The Fortress is a great place for a long day of climbing. Its location near the summit of Mt Lemmon means generally cool weather and great views. It has the longest sport routes in Tucson, some over three pitches in length, as well as some gear routes. They range from 5.7-5.12 in difficulty, with a high concentration of stars in a relatively small area.
Pretty hard to beat this crag!
Getting There
Driving up the Catalina Highway, turn right on the road to the ski valley. Continue past the ski valley, through a gate, and down a rough paved road. Drive to the gravel parking lot on the left just before the observatory. Park here and continue on foot, up the road, following the 'trail' sign. (Stay left when you see the sign at the observatory).
Ten minutes will bring you to a metal shed on the right hand side of the road. There is a spring here on the left...its probably safe, but drink at your own risk.
Continue past this shed for another couple hundred yards until you see a green transformer on the right. A trail will lead off left, downhill toward the crags. Five minutes on this trail will put you between the Ravens and the Fortress. Keep right and follow trail down to the back of the Fortress. From here, a ten minute bushwack down and around the eastern slope will put you at the climbs. Hug the base of the rock for the path of least resistance.
Follow the general directions given to get to The Fortress but don't go down the gully. Just as the trail starts down the east side of The Fortress follow the ledge around the left side and you will find a safety cable. This cable will lead to another cable that will guide you safely down to the climbs.The Orifice is in the running for one of the mountains best sport climbs. This route has a huge exposure factor (laugh at your friends when they g...[more]
After topping out, head north into flat and vegetated area. Locate gully between the West Pillar where most of the routes top out and the East Pillar. From the top of the West Pillar, the climbing up onto the East Pillar looks substantially harder than it actually is when you're looking up at it from within the gully.
To get into the gully, downclimb into it by going back south, then east, then north again into the cleft. Head north into the gully about 2/3 of the way until you see a riblike formation of rock on your left. Across from the rib you can see the obvious weakness heading up the East Pillar. There's an initial dynamic move, maybe about 5.8, to get established on the slab, then about 20 feet of easy 5th classing to get out (5.2-5.3?)..If you're squeamish about the soloing, I'd say a selection of Camalots .5 to #2 can be used to protect the climbing.
The initial 5.8 move didn't seem protectable, but if you blow it, you won't really go anywhere, there's a bit of flat space to fall safely. Stronger climber can always spot the weaker climber.
After getting your bearings the first time, you can pretty much head diagonally straight from the top-outs to the downclimb into the gully.
The Fortress
Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!
RSS Feed
