Grand Canyon Rock Climbing

The Grand Canyon is only of the most ancient climbing areas on the planet with ancestral puebloan routes of surprising difficulty and exposure dating back millenia. Modern technical climbing in the canyon arguably began with the 1958 ascent of Zoroaster Temple though unroped ascents date back to the late 1800s and the host of colorful characters present at the time.  If you stare out at the canyon from either rim you can't help but notice the many interior summits. Each reaching up from the abyss to form isolated peaks, or in some cases "sky islands", apart from the rim. Though the official count has long been debated, there are 150-some officially named summits. Of course there are the typical peaks, buttes, mounts, hills, knolls, mesas, points and plateaus. But what sets the Canyon apart are the temples, shrines, thrones, towers, spires, islands, crests, and one beautiful nipple. All of the named summits have been climbed but there are an equal, if not greater number of unnamed summits out there, some still awaiting ascents.  The Canyon is BIG and complex. The river runs for nearly 300 miles through the Grand Canyon and is fed by hundreds of side canyons along this stretch. Each side canyon is in turn fed by a network of smaller side canyons or "arms" and together they create one of the most labyrinthine landscapes on Earth. Within this matrix lies the climbing, and yes, the approaches are very involved. Whether you're after a summit, a long trad route, cragging or bouldering, you're going to be navigating this terrain and you're in for a more adventurous version of your craft than most other places offer. Be prepared for seasonal temperature extremes, sudden and violent wind/rain events, bad rock, worse bushwhacking, flash floods, bad rock, rattlesnakes, complex approaches, wild rapids and bad rock. So why would anyone come to climb or adventure in the Canyon? If you're asking this, please just stay home.