Finger of Fate 

I also want to add that the Titan is apparently the tallest free-standing desert tower in North America. I was also somewhat surprised how few ascents the Titan sees. The summit log has only 7 or 8 entrys (all by the Finger, one by Sundevil Chimney) between May 2001 and late-March 2002.

Approach: On the East side of the tower on the final hill, the trail splits. The left trail traverses along the base to the Sundevil Chimney. Take the right trail which continues ascending towards the wall North of the Titan, than head back South along the base of the wall to the Finger of Fate route. Additional Pro: bring along several Z pitons. The 2" piton scars are not 2" any more, and Z Pitons will be your new best friend. Also, bring old ropes for fixing the rappels. We shredded 2 jumaring over the numerous ledges in the gully.

I've never been there, but if everything in your description is so obvious, how was it such a visionary ascent put up by Layton Kor?

Hey AC-

go buy a guidebook. The info here is the perspective of someone who climbed the route recently and is meant as a supplement to any info in a guide. Anyone who has climbed this route knows that the info in the guide, especially the topo, is useful but somewhat dated.

One comment about the route: The first three pitches took us longer than the final 6 pitches as they are heavy duty aid. After you get to the Finger of Fate notch things go more quickly. The lower part of this route is quite shady and can be cold if the air temp is low.

See a TR from our ascent at:http://www.geocities.com/~gibell/trip_reports/titan.html

HiWe (Forest Dramis and I) replaced many of the 1/4 inch spinning relics on the last two pitches with 3/8 inch stuff that will out-live the Titan. However, we did not remove a piece for every new oone as it was doing severe damage to the rock (when pulling out) and some of the stuff, like the banged in angles, are needed to keep the character of the pitch (ie lassoing and such). We did pull one with our fingers, but the rest will be worked out over time. Also, you won't zipper the pitch now, but the Kor-size reaches and potential to hit one of the many bulges is still there. Sam Lightner, Jr.10.23.2002

The second and fourth pitches go clean quite easily. It helps a lot to use offsets and a weird french free move at the top of pitch 2. I would rate it no harder than C2+ weird. Pitch four goes clean fairly easily with a #1 camalot in a gaping pin scar and a pretty strenuous mantle. Another note: tri-cams, especially pink and red, are incredibly useful on this route.

Is it possible to link the second and third pitches? What are the bolts on the first pitches like? Are they still the old star drive in Kor bolts half weathered out of the rock? Any info you have would be appreciated!

the bolts on p1 are half old, half relatively new. the anchor is an eclectic collection!

you could probably link p2 and p3, but the drag would be not wonderful and it would be a lot of gear.

i don't know about that c2+ grade for p2 that was mentioned above. i haven't done it totally clean myself, but the clean grades i've seen were more in the c3-c3+ range. of course, i could be quite wrong.

Thanks for the beta Dan. If anyone is looking for some interesting reading material on this climb you should hit up National Geographic's November 1962 article on Kor's FA of the route... very interesting.

Thanks again for the info. We climbed the Finger over two days- 3/29-30/03. The first three pitches took the most time but were climbed clean with out two much trouble. I don't know what I would rate this climb, as this was our teams first dedicated aid climb. The placements throughout the route are somewhat scary (e.g. small, sloping pin scars) and sandy. Tricams are the answer. It would behoove you two pack doubles of the smallest four to use in the pin scars. The fourth pitch traverse goes free over to the roof, from there, whip out the tricams and pray that they don't slip in the scars. On the last pitch it is wise to have a #4 camalot or a Big tricam (#7 i think?) and to leap frog it with another big piece. That large crack can go free, but either way, the pro is big. Have fun with the lassoing on the last pitch, I think that was the only part I really enjoyed. The rock is rotten so don't be surprised when you get sick of the constant re-runs of your life flashing before your eyes. If you are one of those really fast parties or just have extra time, we noticed that someone was keen on climbing the actual finger and decided to bolt a ladder up it, complete with two bolts on the top. To reach it you must finish the traverse around to the notch between the finger and the ridge up to the duck. Enjoy the sand-"stone".4-6-03

Word on the street is this puppy JUST got rebolted (late Mar. early Apr. 2004)A rumor or a fact?

Info on the Finger rebolting:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?m=35126&f=0&b=>>>>>

Great to hear that the anchors are now bomber. I have mixed feelings about the replaced bolts on the bolt ladder, though. Part of the character of the route for me was in trusting the old fixed gear. On the other hand, the fixed stuff was probably pretty decent back in the day.

In the last week I have met two parties headed for the Finger with hammer in hand. Why? I know that books published in the last ten years still describe this as a nailing route, but it isn't anymore. It is clear from this route description that this route goes clean; it's great to have s source that is constantly being updated (thanks CM). This route is classic and is fast becoming a _trade route_ (if the Fishers even have any!) and it is crucial that it is protected. It seems that the permeating ethic is that when a route goes clean once, it should not be nailed again. Why is this so difficult for people to understand in the Fisher Towers area? Is it that the rock is so soft? Well the rock is awful steep in Rifle, but you'll be hung if you get caught chipping in that area. If you can't climb these routes the way that they should be then you can't climb them at all. Last year Tom Haines, Joe Leonhard, and I came here without even owning a hammer. We had NO AID EXPERIENCE, but were armed with plenty of naivety and determination to climb the tallest tower in North America. Two days of flailing, learning, and being too proud to bail got us on top of this tower. If the three of us (total gumbies) could schlup our way through this route CLEAN, I feel there is NO EXCUSE to even bring a hammer up this stack (especially in light of all the re-bolting)!

DON'T NAIL ON THE FINGER OF FATE!!

Colin, those parties with hammers you saw going for the Finger last weekend. Did you stop them and set them straight regarding clean aid practices in the Fishers?...

...or did you say nothing and come spew from the soapbox on an internet forum?

Great question, Anonymous Coward... In fact, I did. I'd much rather address that topic in a fact-to-face manner than in this forum. However, this seems to be a fine means of promoting clean climbing, especially to people who are headed for the _Finger._ Wouldn't you agree?

Hey Colin,

As a matter of fact I just finished the Titan several days ago and I have several comments for you. Just so you know I did meet you face to face and you were certainly less than adamant that the Titan would go clean and you certainly did not rebuke me for my intention of hammering on the "big dirty". In fact I would tend to believe that your party consisted of two other solid climbers with some aid experience and you - the eternal jugger - this hardly gives you the right to critique others regarding their placements. Am I right or am I right? I would prefer to hear from the leaders in your team next time. As it happened we met an extremely strong, competent team from Boulder at the base on our second day and they hammered the whole way finishing in about 10 hours. I was never dumbfounded by the damage wrought in the wake of placing pitons by the other team or my own. In addition, regarding your comment that the rest of us gumbies (yourself excluded of course) steer clear of aid climbs that have recently gone clean, I would say that is great news for the Huber brothers and Dean Potters of the world and bad news for the rest of us weaklings who actually aspire to get our asses up Zodiac someday - with or without hammering. IN fact once an aid climb has gone free why the rest of us don't just piss off and stick to the local crags where we belong? I suspect you won't be joining them up there anytime soon either . . .

Hey AC,

If you intend to slander me then at least sack up and leave your name and e-mail address. Better yet, email me with your problems instead of spewing your un-informed beliefs about me and my climbing on climbingmoab!On my own behalf: I led plenty of the 'Finger'- including the 2nd and 4th pitches- all clean. That was in fact my first aid climb... ever! I certainly don't have the right to tell another how to climb any route, but I find nothing wrong with passing judgment based either solely on my own opinion or upon a widely accepted standard. I'm not sorry I hurt your little feelers by reprimanding those who nail on clean routes. There's no need to falsely slander me on this forum. If you still have a problem, feel free to e-mail me instead of bullshitting all over this page.

colin_c82@yahoo.com

I was along with Colin on our trip to climb the Finger of Fate, and I confess, I was the "eternal jugger" of the three, while the other two did a fine job of hauling my ass up that pile. I agree with Colin that, if at all possible, a party should try to complete the route clean. I think a lot of parties can since that was our trio's first aid experience, and trust me, we are no seasoned hard-men, just young, ignorant punks. However, I find it a bit ironic that the only reason we (also read: the other two guys) were able to finish this route clean was due to all of the pin scars. With time these scars will get bigger in the soft rock and the nature of this climb will continue to change. As of now, I think a lot of parties can do it without a hammer, but I'm not the climbing police.

Thought I might add a few relevent comments here.

1) This route is not grade IV.

2) A cheater stick appears in the rack beta above. It's fine if you use one, or if you manage to climb the route clean using one, but do note that you have not actually climbed the route. You might want to mention to others your use or nonuse of such when offering rack beta as it can make a very big difference. I find it interesting, given the above posts, that a very experienced climber claims in the guidbooks that this route was 5.12 C3 when done clean. I have heard similar comments made by others. It's the kind of beta that makes one want to pack a few pins. But - mud changes, French climbers sometimes spray, and some people just get lucky - ie, if one is able to make use of a tricam on p. 4 rather than use a pin stack (or freeclimb 5.12), it doesn't automatically mean that placement will ever hold a tricam again.

3) If you would like to nail, I would suggest a set of sawed-off angles from 3/4 to 2". This would likely eliminate the need to stack pins. If climbing a few other beat-out routes is in your future, I think a full set of sawed angles will come in as a handy addition to your pin rack.

4) As a member of the above mentioned party that "hammered the whole way" I would like to clarify that we clipped a few pins on pitch 2 from the party we were passing. Thereafter, I believe I made a total of 3 placements on p.3,4. (off the belay on p.3, middle p.3, 3rd placement above the roof on p.4). My partner, a relatively inexperienced aid climber, made 2 placements somewhere in the middle of p. 7. I would like to confess that I believe all these placements might be avoidable with 1-3" tricams and some mid sized (red and few sizes larger) Aliens - at about middle A2. Obviously, we didn't do it clean as I didn't have this kind of gear with me so I can't say for sure - but this wasn't my first day out aid climbing either. It's unfortunate none of this gear is part of the recommended rack in any of the guidebooks.

5) So, my beta: Bring some of those above mentioned tricams and Aliens, pack some sawed-offs, a few Z's and a couple fat angles just in case, toss the cheater stick in the trash, and let us know how it goes. It would be a good thing if more precise (and credible?) beta existed for this particular well-traveled and fragile climb that would allow more people to climb it clean - ie, where exactly did you need to nail and/or use difficult clean gear - and was it scary because you've never stood on piece of aid gear before, or can you give it a valid clean aid rating based on experience. If people see pins on a rack list, they will likely feel free to nail every pitch. However, if someone presents a valid clean rack list and some assurance about what pitches can go clean, then some good progress will have been made toward preserving this route for the future.

- AC

AC says:

"2) A cheater stick appears in the rack beta above. It's fine if you use one, or if you manage to climb the route clean using one, but do note that you have not actually climbed the route. "

I agree with most of your post, but on this point you're talking out your ass, AC. Let me get this straight... I'm 5foot6, so on the last bolt ladder pitch, when I rigged my hammer with duct tape to reach a distant bolt, I invalidated my ascent. Gimme a break, a taller person reaches that bolt no problem... probably doesn't even need to topstep.

What about my belayer? Since she wasn't leading that pitch anyway, does that mean her ascent is invalidated due to my actions. By that logic, then unless you lead every pitch, then you haven't climbed the route.

Or what about the fact that you've climbed this route in the supertaco-ASCA-retrobolting era and clipped shiny bolts, whereas I climbed on the aforementioned "museum relics" 5 years ago. Ever thought that the locations might be different now, or that that part of the climb used to be scary. Perhaps I did it in better style than you after all.

So if its OK with you judge, I'll tell people that I've climbed the Finger. All it means is that I may not have done it in the best style possible. Kinda like nailing up a route that goes clean, eh Boulder-boy.

The ethics of using a cheat stick for aiding are pretty well established. It appears I wrongfully assumed everyone would be familiar with them. Balancing a hook or something on top of a hammer or girthing stoppers end-to-end is generally considered legitimate and perhaps even fun, especially if you are reaching for the next only available placement. If the FA used a 10ft pole to reach far off hook moves, as has been done, then that's what you do when you repeat that particular pitch.

However, cheating up to the next piece of fixed gear to avoid placing your own intermediate (and often harder) gear isn't legitimate - and was the context of my comment.

BTW, my partner is shorter than you and clipped the mentioned piece on the last pitch with his bare hand from a top step.

I've been up this route a couple of times and have never used a cheater stick on it. But, I wouldn't go up a route like this, with multiple instances of fixed gear, without one. It can save you from having to drill a new hole or otherwise have to back off.

As far as "cheating" is concerned, this my friend is aid climbing and it's up to the ascentionist to determine the style in which they climb.

In general I agree with the idea that a route that's been AIDED clean should be accomplished in that manner, as far as is practical, on future ascents (hey, this is the Fishers, fixed pro sometimes blows and the rock (as mentioned above) has a tendency to change.

June 2/04 . We a party of 3 from a distant country did the Finger route clean in a total of 11 hours using about 21/2 racks of REGULAR cams, they a mixture of Friends ,Metolious, and Camalots, no cheating stick. no big problems...nice climb ,good views..

More Pictures and a TR at
http://www.piquaclimber.com/past/thebigdirty/thebigdirty.htm

Jeez, guys, chill out. Do what you've got to do to have fun and succeed. Try your damndest not to nail, place sawed-offs if you ABSOLUTELY have to (although a craftily placed tri-cam will work), and SAY WHAT YOU DO. Nobody should care about your style as long as you owe up to your actions and don't hurt the rock or somebody else. Its aid climbing, a cheater stick really isn't cheating in my book, just poor style.

Posted by John Riedel (only anonymous coward because my name is not in the system today - I have to wait 'till tomorrow before I can use it apparently)

The hammering question seems to be moot now that a British team has freed the Finger of Fate route. Ethics dictate that it now go clean aid or free. Also, don't know if it applies to the area in which the Titan is located, but the NPS rules on climbing in the Canyonlands area are:

All climbing shall be free or clean aid climbing with the following exceptions:

*

No new climbing hardware may be left in a fixed location; however, if a hardware item is unsafe, it may be replaced. *

Protection may not be placed with the use of a hammer except to replace existing belay and rappel anchors and bolts on existing routes, or for emergency self-rescue. *

If an existing software item (sling, etc.) is unsafe, it may be replaced (software that is left in place must match the rock surface in color).

Sorry, John, the Fishers are not in Canyonlands, thus those rules do not apply (though, the BLM may eventually move in that direction).

Second, b/c the Finger goes free, that does not dictate that the route now must go free or clean aid. That never has been an accepted ethic (and from what I've heard the route hasn't been completely freed anyway). The only cases I can think of where that particular ethic has been accepted is when the route has been freed ground-up, (i.e. if the route can be done at C1 or C2). The only really accepted ethic for Cutler sandstone is to tread as lightly as possible.

From the start of the descent gully on the back of the Duck, you can make it all the way to the ground with 2 60m ropes tied together with plenty of room to spare (~25 ft or so). I wouldn't be surprised with a 70m rope you could fix from the rap gully by the Duck to the top of 8 and beginning of the 4th class to the summit. Fare Well!

I just soloed this route in a day last week. I started hiking at 4:30AM and started climbing by 6:30AM. I reached the duck by 12:30PM and the summit around 5:00PM. I wish I had read more about the current clean list regarding tri cams but I only knew to bring the larger angles and I did place a 1.5" on pitch 2 and a stacked 1.5" & 3/4" together on pitch 3. Otherwise, all clean and no cheater stick. The hardest pitch for me was the grovel up to the duck in the 5.10 flare 'cause it could not be aided and I was loaded down with aiders and all the other crap. Pitch 8 was reachy, even though I'm 6' 4" and I could see why a cheater stick or lassoing the pertruding pitons could be in order for some. Oh yeah, a red Lowe Ball is handy on the A2 seam pitch off the bivy ledge.

Funny that most of the people saying nailing is no big deal sign in as AC's as hammering on this route is quite cowardly....just did this route completely clean, no cheat stick. In fact we didn't take a hammer or a cheat stick. The aid goes about C3- probably more like C2+ and then only a very few moves...with good gear around it. The key is doing a few free moves and big top steps. The wide pitch goes free at about 5.10c. The summit register is MIA.

josh

Did this climb in Nov. of 1983 with Dave Evans and Lori Graf. We had read in the "50 classics " book that "experienced sandstone climbers can easily do this climb in a day." Well;....we got stuck overnight on the pitch below the bolt ladder;...and it was cold and windy too. We didn't have hardly any food or water;...it was bogus;....but , looking back, a grand "adventure".....("adventure" is another word for fuk-up...). We also didn't take any 2" angles, and on one traversing section, I had to stack bunches of pins in shallow holes;.....oops. I realize this climb goes clean now;... you can thank us pin bangers for the scars you now can put aliens and hooks in! (You're welcome!) Lori had done about 10 climbs in her life;....big fun for her;..first time on jumars for Lori too. (Her 2nd climb ever was Castleton!). This was Dave Evan's first sandstone tower, and Dave went on to a very awesome sandstone tower tick list that is quite impressive. The next week-end, Dave, Brian Povolny , and I finished our "project" in Canyon de Chelly behind Spyder Rock;..The Arachnid Mesa climb (10 pitch new route); which I believe has YET to see a second ascent. (We spent 2 nights on the final push after fixing a few pitches......) It was a wild week for Dave, Lori, Brian and I.......(Ah, yes;....to be young again....)

For more info, click: http://www.joshuatreeclimb.com/Stories/pretitan.htm

A few notes from an October '07 climb of the Finger of Fate.

We climbed the first 3 pitches in an afternoon, and fixed from there. This is a much better way than fixing the descent gully for two reasons. Much easier jugging on these pitches than in that horrible gully with all of its bulges and roofs. Also you only need two ropes for the route instead of three. As noted before the first 3 pitches take the most time and the route gets a little easier and faster after passing the duck.