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Zowie Rock Climbing
Routes in Zowie
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Green Chili T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b PG13 |
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Magic in the Middle T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
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One for the Red Team T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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South Face T 5.8+ 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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| GPS: | 40.292, -105.681 Google Map · Climbing Area Map |
| Page Views: | 16,756 total · 86/month |
| Shared By: | Peter Holcombe on Jun 4, 2002 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac |
Access Issue: Seasonal Closures
Details
Seasonal Closures March 1-July 31. Check Rocky Mountain National Parks site for seasonal wildlife closures:
nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/…
nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/…
Description [Suggest Change]
Zowie is the towering fin of rock seen while approaching/descending from Sharkstooth. It is an impressive sight. It's very similar looking to the Petit Grepon, just smaller. It is a pinnacle eroded from Otis Peak.
Getting There [Suggest Change]
Park at Glacier Gorge Junction one mile before the Bear Lake parking lot. Take the trail to Alberta Falls, and keep going. Hike past The Loch for a mile, cross a footbridge and go right heading up towards Andrews Glacier. Once you start to leave the trees, start looking to the right and you'll see the tower. Wham is the other tower to the right. Addendum: It's now ~4 miles.
Descent
[Suggest Change]
There appear to be at least 2 descents.
A. From the top, there is at least one rappel route down. From the northeast end of the top, there is a 2 bolt ~90' rappel. (~80' reaches a ledge with an exposed scramble north to the next anchor.) Note, this rappel can be challenging to pull, so consider using one rope. The second rappel off a 2 bolt anchor goes down a gully going north to the saddle. From there, snake your way down exposed 3rd class, traverse skier's right into a chimney, continue snaking down past a notch, and go to a pair of brown, Metolius rap hangers near the bottom of the descent. Rappel ~80' over a wet chimney.
B. Per John Peterson: The first rap is down the east side (right over the 5.8+ crack). Take a grassy ledge north (right as you face the summit) to an anchor that leads to the notch behind Zowie. This is hard to see from above. Both of these rap stations have good anchors. Follow the gully down until you hit a drop off near the bottom and rap one last time. It looked possible to downclimb, but it would be very exposed. This rap anchor wasn't as good as the other two.
A. From the top, there is at least one rappel route down. From the northeast end of the top, there is a 2 bolt ~90' rappel. (~80' reaches a ledge with an exposed scramble north to the next anchor.) Note, this rappel can be challenging to pull, so consider using one rope. The second rappel off a 2 bolt anchor goes down a gully going north to the saddle. From there, snake your way down exposed 3rd class, traverse skier's right into a chimney, continue snaking down past a notch, and go to a pair of brown, Metolius rap hangers near the bottom of the descent. Rappel ~80' over a wet chimney.
B. Per John Peterson: The first rap is down the east side (right over the 5.8+ crack). Take a grassy ledge north (right as you face the summit) to an anchor that leads to the notch behind Zowie. This is hard to see from above. Both of these rap stations have good anchors. Follow the gully down until you hit a drop off near the bottom and rap one last time. It looked possible to downclimb, but it would be very exposed. This rap anchor wasn't as good as the other two.
Classic Climbing Routes at Zowie
Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
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13 Comments
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Guidebooks (11)
Frank Dec 17, 2001
The descent is very straightforward, and it takes half the time to get there. Really depends what you are looking for, solitude in a spectacular setting or a classic.
I recommend it as a fun route, not a must do. Jun 7, 2002
Colorado Springs, Colorado
To avoid this situation, just pull the knot below the last lip that the rope runs over. Of course this means you will get on rappel over the lip yourself, but it sure beats the hell out of the alternative of having to deal with a stuck knot.
In addition, on the West descent gully I went to the left side of the gully and saw there was a short but exposed downclimb in a V slot to get to an anchor. This was very wet and impossible to downclimb safely, so we slung some boulders above to get there. This rap anchor is pretty funky. It is three equalized nuts and a 1/4" bolt with a hanger held on by a rusted wing nut. Aug 23, 2006
5.7 crack--exciting, good
5.5 meander--not good
5.6 E. Face--exciting, good(-)
5.8 finish pitch--exciting, great(-), 4 or 5 pins
I recommend rapping off the East face from the summit. I wouldn't try to descend to the N. in one long rappel from the top. We tried this and the rock caused so much FRICTION that we couldn't get the rope to budge an inch. After 35 min. of effort to free the rope I decided to return to the summit.
How to avoid this: 1. Spot the next anchor ~30m down from the summit (to the NE.) 2. Rap off the E. face to the base of the last pitch. 3. Then use the other anchor to rap down the gully to the saddle. Jul 7, 2007
Round Hill, VA
It's no Petit, but still a good climb & viable destination for moderate alpine in RMNP. Climbed 7.14 Jul 29, 2007
Ciales, PR
Colorado Spings
Superior, CO
Descent wasn't too hard to figure out, but the walk down the west gully was longer and pretty exposed and for sure have your approach shoes for it.
Highly recommend this climb. Jul 9, 2016
We climbed Zowie on 8/10/16 (via a wandering counterclockwise corkscrew route) and ended up rapping off of the top in the middle of a lightning storm. Our rope got stuck, and we had to ditch it. If anyone comes across a blue twin rope, still through the rap rings, I would love to get it back! I live in Boulder and will happily reward you in beer!
Sweet tower, by the way, and there are a million crumbly, but still fun, variations if you continue up the chimney too far and decide to climb the left side like we did!
Thanks,
-Michael Aug 11, 2016