The Whistlepig  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  606. Good page?    Administrator:  Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Trevor Bowman on Jun 23, 2008 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

The Whistlepig, as seen on my early-spring recon h...

Description 

The showpiece pinnacle of the group, this is a beautiful free-standing tower, which is quite sizeable (height and circumference) for a dolomite spire. It is about 90' tall on the shorter aspects, and maybe 115' on the tallest face. The faces run from near-vertical to slightly overhanging, with only one obvious weakness allowing a surprisingly moderate route up such an imposing formation. The summit is a spacious island in the sky.
On the first ascent, we were surprised to find a fresh, gnawed-on pair of tiny fawn legs on the highest point from some bird of prey.
The name comes from the abundant yellow-bellied marmots lounging and chirping in the boulder fields around the pinnacle.

Getting There 

Follow the hiking directions on the area overview. The route starts on the downhill face.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Whistlepig

Yellow Belly 5.9+ PG13  WY : Shell Canyon : ... : The Whistlepig

The climbing on this route isn't very appealing, but it sure is one hell of a tower! This route is the only one on the tower currently, and is the only really viable weakness offering a free line. It surmounts the steep downhill face via a stair-step flake/crack. The flake starts trending left, then it diagonals back right up to a large ledge about 12' below the summit and up a final crack groove. Much of the climbing involves hand and finger cracks, some of which are quite sharp (tape recommend...[more]   Browse More Classics in WY