North Astro Dome Rock Climbing

These awesome domes lie in the heart of the Wonderland of Rocks and sport some of the longest routes in the park, including possibly the most-famous J-Tree climb, Figures on a Landscape (aka Monkey on My Back) (very exciting 10b). The climbing is characterized by steep face climbing on small edges protected by bolts. Remember though, that these climbs were put up in the days of the bolt-on-lead ethic, and ARE NOT SPORT CLIMBS. Just because these routes aren't given an "R" (by tradition) doesn't mean you won't encounter significant runouts with dangerous fall potential: a small rack is usually useful to supplement the fixed gear on these routes. The majority of the routes on these domes face northeast and thus can be quite cold in the winter and see little sun. That being said a warm day in January brings ideal climbing conditions if you don't mind being a little chilly.

Guides for North Astro Dome claim it can be descended via two 75 foot rappels down the south side of the NE face, though we could not locate any anchors on the summit. We ended up descending the NW shoulder (exposed 4th class) and returned to our packs.