High quality climbing in a neglected area. Neglected, clearly, due to the grueling approach. Many feet (~550)of elevation are lost near the end of the approach, 6 miles or so from the car (~5000 vert total). Follow the Roaring Fork Trail (located on the far side of Lake Granby) up, down, across, back up over and down to Stone Lake. Just before getting to Stone Lake, cut across a lush meadow and start up the obvious talus gully at the bottom of the tower. Amble past the large chockstones over slippery rock near the top of this gully. This plops you at the bottom of a fine wall. We did 5 longish pitches on bomber rock taking a fairly direct line up the series of three buttresses. For comfort, it seemed you should feel comfy leading 5.7, although much easier lines are wanderable no doubt. Trickier lines may also be confronted with smirks. Follow your nose to obtain the best fun for you.
P1. Atop the grassy ramp, follow nice corners and then wander left up through a dish (200' plus some soloing).
P2. Cross the ledge, then climb the glorious ramp to some cracks and on to a ledge (200'). You could also climb the white dihedral here, looks fun, if you have gear.
P3. Cimb a series of two cracks for a rope length. After the first crack- step right 15' into a second (200').
P4. Step up a slab and climb a widish crack for a bit to a ledge (150').
P5-8. climb the obvious fist crack (100'), or head left to a cool traverse on knobs across a big block to a splitter, then up through steep 5.8 cracks to the summit (225').
MANY variations are possible. Gerry Roach has a good description and photo in his Indian Peaks Guidebook.
Protection
Depends how hard you want to climb. There are 5.8-5.9 variations possible, so bring some cams, otherwise at 5.7- a #1, #2, and a light set of nuts should do. Note: for this rack, feel comfy runnin' it out.
This indeed offers a beautiful day in the mountains. The lake at the base of the buttress is slightly out of the way, but a gorgeous place to visit. For the descent, traverse off the back (some 4th class or rappel). If you haven't left anything at the base (a good idea), you can contour around talus slopes and a few gullies to hit the meadows just below the pass on the way in -- that way you don't have to hike back up a long trail.
I've done this route twice now. The Indian Peaks book has a decent description of the route. The hiking in does start off steep and gains quite a bit of vertical right away. But the hard work to get up and over the pass into Hells Canyon is well worth it.
My suggestion for gear is this: Bring a single rope. There are 3 easy ramps for early retreat between the 3 buttresses on the route. As far as pro: I brought a rack of Friends and a set of nuts and 8 slings. This was plenty. There were several pitches where I would place a single piece. Most of the route is easy climbing
We simul-climbed the first roped pitch (the first real pitch after starting up the gully to get beneath the first buttress). The first buttress is maybe 90m high. The last 30m to the top is easy 5.0 or 4th class. Also, I think the 5.7 pitch should be done. It's the best pitch. It's an obvious crack that goes up for maybe 50-60 feet. Easy to protect.
Getting off the top. I remember doing one short rap. Someone had a sling rapped around a rock in September 2002. The rap was maybe 50 feet down.
Haimovi Tower
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