blessing I did a couple first ascents of routes that Dingus McGee had bolted but had not been able to climb. One of them is the bolt line up the arete just right of One Way Sunset. Dave Larsen, Dean Brault and I rated it 5.12 and called it Astro Glide. Has anyone else done this route? How hard did you think it was? I will add them to the list soon. The second is the bolted dihedral above Buckspeck. This one Dean Brault and I rated 5.12- and called it Team Ropin'. This one is on the north face as I recall. Same questions about this route.

By TomKingsbury
Nov 9, 2006

I have looked at both routes mentioned, but didn't try them due to the quality of the bolts. Team Ropin' looks rad, we rapped over it after doing the 'stepping out of flatland'(was going to t/r it, but ran outta time);('flatland' also crappy bolts). It would be a great community service to replace those bolts w/ good ones. (buckspeck, team ropin', steppin over, and astroglide all need new hardware, among others, second pitch of soler eclipse aswell) Permits are easy to get although w/ a hand drill the replacement might take forever. Was up there in august and october '06. 5.12 looks about right though.
(toms brother pat)