Deep water soloing- Lake Powell?

I've heard that the highwater mark is well above current water levels on most of the lake. So lot's of rotten rock down low.

But I've also heard rumors of wingate all the way to the water in some places.....so anybody have any info?

Thanks!

josh

Not sure about deep water soloing, but with the lake levels being higher than they have been in years you can motor further up towards Cataract now. There is a large buttress that looks like mini-Zion on river left in Narrow Canyon just below Mille Crag Bend.

Hey Josh, funny you ask. I just got back from Lake Powell last night and got a little deep water soloing in. Pretty fun stuff. But, it seems that most rock that spent any time underwater has deteriorated quite a bit. Kind of dry and crumbly. Fortunately, one doesn't have to worry about gear pulling. Nevertheless, we found some fun stuff to solo right out of the boat near and in Escalante Canyon. We found a few good lines on the west side of the main channel just a mile or so north of Escalante. Also, a few lines on the south side of Escalante between the entrance to Escalante and the entrance to (ironically) Indian Creek Canyon. A few more lines on the south side of Escalante between the entrance to Indian Creek Canyon and Clear Creek Canyon. These line are only minutes apart by speed boat.

Although the rock was a bit dirty and sandy, we had a blast. First time doing anything like this for me.

What part of the lake will you be on? What kind of boat will you be on? I can be more specific. I will have some photos soon, too. That will help to locate the ones we did. Greg

More details. The elevation of the wingate layer varies quite a bit. It appears, disappears and reappears several times as you travel up and down the lake. Sometimes it is well below water line, sometimes it is several hundred feet above water line and accessible by short and long approaches. If you are planning on bringing some gear and are willing to do some short approaches I "discovered" some good looking lines in Knowles Canyon. There is some vague info here: mountainproject.com/v/utah/… . This line looked really good. Perfect splitter in good rock. It has a new one bolt anchor on it. The direction given are quite vague and it would be quite hard to find it using just those direction. I can give you more specifics. There are at least 4 other great looking lines in this area. Next time I go I will definitely bring gear.

Although I'm morally opposed to "Resevoir" Powell, I have been hoping the water level would get back up to cover up the shit rock. Last time I was there...summer '07, it was about 90' below full, which meant there was 60' or so of the stained white rock showing. The DWS would be out of this world if it filled back up, but overhanging rock is harder to find, so you need to figure out what it's like to fall down a slab into the water.

As for rock types, Michael Kelsey's guide to boating Lake Powell is excellent, and it shows a cross-section of all the rock types at every point in the canyon. It would really help you narrow down your searches for rock and has tons of cool hikes in it. Anyone who goes to LP, climber or not, should get that book.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'll be on an 80' house boat and we'll also have at least 1 speed boat and some Kayak's. So I'll be pretty mobile....will that get me to your spots greg? We're leaving from Bullfrog.
I'm bring very limited gear....mostly because the folks I'm going with want to set up a rope swing. Obviously That means an old rope and booty gear...so any climbing I do will be DWS.

Anybody have any more info?

Again thanks for the replies!

josh

Josh, sounds like you will have all the mobility you will need. It just depends where the house boat goes as to how far you will have to travel to find some DWS. We found lines in the main channel @ approx mile marker 71, maybe a bit south and early on in Escalante Canyon as mentioned above. Also, take a look south of mm 77. There is a stretch where wingate meets the water on both sides of the lake. We saw several possibilities, but didn't stop.

Awesome thanks greg!

josh

Back from an epic week on lake Powell.

Got some killer DWS in...I'll post some photos soon.

The potential is endless.

josh

J. Thompson wrote:...I'll post some photos soon.

We're still waiting....

Finally got these photos off of a friend's camera. Josh, you got any? Anybody else?

Looks like the water was pretty high for you. How was it falling in the water near the rock?

Falling near the rock was not a problem. A bit scary, but you could see about 12 feet deep. Probably adequate for the height that we were jumping from.

A park ranger did cruise by us while Jenny was climbing. She was well above the new "15 foot cliff jump" regulation. Either we were not violating the reg since there was no cliff, just a crack or her "non tan" (edited to save my relationship) camouflaged her against the white rock.

wow looks awesome!

more hottie crack climbing girl photos please! you lucky bastard!

Dammit! I've been wanting to check out Powell for a couple years now for DWS. I used to boat on the lake growing up before I was a climber and remember rock all over the place. I never thought about the rock at the bottom being shit from the water receding though.

Greg D - just a hint. Girls would rather be referred to as "hottie crack climbing girl" than "white as a ghost". Figure it out or you won't be the "lucky bastard"!

Greg...I do have some photos I'll try and post them in the next couple of days.

I found everything from sick overhanging face to cracks similar to the ones you have posted.

It was nice to have a depth finder on the boat....most of the stuff I was soloing above was at least 50 ft deep. Some of it was several hundred!
DWS...steep and deep!

josh

Here some photos from my trip....

I did quit a few "boat starts"...which allowed me to get above the high water mark. But required a good starting point, a spotter, and a good boat driver!



I found a ton of great stuff that had alot of the good DWS requirements....Steep climbing, Deep water, and an obvious ending point.
There was some great stuff that ended at the 30ft mark...either at an obvious ledge or when the crack/features obviously stopped. tons more to do, I can't wait to get back!

josh

WhiteAsAGhost wrote:Greg D - just a hint. Girls would rather be referred to as "hottie crack climbing girl" than "white as a ghost". Figure it out or you won't be the "lucky bastard"!

Greg ... busted!

John McNamee wrote: Greg ... busted!

Yep. Still paying for that one!