A superb alpine climbing area with some of the most stunning scenery in the Winds. Home of the classic Northeast Face on Pingora and East Ridge of Wolf's Head.
Summitpost.org has excellent information on the Cirque of the Towers.
Getting There
An arduous hike in over Jackass Pass from the Big Sandy trailhead.
Note: people with recent experience climbing in the Cirque of the Towers, please feel free to add additional info on access, hiking, camping, and other logistics.
This route goes up the knife blade east ridge of Wolfs Head. To get on the ridge there are 2 different options. IMO the easiest way to gain the ridge is to scramble 4th and 5th class up the gully in between Pingora and Tiger Tower, summit Tiger Tower then do 2 40ft raps on to the east ridge of Wolfs Head (see picture on wolfs head page). The other way, which I have not done is to scramble 3rd and 4th class up the south face then up to the ridg...[more]
The Cirque is a truly magical place with superb scenery and excellent climbing on solid rock. The climbing is excellent and takes gear well. Especially small nuts and hexes. Be prepared to start early in the morning since afternoon storms are quite common. The are many great campsites within a few minutes walk of fresh alpine streams and soft places to pitch a tent. Bring sunscreen as the sun is quite intense. Route finding can be quite tricky even with the Kelsey guidebook so plan on spending a little time finding your route.
Some good info to know: ignore the first part of the three sets of joe kelsey's horrible driving directions to get to the cirque (Big sandy opening is your access point), from 191 in boulder take 353 towards the winds and just keep going until you see signs for big sandy opening/campground. Kelsey's guide mentions a left hand turn when the road turns to dirt, ignore that comment, just keep going on the dirt, its something like 40 miles to the big sandy opening from boulder. We tried the second and third options of driving directions and got lost until we asked the folks at the general store in boulder. 5$ a night camping at the trailhead, expect plenty of company there. No permit required at the cirque, very nice feature. Bugs were minimal mid-august, we brought ice axes and ended up using them to dig our latrine. No one else brought them either that we noticed. -Armin
Kelsey's directions did suck! We were lost for a while too. I personally felt that route-finding was super difficult, very vague even with the guidebook. We ended up having to bail about four pitches up on Sharks nose, not fun. We didnt have any problems with bugs though, we were there in early August. Perfect time to go IMO.
I don't see any problems with the guide book, it keeps the area adventurous. You just need to have the experience to know how to compare the book to the rock. Supertopos are great but only for certain areas.
I was simply voicing my opinion that the guidebook was a little vague. Do you think that a place that requires an hour on a dirt road and a 13 mile hike will make the Cirque less wild?
Are there any routes that go up the obvious buttress on Watch Tower? I was in the area last fall and the face looks amazing. The guide book mentions a route around to climber's right but not much else. Any FA potential?
Spent last week in the Cirque, great weather until early Thursday evening and then some snow. The bugs were pretty minimal prior to that so the cold weather Friday and Saturday may knock them way down.
This was my first trip into the Cirque and it is stunning! Took my 15 year old son in for his first real taste of alpine climbing, he loved it. Wolf's Head is one of the coolest 5.6's I have ever been on, massive exposure for sure, a must do.
Cirque of the Towers
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