The Weathertop is the impressive, west facing cliff seen from the road about a mile or so before the pay booth. It is the largest cliff around, consistently over 100 feet tall. It saw a couple FAs in the early 80's but was really developed in 1998 (although a couple routes have been established since the latest edition of Squeezing the Lemmon).
Why the wait for such a premier cliff? The approach was brutal and the rock suspect. Enter Dean Brault and Jim Scott. The two locals took it upon themselves to build a clear trail from the top of the ridge (where you turn left to The Ruins) to the south and to clean the Weathertop's friable rock. The result is a great cliff with over 20 quality routes. Dean and Jim inspected some of the routes prior to the first ascents to insure that bolts were placed as a last resort. This style created routes that are very thought provoking and at times scary. Despite whether or not you agree with the first ascentionist's style, there is no question that the routes take impressive lines. The Weathertop makes a definite statement, and is unlike most newly developed cliffs on Mt. Lemmon.
It is usefull to fix a single line on one of the rap anchors to ease the descent if you plan on doing more than one route.
Getting There
Park at the parking lot before the pay booth. This is the same parking as for the Ruins, It Cliff and Club Med. Hike down the old road (heads north for 100 yds), across the creek (sometime flowing), and up the climbers trail to the east. Hike uphill for 15 minutes until the ridge is reached. Turn left for The Ruins and right for the Weathertop. Follow the good trail up the ridge until you reach a flat slabby section on the right, near the end of the ridge. This is the top of the Weathertop. Either rap from one of the anchors or hike down the right (north) side of the cliff. The approach takes 30 minutes or so.
Five years have passed since Squeezing the Lemmon II came out. The routes at Weathertop have cleaned up nicely and all of the hidden pro placements (hard to find if you didn't rap the route) have had a bolt placed. This is a must visit cliff at this point. The hike is a bit long but is fairly flat once you reach the ridge top. You will be well rewarded for your effort.
"Lair of the Cupacabra" has not had any additional bolts added. It is still a lead with tricky route finding. If your 20 feet out on 5.12 you are off route. If you follow the gear placements and the occasional bolt this route is not run out.
Between "Lair of the Cubacabra" and "Shin Pfein" there is a hard, crimpy, technical and sustained 12b sport route.
"Under the Weather" is now 5.11- with great gear. A Mt. Lemmon must do for any Trad climber. Also a set of chains has been added at the ledge above the roof. You can now lower to the ground with a 60 meter rope.
Between "Nancy Boys Nightmare" and "Precipitation" a .10b sport route has been added. Good climbing and a good warm up for the harder stuff.
Between "Powder Free Forecast" and "Mail Man's Credo" there is an .11c/d sport route. Tricky, multiple cruxes on the upper headwall take you to the chains.
Also, chains have been added to the top of "Powder Free Forecast"
As someone who mostly belays and follows my stronger partners, i hardly ever use a helmet for belaying, but it seemed like some of the routes on the south part of the wall had an awful lot of stuff falling down, at least as of the time of this posting. So i think this is a crag, where if you are "on the fence" about bringing a helmet as a belayer, this might be the wall to bring one. In several years of belaying on Lemmon, i had my biggest rock ever fall towards me this past week at Weathertop. Good crag though, with a helluva view and a mild approach.
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