Dark Tower, Direct Start
5.10 YDS 6b French 20 Ewbanks VII- UIAA 19 ZA E2 5b British PG13
Type: | Trad, Alpine, 1000 ft (303 m), 7 pitches, Grade III |
FA: | (of direct pitches only): Charles Vernon, Kurt Johnson, August 2023 |
Page Views: | 146 total · 13/month |
Shared By: | Charles Vernon on Jun 7, 2024 |
Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
For additional information about raptor closures, please visit the Rocky Mountain National Parks area closures website.
General NPS climbing regulations for RMNP posted here.
Description
Dark Tower Direct is the best option to start the Dark Tower route, making for 1000' of consistently good climbing. The second pitch has some balancy climbing with thin gear, and the third pitch has a 10a traverse with pendulum potential for both leader and follower. Despite those caveats, this route is worth checking out, especially considering the short approach. It's also a good option for a short day as it's very easy to rappel after the first three (direct) pitches.
Begin in a steep, right-facing corner that is about 50 feet left of the giant corner, described below. [There are attractive splitter cracks in between that we first attempted, but we were dissuaded by huge loose flakes about 20 feet up.]
P1: climb the corner (crux), then past a small roof. Continue with the line through a short slot, then work back left to some thin cracks and follow those until you can move left on a ledge below a steep wall and belay on a ledge below a left-facing open book (there’s an old manky rap anchor here), 5.10b, 165’.
P2: climb the right wall of the open book using incipient cracks, then make an exciting pull onto a slab which is followed up and right to a spectacular belay on the arete formed by the left wall of the huge corner, 5.10a PG-13, 75’.
P3: step right, and then get some gear up high above a hollow flake. There may be a fixed nut here from our ascent. Step back down (do not move up into the chossy horizontal crack above), and make a wild, 20 foot traverse straight right across the steep left wall of the huge corner (crux). Climb the corner itself (chossy & a little heads up) for about 20 feet to a stance below an overhanging section (a #4 Camalot is useful here).
From here, there are two options: (1) better but harder: climb directly up the main corner over the wild-looking triple roofs (good rock, around 10+/11-has not yet been led), or (2) work up and right to a 5.9 left-facing corner which leads to easier ground. You can stretch the rope all the way to the midway ledge system, but it may be preferable to stop and belay where you can see your second on the traverse.
A bolt could be warranted on the traverse, but we felt that with thoughtful rope and pro management this pitch felt reasonably safe, though still exciting, for leader and second. 5.10a or 5.10+/11- PG-13, ~200’ (to main ledge).
Now move the belay ~100’ right on the large ledge until you are directly below the prow of the Dark Tower, and continue with that route description. Or, to escape, walk left along the ledge to the Deep Freeze gully. Scramble down a couple of tiers climbers' left of the gully, and locate a rap anchor. Two single rope rappels with a 60 meter rope reach the ground not far from the start of the route
Location
Major landmarks on the North Face include the Dark Tower, aka Dark Angel, the largest and most prominent of the towers on the left side of the face. The Dark Tower has a subsidiary pinnacle called the Minotaur. To the left of the Dark Tower is a deep gully/chimney that forms the famous winter ice climb, Deep Freeze. This extends the entire height of the face. To the right of the Dark Tower is another deep gully/chimney. This is the upper continuation of the winter ice climb, Necrophilia. A large ledge runs across the entire face at nearly half height. On its left side, the ledge runs into another prominent gully, The NE gully, which is also a winter ice climb.
Locate a massive, 300 foot high right facing corner that is below the left side of the Dark Tower, approximately 150’ to the right of the deep cleft of Deep Freeze and considerably to the left of Necrophilia. The route doesn’t ascend the corner (which is chossy), but climbs varied terrain to the left before crossing the huge corner near its top and traversing to a short left-facing corner that leads to easier terrain and the large ledge system that runs across the entire face.
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