[Hide Comment] You can also scramble to the top of this fairly easily from the top of the western buttress of the Watchtower. Sep 26, 2003

[Hide Comment] Those are fantastic pictures Louis/James. Well done. Jul 23, 2004

[Hide Comment] A great route that protects well. We used a #2 Camalot, and then a large nut just before the easy section. Then we used a small alien, and the pin, and a #1 Camalot just over the 1st roof, and to keep the exit safe a .75 Camalot. Very awkward climb, but the moves are there and it is well worth the rush to lead this classic. Jun 5, 2005

[Hide Comment] Great route. One of my favorites. Jun 2, 2006

[Hide Comment] Very good climb, almost a classic in my book. I lead this thing strait up and later realized the guide book shows the route going to the right a bit for the first roof section. Anyway, leading this thing strait up was taxing and a bit harder than the right variation IMO. Jul 6, 2008

[Hide Comment] Should be an obligatory Utah Trad tick. Outstanding!!! Dec 26, 2008

[Hide Comment] I fully agree with Crisco! A classic must do! Don't let it intimidate you... Dec 29, 2008

[Hide Comment] Historical pin is no more Oct 1, 2010

[Hide Comment] WHAT?????
What happened? Oct 1, 2010

[Hide Comment] Historic status aside...there is no longer a pin on this route. So make sure the gear is bomber. Boissal, I've no idea what caused its demise but I hope it's not related to the flesh and blood draped all over the route. Oct 1, 2010

[Hide Comment] Flesh and blood uh? Might need to go check it out.
You can equalize a couple of .4s or better a .4 and a yellow mastercam in there. Long runners better. I've always backed up that piece anyway and there's a textbook #1 placement just above...

Now if only the TR anchors could fall off we'd be set! Oct 1, 2010

[Hide Comment] Someone also stole the KB piton that I put in my new route Karmic Trace on the Cathedral. So if someone is trying to put together a rack of pins for their first nail up big wall, instead of stealing them off my route and others, why don't you just PM me and I'll give you whatever pins you need. Nov 1, 2010

[Hide Comment] Super fun route, the top of the "upside-down staircase" can be hard for shorter people, if you don't lay back on the rail to the left then move your feet up and get into the first little crack. but all in all its an amazing climb! Jul 26, 2011

[Hide Comment] Wow, I attempted this route about a year ago and blew a cam out of a horizontal above the historical pin. Coming down head first (the pull of the cam must have brought me into the wall, flipping me upside down when my feet hit) I can confidently say that pin saved my life. So did someone work the pin out on purpose, or did it come out from a fall? Aug 7, 2011

[Hide Comment] Yeah textbook placements, no pin needed on this amazing route. Yellow and orange metolius under the roof w single runners, both bomber, and as for the #1 in the horizontal, like Boissal says, it doesn't get any more textbook than that - try working it in towards the left for a tighter fit Sep 3, 2011

[Hide Comment] This route is like a little slice of the Gunks dropped in the Wasatch. Sep 13, 2012

[Hide Comment] Such a unique route that is a must do in the Wasatch Front! Slick slab with great hand holds. Just plug in a red #1 C4 under the 2nd roof and go for it! Apr 9, 2013

[Hide Comment] Been back in slc about one week. Sent this on sharp end the other day. Sick of seeing people rate this classic on TR. Just lead it! Jun 15, 2015

[Hide Comment] wish i could go back and time and try this before it got greasy/polished.

also, my #1 almost came out of the horizontal before 2nd roof as well. It is a textbook placement, but the crack isn't perfectly flat and parallel either. One should still take some time to examine the crack and placement. Aug 23, 2017

[Hide Comment] The comments on this route about gear pulling out, greasy holds, people falling, TR polishing it, I was thinking this was going to be so sketchy. It was not. Gear placements are solid, holds are bomber. This route is a classic, and every section was fun. Aug 4, 2018

[Hide Comment] I took a 30-foot fall on this climb last week and broke my back after my pieces zippered below the roof - just before the crux section. I was pumped and called to my partner that I was falling and felt confident in my gear because I had placed 2 pieces below the roof at the top of the slab section. I had a cam and a nut there but there wasn't a ton of space for gear if you wanted to leave some room for your hands. I should have placed above my head at the next horizontal crack but wasn't in a good position and it would have been desperate so I decided to take the fall after pulling the roof and would try the sequence again. I have been climbing for 9 years and am 29, in good shape. Now I have rods in my back and 3 broken vertebrae - I am lucky to be alive falling that far. A fellow climber standing by said that he knew of 2 other climbers that had had a similar accident where their pieces zippered out on this climb and they hit the deck like me. Apparently there was an old pin/piton on the route in the crux section but either was removed or someone fell on it and pooped it out - resulting in a bad fall.

Please take care on the route and place whenever possible in the roof section. Consider building an equalized anchor below the roof. I believe a bolt there - to replace the old pin now gone - would make the route a lot safer - you can also setup a toprope on it.

I have climbed several 11a trad lines and I had done the route before but I beefed this time and it almost cost me my life. The runner I put on that last piece increased my fall force and clearly I did not place correctly. Take care out there. May 17, 2021

[Hide Comment] Dang, that sucks. I have led that 4 or 5 times. I think I remember a pin. If it was there and is gone, another should be hammered in by somebody that knows piton-craft. A bolt would be sad to add to this route. This route is a classic example that represents the history of the Wasatch and the bold climbers that came before us. Thank you for the heads up for all the aspiring climbers I wish you a good recovery.

Tda May 17, 2021

[Hide Comment] Where the pin used to sit is a BOMBER #0 or #1 Metolius. Sorry to hear about your mishap. May 18, 2021

[Hide Comment] I had a nearly identical experience as tyray13. Fell at the crux, zippered, broke three vertebrae, fractured my sternum, heel, pelvis, and tailbone. I am lucky to be alive. Reading the comments, it seems like this isn't uncommon either. I 'm not usually one to suggest bolting trad routes, but I think if there used to be an old pin that protected that crux anyway, then its not a bad idea to have a bolt added to that section of the route. Everyone says the placements are totally bomber, but it seems like that may not be the case if this many people have been left in pieces after having gear pop at the exact same spot Jun 17, 2021

[Hide Comment] Curious if all those that say the gear is bomber have actually whipped on said gear? It's possible for perfect-looking cam placements to fail. How about some actual testing instead of chest thumping? Aug 29, 2021

[Hide Comment] Zoso- That's what I'm wondering. Anyone have stories failing on gear at the crux and it not pulling (after pin removed)? Thinking about going for the lead on this and could use some peace of mind. May 10, 2022

[Hide Comment] Just climbed EU this weekend, what a great climb! I can attest to the bomber gear placements under the roof - I placed a .5 on the left side, and a .4 and .3 further to the right. I would have whipped on any one of those pieces, but all three made me very confident. During the crux sequence above the roof I placed both a 2 and 1. I whipped twice on these pieces (the first time was small, the second was fairly big). Everything held and was bomber. May 30, 2022

[Hide Comment] A few years ago, I took some whippers on the aforementioned textbook #1 at the crux, backed up with an arguably better .75 in the horizontal just to the right (you have to slot it in from the side behind a small lip, so it would either have to magically slide horizontally several inches to blow, or somehow disintegrate). I went back today and lead it, and it felt very safe to me. The #1 and .75 are very good. I also placed a yellow .2 C3 below the roof at the end of the face. I would take on this, but I would not want to whip on it. The pods in this section were slippery and flaring. That's my two cents. Everyone stay safe out there! Sep 19, 2022

[Hide Comment] Nobody has mentioned how easy it is to set your gear nests below both roofs then make 2 down climb moves back to the no hands alcove. You can hang out on jugs forever making sure those pieces are where you want them, get it all back on the ledge, then fire the short but wild crux. You shouldn't have to hit the crux with any pump at all. Don’t buy into the hype, go for the onsight! (unless I just spoiled it ;) Jul 22, 2023

[Hide Comment] I never found the fun part or the part that is 4 stars. Maybe just the cool looking rock formation? Perhaps its because I climbed it on a hot/humid day? You begin by climbing some super greasy slopers and desperately get your feet up. Then some fun crack moves (only 2) to some ledgey scramble-climbing where you sit below a roof. Pocketed gear placements reveal why people have cams rip out and deck: the interior of the placements are larger than the pocket entrance so the cams are undercammed (fully open). I never found the "5.10a" way to do this roof unless you traverse far right which doesn't seem on route - where is a beta video when you need one? A grade of 5.10a implies an easy 5.10 which this is not. The rock around the crux has a glassy surface from 1000's of feet desperately skating around. After pulling the roofs some ledgey shit awaits to the anchors.

This would be a better mixed climb with a few bolts. If you have any hesitation about leading this - I highly recommend a lap on TR first to see if you actual think this climb is worth the risk of a broken back. After TR'ing it twice I had zero interest in ever doing it again. Multiple accounts of people breaking their backs on this and tough guys still think its chill? No thanks. Jun 9, 2024