The Sentinel - West Face  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  31,677. Good page?    Administrators:  C Miller, Adam Stackhouse, M.Morley, Sam Vanderhyden, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  C Miller on Dec 5, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Bruce the Brit on "Illusion Dweller" (5.10b).

Description 

The west face of The Sentinel is an impressive wall stacked with high quality routes ranging from 5.7 to 5.13 in difficulty.

Routes listed from left to right:

The Butt Buttress (5.10b)
Flared Bear (5.10b)
Great White Buffalo (5.12a)
Sweep Walkers (5.9+)
Where Janitors Dare (5.7)
Where Eagles Dare (5.11d)
Not for Loan (5.10b)
Some Like It Hot (5.12c)
Desert Song (5.11b R)
The Scorpion (5.13c)
The Tarantula (5.12c)
Illusion Dweller (5.10b)
The Centipede (5.11d)
The Chameleon (5.12b R)
The Rubberfat Syndrome (5.11a TR)
Worms in Your Brain (5.11c)

Additionally there are a number of 2nd pitch variations and several traversing routes:

Crystal Keyhole (5.9)
Medicine Man (5.11b)
Desert Long (5.11b R)
I Can't Believe it's a Girl (5.10b)
Scared Bare (5.10d R)
Desert Tortoise (5.12a/b)
New Latitude (5.12a)

Getting There 

Approach via the nature trail and head left at the fork passing along the base of an obvious large face (The Sentinel - East Face) on the left side of the trail. When you get to the northern end of the formation make a left (heading west) across some rocks and then make another left heading back south to reach the west face. The approach takes 5-10 minutes.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Sentinel - West Face

The Chameleon 5.12b R  CA : Joshua Tree National Park : ... : The Sentinel - West Face

This amazing line takes the second line of bolts off the ground to the right of Illusion Dweller (the first being old 1/4 inch bolts from an .11d). Tricky and challenging face climbing past five bolts constitutes the technical crux, while the mental crux is 30 feet of unprotected, gritty, flared 5.10+ crack that arches left to join Illusion Dweller before its crux. Shares the Illusion Dweller rappel anchor. A fall from near the end of the crack section would probably prove to be inj...[more]   Browse More Classics in CA

Photos of The Sentinel - West Face Slideshow

Add Photo

Me in '83. Dig the socks.	The Sentinel-West Face. Photo by Blitzo.	The Sentinel-West Face. Photo by Blitzo.
Illusion Dweller	Bobby P. moving through the sustained crux section...	Will near the top of the chimney portion