PRINT: Rock Climb Open Book, The Sawtooth Range

Open Book

5.8, Trad, Alpine, 800 ft (242 m), 5 pitches, Grade III,

Avg: 3.7 from 95 votes
FA: unknown
Idaho > Central Idaho > Sawtooth Range > Finger of Fate

Description

An excellent topo is posted in the photo section. This description is a supplement to that. As has been thoroughly mentioned, the former summit block has fallen and altered the route slightly. Do not despair, the route still retains good character.

Pitch 1: Climb a short step to gain the corner proper. Continue up the corner at mostly 5.7 with a few 5.8 moves thrown in. The last portion of the pitch is wide (#4 C4) and then you gain a decent ledge with a gear belay. 190'.

Pitch 2: Another longer wide section off the ledge(#4 again, but small nuts protect crack out left, along with semi-tipped out #3 at top work okay) puts you below a crackless roof. A fixed nut protects the fun roof move. Continue up easy ramps to gain a long section of blue-collar blocky corner climbing. Belay in a slot below the obvious tunnel. 190'

Pitch 3: This pitch is a gimme. Tunnel up through a hole in the rock to a ledge. Avoid the terrible looking chimney and make your way climber's left to access a few steep moves below the saddle. Belay here or alternatively you can continue up and to the right through broken ground and loose rock (after the summit block fell in 2020) to the base of the crack system at the headwall. This is labeled as p4 in the topo but is easily linked to a length of ~150 feet.

Pitch 4: Climb up the twin cracks and flake towards the right side of the headwall. When the angle eases up there is a section of 5.easy slab that is mostly unprotectable (some creative pro exists). Step across a gap and ascend an unprotectable but easy arete to a large ledge below the summit block and build an anchor (150 feet).

Summit Block: Since the previous summit block fell during earthquakes in 2020, now there is one block left on the south side of the Finger. This can be climbed with a single unprotectable 5.7 move for some good summit photos.

Descent: The goal is to make it from the summit ledge to the ridge leading west. Currently two options exist. Option 1 is to rap off of a large slung chockstone below the summit block. This goes through some slightly sketchy rock and a large hollow flake to reach a ledge. From the ledge you can climb broken rock and make a big step-across to gain the west ridge (class 4). Alternatively, you can rap from tat tied around a small, unattached rock on the summit ledge directly to the west ridge. This seems sketchy given the size of the unattached block serving as your anchor, but feel free to choose your own adventure. Once on the west ridge you'll find a large tree with rap slings. From here make a short rappel to another slung tree on rappeler's right. The third rappel will bring you to the ground in some very loose dirt and talus.

There are two bolts on the west face of the summit that you can rap off to gain the ledge to the west ridge.

Location

If you drove to Upper Hell Roaring Trailhead, hike 1/4 mile to the confluence with the main trail that started at the lower trailhead. If you started at the lower trailhead, hike 2 miles to this point.

From the two trails intersection, hike 2 miles to Hell Roaring(HR) Lake on really flat terrain. Upon reaching the lake, a view of the finger can be seen for the first time by looking directly west.
From the lake, find the trail that leads to the toilet(marked) and follow this trail(not super distinct, but good enough) all the way to the west end of the lake. It skirts the lake quite closely. (Note: This is not the trail that leads to Redfish Lake, which is marked upon arrival at HR Lake)
When you reach the west end where a stream enters the lake, head north on the same trail up very steep terrain for about a half mile. You will eventually reach a pond, and then a bigger blue unnamed lake. The finger will be quite close now.
From this lake, hike around the south end on a trail, and take the path of least resistance up the drainage southeast of the finger, avoiding the cliffs east of the finger. Skirt the base of the finger heading north, then west up steep scree to the base of the route, which is the obvious clean 45 degree corner/diehdral on the north side of the finger. Time from trail intersection: 2.5 hours, (4-5 miles?)

Protection

1 60 meter rope. Standard rack is more than adequate. Most will want a #4 camalot or equivalent, but not required. Lots of runners. Topo shows their gear recommendation.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

My wife Koren near the base of the route.<br>
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The route heads up the huge dihedral, then up sunlit arete to the right, tunnels through to the other side, then up to the summit.

My wife Koren near the base of the route. The route heads up the huge dihedral, then up sunlit arete to the right, tunnels through to the other side, then up to the summit.

The *New* Summit of the Finger of Fate as of 7.16.20
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and yes, that is a Top Ramen shirt and pants :)

The *New* Summit of the Finger of Fate as of 7.16.20 and yes, that is a Top Ramen shirt and pants :)

Hole on right side on 5.5R slab you can sling

The last unprotectable summit pitch up the sweet arete.

Abe squeezing through the first wide section in the book.

The book is pretty obvious in this one

Over view of the route

Summit pitch of the Finger of Fate. 7.16.20

Pitch 4 of Finger of Fate 7.16.20

Topo of route

Heaven!

Chris tunneling under the summit block

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Brad Brandewie
Estes Park

I loved this route.

More photos and a TR at piquaclimber.net. piquaclimber.net/past/finge… Sep 21, 2009

Ryan s Nelson
Salt Lake City, Ut

Fantastic route, beautiful granite and loads of hand jams make this route. Didnt see the fixed pin, there are now TWO bomber bolts along with the two old bolts on the summit. Jul 17, 2011

Cron
Maine / NH

I just talked over the phone with a local guide company as well as a forest service employee who works in the park. The guide told me that they have been taking people up to the Perch and Finger recently, both sources told me the river crossing was sketchy and to be extremely cautious when trying to cross. Still lots of snow up there and melting fast, not sure if snowshoes/crampons will be needed. Anyone else have some good approach beta? Jul 26, 2011

Slay er
Ogden

Mike and Cron-

As of 2 weeks ago the approach was not an issue. We were on snow very little. The stream is easier to cross up higher when very close to the finger rather than trying to cross down lower by the lake. No crampons or axe necessary. Also, we parked at lower trailhead and walked in instead of driving the heinous 4WD road which I hear takes years off your vehicle. We were able to go light and do the route IAD sans camping gear. Jul 31, 2011

Cron
Maine / NH

Climbed the Finger last Friday. Approach wasn't an issue at all. Snow is covering the first 20' feet of the climb so it's a bit of a head start. Sliding down the snowfield in the decent gully was fun! Aug 1, 2011

Cory Harelson
Boise, ID

5.8

Stellar rock, splitter cracks, and a spicy boulder problem right at the end, it doesn't get much better than this! Jun 24, 2012

Cory Harelson
Boise, ID

5.8

I should add that the description above is pretty good. One thing to note is that the lengths of the last two pitches are much shorter than noted. We easily linked them with one 60m rope and had plenty of rope to spare. This made for a SUPER pitch that started with a splitter hand crack that still has me smiling the next day, then a "no pro" 5.5 slab with lots of exposure, the cool tunnel-through, and finally the exposed and scary "you better not fall here" summit block boulder problem that was both the technical and mental crux of the route. That said, I wouldn't recommend doing this as the rope drag on the final boulder problem was heinous. I ended up pulling up (with great effort) enough slack to climb the entire summit block before I started climbing, which added to the headiness of the finish.

Also, if you want to sign the register, bring a pen, paper, and a ziplock, as the pen was out of ink and all the paper was soaked. Jun 24, 2012

Ezra Ellis
Hotlanta

Loved this route a real classic,
Highly reccommend taking a 4 and 5 camalot (new sizes),
and doubles in 1,2, and 3 camalots

P1= 170 feet
P2= 190 feet
P3 100 feet
P4 100 feet
P5 90-100 feet Sep 20, 2012

Jesse Wees
Boise

Spencer- I think your description of the last pitch is a little off. You didn't see the pin because you climbed the west side of the summit block.... the pin (and route) go up the east side. I assume this is why you didn't mention the "leap of faith" move after the summit block tunnel. Committing, but fun! Apr 12, 2013

Ben LaRiviere
Salt Lake City

The description is very good except for the last pitch. Do not climb the west face as described in the directions, it is more like a 5.10X. instead traverse to the south and there is a much easier way to the summit with a piton that you can use a protection. Jul 1, 2013

Mike McL
South Lake Tahoe

The corner can be done in 2 pitches with a 70 m rope. 1st pitch ends at the small ledge just right of the roof. 2nd pitch goes all the way to the big ledge. If done this way, 2 #4 camalots can be useful if you want to sew up the 2 short, wider sections on P1.

Stellar climb. Jul 24, 2013

Cory Harelson
Boise, ID

5.8

Jesse and Ben, The 5.10x comment makes me feel better. I finished on the west side of the summit block and couldn't believe the route got a 5.8 rating, but figured it must have just seemed harder due to the exposure and massive rope drag from linking pitches 1 & 2.

For those that want to try the west side, it's more like 5.10R, not X, as the rope running through the tunnel would catch you as long as you clear the ledge when falling, but you would be taking a huge ride! Fortunately the bottom third is the hard part, and it eases as you go. The problem consists of laybacking up the arete and fighting a barn door over LOTS of exposure. Mar 4, 2014

Spencer Weiler
Grand Junction

5.8

Sorry for my bad description on the last pitch. It seemed obvious when I was there, but I guess we made it harder than it needed to be. Follow these other guys directions Mar 6, 2014

peter heekin

First ascent goes to Dick Dorworth I believe. Apr 22, 2014

Andrew Mayer
Driggs, ID

5.8+

Stellar route. Tape is nice for the abundant hand jams. I found a 4 friend (equivalent of old BD 3.5) and a new BD 4 to protect the wider sections very well. Also, retreat is possible from below the summit block (when your GF has a panic attack at the leap of faith and forces you to bail). Rap off the slung chockstone 15ft east of the leap of faith down into chimney. Then walk 25ft to the west to another slung block. Rap 25m down to large ledge and pull rope far to the east to keep from snagging in crack. Then scramble up the obvious chimney/gully to the west to gain the west ridge and the standard descent off 2 slung trees to the north. Jul 20, 2014

Avi B
Spokane, WA

5.8

Beautiful route, with P4 definitely being one of the most fun alpine lines I've done! It's possible we went through the wrong tunnel, but there were some huge loose boulders that creaked every time we touched them. Encountered some rope drag issues on that last pitch, as well... I'm not sure that runners would have helped, I think it was just all of the turns that the route took, combined with some bad luck. Sep 9, 2014

Wilderness Climber

If you add new webbing, please be sure to remove the old, weathered webbing. Let's keep this a wilderness climb.

Camping: Remember campfire rings are NOT allowed. If you wish to have a campfire you MUST use a fire pan or fire blanket. Aug 14, 2015

Trevor
Salt Lake City, UT

5.8+

On the 5.5 "no pro" slab section, there is actually a small but solid thread about halfway up out right. I seem to recall a skinny double length runner working best for it. Jul 17, 2016

Herman Watson IV
Bozeman, MT

This climb was a little sketchy for a couple first-time crack climbers (duh, I guess), and that no-pro section at the top was definitely scary in the snow squall that hit us in the top section (literally, almost got blown off coming off the finger crack). Ha! That said, super fun climb, and I'll definitely be back for Tiptoes. Sep 13, 2016

Jon P
Duluth, MN

As of June 29th, 2017 the approach was snow from the unnamed lake, all the way up to the base of the climb. The approach took us nearly 5 hours from Upper Trail Head as it was early and the snow hadn't softened up yet. The decent probably took around 3 hours. This was the first time we did the approach so there was some route-finding involved, but I don't think we could have done it much faster given the conditions.

The dirt road going to the Upper Trail head isn't too bad and doesn't require 4x4, but does require high clearance. We did it in our 4-banger Ford Ranger with no issue. It is exactly 2 miles from the dirt road "315" fork to trail head. This makes the hike from Upper Trail head to Hells Roaring lake longer than given in the description ("315" road was shortened at some point after initial route description).

The wide sections in pitch 1 & 2 are fairly short, but we felt they were definitely the crux of the route. I don't think two BD 4's would be overkill for those who aren't very comfortable in wide cracks.

We climbed the West side of the summit block so didn't see the piton. I brought my partner through the tunnel before beginning the boulder move. She belayed standing directly under the rap rings, and therefore over a large rocky bulge from where I was climbing, and I felt secure making the one or two 5.8/9 boulder moves up to better hands. The rest was nearly a walk-up.

The rap off the first big tree on the saddle (2nd rap total) would not bring us down to the next tree rappel with a 60m rope. We had to rap to a slung chock stone on climbers left which was a bit awkward to get to.

All the rap slings have been replaced very recently and there are two chances to rap the route at the base of the summit block, although we didn't use them so I can't be sure how easy it would be to pull the rope once rapped from the 'bail' raps.

Very adventurous day overall and we were exhausted by the time we got back to the truck! Jun 30, 2017

CThornton
Boise

5.8 PG13

If you want to tunnel though and climb the summit block in one pitch, you can use a constriction between blocks inside the tunnel and a finger size cam (0.5 C4?) in a block to the right after you tunnel through as a directional to keep your rope from getting stuck. This made drag fairly manageable until the airy mantle onto the summit block. I would recommend breaking this into 2 pitches to reduce drag and avoid twisting the hell out of your rope.

I carried singles in small sizes and doubles from 0.5 to #4 (w/out nuts) and thought this was the ideal rack. a single 4 works if you're comfortable on wide cracks, but I think many will prefer 2 #4's. A tiny cam and micro stoppers were useful on the 3rd pitch, but you could easily go without them if you're comfortable soloing 5.6.

This is a fantastic route, but not for the 5.8 leader. Expect some loose feeling (but seemingly solid) rock at the top of the book and be prepared to run it out on easy terrain. Pulling onto the summit block felt R-rated; if you blow the move there is a good chance you will hit the ledge below and probably break an ankle. Sep 4, 2017

Hunter

A comment on the approach beta: we didn't see any signs for toilets upon arrival at Hell Roaring lake and ended up hiking on the main trail all the way to the west end before realizing we went the wrong way... The correct climbers trail is on the north side of the lake and is fairly distinct and hard to miss if you just start walking along the north edge of the lake. You should break off from the main trail and head north when you get to Hell Roaring lake and see a fork in the trail leading to Redfish. Jul 9, 2018

Alex Zucca
Salt Lake City, UT

5.9

I would 100% recommend doing the summit block as its own pitch. If you use the boulder to the right to stem up to get to the piton ledge, the moves are very easy (5.7). Also, when turning the corner before the mantle, you can get a red alien/BD 0.5 in a pocket for piece of mind. Sep 4, 2018

Willsey

Did route on July 31, 2019. Little bit of snow at base, but very manageable. Great climb with a lot of diversity. We brought doubles in cam sizes #4 to #0.75 and were happy to have them. We did this climb car to car in a day from upper trailhead in about 10 hours. Aug 2, 2019

Dan Bookless
Bend, OR

5.9 PG13

This climb is allllll time! Best moderate alpine climb to date. The approach is seriously casual; three hours of mostly flat walking and only 1 hour of up hill huffing; 1,500 gain from the upper TH. The rock quality is impeccable; the route is stellar with tons of crack climbing! The summit block is a exciting finish (with definitely PG13 or R rated consequences) worth if though. And plenty of solitude and alpine lakes!!! Aug 4, 2019

Adam Eisenbarth
Fort Collins, CO

5.8 R

Long one day send... 12.5 hours car to car from lower TH. Don't miss the trail which skirts Hell Roaring Lake like we did... the bushwhacking is horrendous. Amazing climb except for the 150' of death block climbing (they did mostly feel solid). I will post a photo of the hole you can sling on the 5.5 R slab. As far as gear beta, we brought a full doubles rack, a #4 and a #5. I would leave a few of the small cams at home but overall seemed good. Built every anchor except the last. IMO you should feel VERY solid at 5.8 trad to lead all these pitches. The last pitch has serious consequences so feel comfortable doing a 5.9 move in a no-fall-zone (with that being said, it is only one move). This climb should receive an R rating. Aug 27, 2019

Adam Eisenbarth
Fort Collins, CO

5.8 R

THE SUMMIT BLOCK HAS FALLEN! BEWARE!! SEE PHOTO Apr 7, 2020

Danny Beatty
Mount Shasta, CA

5.8+ PG13

Stoked I got in a late season ascent of the Finger last fall. Might have been one of the last parties to be on the previous true summit! Geologic times includes now. Apr 10, 2020

Christopher Weltner
Boise, ID

I climbed it on July 14th. The route is pretty much the same. There is a little more 5.5 death slab climbing on the last pitch. We used the original rap route. You can rap off an obvious block on the west side of the summit block and then use the standard rap route. I'll post a few pictures. Jul 18, 2020

Robby Parsons
Bozeman, MT

5.8 PG13

I climbed this route on July 3rd. There are some loose blocks to be mindful of when traversing to pitch 4. The small block on the summit (seen in Christopher's photo) now has a rappel station with some webbing/cord and rappelling hardware. It brings you directly west down to the saddle where the original descent is. Jul 5, 2021

Mark N
Boise, ID

Friendly reminder: TAKING A DUMP at the base of a climb or an awkward belay stance (which is the current status at the base of pitch 1 with the all snow) and then leaving it there IS NOT OK! Bring wag bags in your alpine kit!!!!

To the July 6 party who shat on the rock at the pitch 1 belay stance: at minimum you could have gone back to the start of pitch 1 and tried to retrieve your shite or knock it off the rock. But nope, you just left it there for the rest of us to negotiate and clean up.

We as a climbing community have to be much better than this. This route probably gets climbed multiple times a week in peak season. But even if it only saw 1 ascent a year, it’s still not ok!! The sawtooths deserve better. It’s delicate alpine wilderness. Bring wag bags. And if an accident happens, at least clean up after yourselves like decent human beings!

We went back to the base and tried to clean the mess up after completing the climb. To anyone else up there in the near future, please consider knocking more snow on the skid marks if you notice any. Jul 7, 2022