North Ridge 

We just did the North Ridge last week... great climb, but with some rather poor bolts.

The picture in Bjornstad's guide that purports to be of the first pitch is actually of the crux fourth pitch - this confused us a bit looking for the start.

The last couple of pitches have some loose rock (not really bad by desert standards, but be prepared - it ain't all cleaned off like Fine Jade!), and the last two pitches as described in the guidebook must be done as one, as there is no anchor - a scary runout to the summit if you let rope drag develop!

The second pitch is very physical but straightforward; the fourth is just plain HARD. The crux - pictured in the guidebook - can be aided on #2 Friends... which will suffice to get you to the offwidth ;-).

Anchors on the entire route consist of old star drives, which were a little spooky to rappel from (most can be backed up for use as belay anchors). Some new bolts at the belays would do this route a lot of good.

The North Ridge of Monster Tower is a spectacular climb with incredible stances and beautiful scenery.Mistakingly we avoided the 1st pitch. The 2nd pitch (5.10d)is a stunning wide hands curving crack well worth the fight to a good rest stance. Put in some pro here cause your not going to get any for the rest of the 5.7 or 5.8 slanting squeeze chimney up to a perfect belay stance. The 3rd pitch(5.11a)is the crux. A long sandy loose fingers crack. I felt insecure all the way to the top of this section then peeling off just before a descent hand jam. Then pulling into a wide offwidth to squeeze crack. A #4.5 and #5 Camalot would have been nice to have thru this section.The 4th pitch is a welcomed easier pitch. We took the left hand variation. The 5th pitch (5.10)I thought had some fun moves. Short pitch.The 6th pitch (5.11a) was very exciting. We did the free variation heading left and up. A few sequency moves unto easier but sandy rock will put you on top. This to me was the best view of the desert landscape I've seen. With the White Rim below you, Washer Woman beside you and all the other towers and mesas in the distance.

Re: the North Ridge-- Approached via the SE slopes (as for Washer Woman/Suds) as we'd found an excellent, gradual ridge-hike departing right from the parking site in the wash to the SE of the towers. Others we saw came from the N, but we didn't feel like attempting an unknown slog when the one we found worked well. The traverse around is no bargain, though-- ball-bearing scree over hardpack. The 'long sandy loose fingers' section on p.3 is about twenty feet and takes 1" pro as often as you can let go to stick it in; the OW above took a 4.5 Camalot which I found welcome. My pard put a #5 in on the 4th, the only place we used it, but he was glad enough to have it. Ditch it all after this cuz that's the end of the wideness. Bolts are good (enough) as of 11/03. Eventually J Smith's 1/4''er at the crux of the summit pitch will need replacing, but it's in good rock, doesn't wiggle a bit, and seemed OK for now. Pulling ropes seemed like the crux-short ropes are OK for this route as the pitches are all under 120'.

Aaron Cloud and I did this route on 3/26. Here are our impressions:

The first pitch can be avoided by scrambling along the east side of the notch.
The second pitch is about as good as it gets in the desert. Hard, fun and pumpy. Mostly fist and wide hands.
Didn't lead the crux, but felt it was super hard and the OW's didn't give easy.
We had a 4 and 5 cam and were very thankful we brought them.
Belay bolts are in sorry shape, definitely need replacing.
Rapping down from the top of the 2nd pitch will eat your rope.
One 70m rope will suffice for the raps.
The best desert summit I've ever been on.

We found the SE approach fairly well trod and cairned as of 5/08 -- start by walking up the major drainage on the tower's east side. We accidentally missed the 1st pitch by scrambling up to the notch and over to the base of the 2d pitch; probably a mistake -- 1st pitch looks good. The crux 3rd pitch whipped my 50+ old carcass; had to pull on a few pieces. Seemed solid 5.11 to me (1 1/4" finger stacks or wild laybacking). Did the free finish; agree that it is 11a, but somewhat spooky since protected by a 1/4" buttonhead with a Leeper hanger, with the next pro being a rusted LA driven in upside down (with some blade exposed). All star drives on the belays/rap stations have been backed up by new bolts or drilled pins.

We climbed this route on 3/25/09. Below are some observations that may be of some use

-This route is burlier, harder, and generally more thought-provoking than Standing Rock or Primrose Dihedrals. Not necessarily better though...
-All anchors are questionable. Each consists of 2 star-drives, and 1 decent, newer bolt. These newer bolts, however, are not necessarily bomber. The very top anchor's "newer" bolt is spinning...uggh. This is a prime recipient for the good works of the ASCA. I would also bring some webbing for the rap anchors as it may be shredded tat when you climb it.
-The first pitch (assuming you skipped the true first pitch) is burly, and I mean burly. Bring 3.5 camalots! They are essential. We brought two 3.5's, and four 3's, and we wish we had four 3.5's. The offwidth at the top of this pitch is huge. We protected it with a #4 big bro. An old #5 camalot (new #6 size) is completely tipped out here.
-2nd pitch is crazy hard. If you're used to 5.11a finger cracks in the desert, this will feel like 5.11+. #4, #5, and #6 camalots (new sizing) protect the upper offwidth sections.
-The chimney pitch (3rd pitch) is the easiest on the route, and actually pretty fun, but still no giveaway.
-The 5.10 4th pitch (where you pull a small roof) is pretty hard, and has some interesting climbing. There is NO belay at the top of this pitch, so you need to link it with the bolt ladder above or the scary 5.11 face climbing to the left of the ladder.
-Bring thin gear (like 00, 0, and 1 TCU's) for the 4th pitch and for above the bolt ladder on the scary, more or less unprotected face moves to the anchors just below the summit cap. Also, I was able to desperatly cram a huge cam and a .5 camalot in above the bolt ladder a ways. These were probably more like confidence pieces than real pro. The face moves above the bolt ladder were mind-bending for me. Not expecting to have to link these pitches, I didn't bring enough slings/draws, so ropedrag was bad. As such, I couldn't really climb the last face moves with all the drag, so I took about 10 feet of slack before committing. Because of this and the lack of pro, I was looking at a 40+ footer over ledges...not so much fun.

-All in all, an amazing route that is demanding in all the aspects of climbing: variety of climbing (thin fingers to offwidth to chimney), gear of all sizes, skethy bolts, great exposure, wild setting, and LOTS of loose rock. This is a 1-party climb. DO NOT try and climb below a party. Go climb Washer Woman instead.

Gear: 2 sets of cams, with triples in finger sizes (.5 camalots and orange TCU's), triples in #3 and #3.5 camalots, and big cams and a big bro if you got 'em. One 70m rope gets you down the rappels with a little room to spare. Otherwise, two 50's will work.

Approach: SE trail is the best route up. Some highly exposed, 4th class scrambling is necessary to get to the anchor at the bottom of the "1st" pitch, the curvey off-hands/fist crack.

Monster Towers anchors are on the schedule to be redone by the ASCA. We are waiting for a permit from the Park Service. All indications are we will have it by Fall. Til then, rappel lightly.

- A 70m does work for all raps. 4 back to the saddle, 5 back to the base if you did the first pitch.
- Don't skip the first pitch. It takes an extra 5 minutes to get to it and it's a good warm up pitch for the next couple.
- There IS an anchor on top of the pitch 4 chimneys. It is out left. I am guessing that people have missed it because there is more than one way to do pitch 4 (left chimney system or the right). If you were to climb the right one you would not go past this anchor naturally. That said, there are also gear belay options in the last 100ft. One at the base of the pitch 5 steep groove/corner (small cams or stoppers) and one just below the bolt ladder (cams and bolts). Using these there should be no need to finish with the horrible drag as described by others.