This route is one of the several moderates that scale the West face of Tower One on Redgarden Wall.
The route I will describe varies slightly from that in Rossiter's book, in order to stay out of the messy chimney at the bottom. This does not significantly change the overall grade of the route, but will make the first section of 5.6 climbing less protected.
From the Red Ledge, which can be reached by climbing one of many Redgarden routes such as Swanson Arete (for an easy approach), or the West Chimney (not recommended), or the first 3 pitches of Yellow Spur, or... In fact, you can traverse from almost anywhere on the Red Ledge, including from the routes Great Zot, Grandmother's Challenge, or Green Spur- if you are willing to traverse a little way.
Once on the ledge, traverse south toward the fantastic dihedral and arete of Tower One, toward the visible top pitch of the Yellow Spur. As you pass the great Dihedral (bearing the appropriately named route "The Dirty Deed", start looking upward. While the original route went up the chimney a bit before traversing out right to a crack system (20-30' right of the dihedral) it is possible to go directly up from the ground, which may make the start more like 5.6 than 5.4. This is approximately 1/2 way between Daedalus and the Dirty Deed Dihedral (chimney)
Go straight up this crack system until it ends and then beyond to a medium pine tree on a small ledge, about 90' up. A larger pine is up and left in the dihedral. Belay at the medium pine, or continue upward on Pitch 2.
Pitch two goes up and slightly right in another crack system to the left-hand edge of the ledge bearing the large pine tree, another 90' up, or so. Linking these probably requires a 60M rope. (I used a 70M and had plenty left.) Belay in the crack above the ledge at its left edge, or at the base of the large pine as for Daedalus.
If you have not linked pitches 1 and 2, linking pitches 2 and 3 is an option. Again, linking these might require a 60m rope.
Pitch 3. Climb the obvious hand and finger crack from the left side of this ledge to the top of the cliff. There are good jams on easy terrain here as well as some face climbing. Belay from above and then descend as for the Yellow Spur.
This route is nice climbing with nice views, and is reasonably safe, but requires some distance between pieces. Mental constitution is more important on this route than hard-core ability, so I don't recommend it as a first lead. It is, however, a great "Date Climb" (snicker).
Fun climb. Most of this route feels about 5.5, but with the abundance of loose rock (check those holds!), unique exposure, and somewhat dirty holds (or is that Ytrid?), it feels 5.6. there is a multitude of ways to do any number of the climbs on this fine face, as Tony describes--just go up and link something together. There are some sections of truly wonderful climbing, but with some downright crappy sections, too.
If this area were to clean up a bit, it would be a moderate mecca--oops, it already is; it was a zoo this past Sunday!
More on that note: my partner and I were the first ones to this area on Sunday; and started up the Great Zot to access the Red Ledge. There was a party of three behind us that were doing Rewritten, and the leader started just after me, knowing full-well that these two climbs intersect and finish in the same crack. Well, as I was setting up for the crux, the lady was a mere four feet to my left, asking where she should traverse over to gain the crack. I was barely able to get my feet above the pod before she was hot on my heels! Then, of course, my partner had to endure the same situation when the two followers were jones'n to get themselves all tangled up in our rope! Anyone else feel that this is a little bunk?
Did this today...and I'd highly recommend it. I don't remember any loose rock to speak of, certainly no more than the average Eldo route. Route-finding was easy--a very direct line with mostly continuous cracks, pro seemed good, and the position was quite nice. It's also quite a bit more mellow than its neighbor Icarus, despite having the same rating. If you are in the area to climb one of the more popular routes, and find your chosen line festooned with parties, definitely consider this a worthy alternative.
Redgarden - Tower One
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