Isaac is the middle formation in the Court of the Patriarchs, with Abraham on the left and Jacob on the right. Isaac has several long mixed aid/free routes on relatively good sandstone.
The approach to Isaac is straightforward and takes about one hour.
An involved descent (a day in itself) down slabs to the northeast entails multiple rappels to gain the drainage between Isaac and Jacob. A total of approximately 11 rappels is required for the decent.
Getting There
From the T-intersection of Zion Canyon Road-Mt. Carmel Highway, the Court of the Patriarchs pullout is approximately 1.7 miles. Hike toward the Virgin River, cross the bridge, and follow a climber's trail to the base of the formation.
Tricks of the Tramp is easily located at the base of the prominent central buttress of Isaac. The climb starts in a clean 4-inch crack located 50 feet to the right of the major chimney system. Pitch 1: Climb an enjoyable 5.10 hand-to fist-to offwidth crack past some fixed protection to an obvious ledge on the left.Pitch 2: Continue a few feet up the crack, place a large cam, and fire up the impending offwidth to a bolt and take a deep breath....[more]
You can also just rap Tricks of the Trade, we did it last October. Much easier than the drainage, of which I've heard horror stories of deep pools of very cold water.
I'm not confident the route may be rapped from the summit, with a bag, safely. Much debris in chimneys could rain down. The pitches through the ledges above "the Calvinator" would be treacherous. The original descent is dangerous and teams must remain focused so as not to cut a rope. Two anchors near the bottom have Star Drives pounded in by Lowe or vertically driven LA's on a precarious, sloping, ledge. I strongly recommend 70M ropes.If you haven't summited, why are you giving beta aboout descents?
Well, for starters I spoke with someone who has rapped from the summit down the route, so it can be done. I myself have rapped down the ledges above the Calvinator and it was a piece of cake, hardly treacherous. Also, if you intended to rap the route, you wouldn't be hauling above the ledges now, would you?
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