Active day on the northeast side. Left to right@SE...
Description
What a fantastic climb! We climbed this as an approach to Assembly Line - it starts at the Broken Tree area and finishes on top of the pillar where Assembly Line begins. Just to the right of this line is "Broken Tree" - another 10a that follows an obvious steep dihedral formed by, I believe, the Everlasting column.
I led this whole thing in one pitch using a 70m rope - this is definately the way to do the climb: even with a 60, have your partner tied in and ready to move up the pillar after you as you reach near the top - you will use all the rope. The climb starts off on a ramp and crack and gradually gets steeper and steeper, culminating in a very off-balance step-right move at the bolt. This move is very reminiscent of the crux of p1 of C'est La Vie in Eldorado Canyon in Boulder. Fantastic!
The climbing after this move is still quite difficult (but there are stances), easing after 15'. The climb culminates in 20' of perfect hand crack.
Protection
Stoppers, friends. Mostly thin. There is a pin en-route to the crux and a bomber bolt protecting the crux. Fixed anchors. I used a pair of #2 camalots, but definately nothing larger.
New Wave is fer shur THE way to get to the goodness of Assemblyline. Although not a top-quality Tower route, it beats the daylights out of the humdrum stuff out to the left. Good luck getting on it, though - there's usually a mob scene at the base.
This route is a sweet 10. The crux is kind of differant. The climb is awesome and has a great view, if you like climbing 10s I would highly recomend it.
By Dr. Evil From: Boulder, CO Oct 6, 2007 rating: 5.10a
This route is super fun. Compared to other Devil's Tower routes, it felt much less sustained.
This route is good fun. The second pitch is one of the better pitches I did while I was at the tower. The moves are varied and the rock is pretty good.
I agree with Dr. Evil that it feels easy for the grade--because of the varied moves (face, finger, hand) and plenty of rests. But there are definitely a couple of hard moves. I saw someone take a terrible fall from the rest above the bolt (15' above?); according to people on the ground he fell all the way to his belayer on the slabs. So, an "easy" Tower 5.10a, but still come prepared to climb 5.10a.
By Tyler V From: Woodbury, MN Sep 23, 2009 rating: 5.10a
This was my first 10 on the Tower and I loved every second of it. The route starts off easy and just gets harder and harder all the way to the crux where the really balancy moves take over. The gear is solid but a little run out in places, though you can find good stances all over. I didn't carry anything smaller than a #7 BD nut, but if I did it again, I would probably carry a couple nuts in the 5-6 BD range.
The splitter hand crack at the top 20 ft of the climb makes for a total confidence booster after the adrenaline rush at the crux.
A must do if you want to start climbing 10s on the Tower.
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