How hard is Durance route up devil's tower?

I have always heard this route is sandbagged but climbing this is my summer goal! I was wondering what people thought about this route? I can climb up to 10d's on lead in sport and have been pushing 9-'s in trad leading (all in red River gorge just, might be soft).. Don't want to be out of my league a couple hundred feet in the air!

Thanks!

Sustained hand and foot jams, some wide skills required. Physical crack climbing. Felt as hard as other 5.8/9 crack climbs I’ve done in Yosemite. Gotta place gear on near vertical cracks. South facing sun so summer can be hot! 

You never know until you go.

FWIW I think the Assembly Line is a great first option. Less traffic, easy to bail at every belay, it has a harder crux but the climbing is straight forward. 

Are there any single pitch routes in South Dakota that you would be comparable to the difficulty to Durrance? I'll look at that other route, thank you!

Glad I did it in 1978 when it was only 5.6, lol.  I do remember it seeming kind of hard

Original grade, 5.6. Classic grade, 5.7. Latest guidebook grade that I have seen, 5.8. I personally think that the crux 2nd pitch is pretty physical and hard if your just a 5.8 leader without wide skills.  The wide climbing is relatively short, but its slick and not easy IMHO. Bring a bigger cam (4?) and sit on it if ya have to, but like people said above, just go for it. The Tower is an amazing place to climb! 

The problem you might face is the off-width-ish parts. They are only a few moves here and there, but if you don't have off-width experience it will be challenging.

I sport climbed for years and led 5.9s. After a long hiatus from climbing I got back in shape with a home wall on the side of my house. I only had 1 day of crack climbing practice with a guide at the Tower the day before my climb. I "fell" twice and had one significant slip/slide where I caught myself after a couple of feet. All of those were in wider areas. I was seconding with a guide so they weren't concerning.  If I had been leading, well... uh...hmmm, I'm glad I wasn't.

You will be challenged.  Durrance is a classic old school grunt fest.  The climbing is wide at times and polished.  A couple tips; since it sounds like your going in the summer, start early.  I always tried to turn my headlamp off at the top of the bowling alley (approach pitch).  If you take a pack, make it a small pack.  Hang it on your belay loop during the wide sections.  Definitely bring a #4 to place at the top of Durrance Crack.  Learn the rappels ahead of time.  I met so many people on the summit over the years who had no clue how to get down.  If you see lightning, go down immediately.  Make sure you stay a few days to climb other routes, check out the museums in Hulet, climb in the Black Hills and Spearfish Canyon.  Take it all in, it is a magical area.

I've climbed dozens of routes on "The Tower of Power" but never the Durrance because I don't like crowds or wide cracks. I would highly recommend Solar. Two pitches of 5.9-ish and mostly fingers and hands. It is also directly below the final 200' top out chimney. Good luck. 

Thanks for all the tips everyone!!

Mr. Southforkwrote:I would highly recommend Solar. Two pitches of 5.9-ish and mostly fingers and hands. 

Solar is one of the best 5.9s in the country.  

I've done the Durrance twice, but at this point not for fifty years. The first time I had no specific wide skills. I doubt Durrance was particularly versed either.  Wide techniques are bound to help a little, but are hardly a prerequisite.   BITD it was 5.7 trad (there being nothing else) and correctly so.  Maybe it's gotten harder because of polish? The rock itself ain't that hard.

You guys are getting me a little worried.  My plan is to climb it with my 9 year olds this summer (guided) but you are giving me second thoughts.

Brent Monfortwrote:

You guys are getting me a little worried.  My plan is to climb it with my 9 year olds this summer (guided) but you are giving me second thoughts.

If you are with a guide it should be fine. Nine year olds are frickin spider monkeys anyway.

In my opinion you will likely be fine, just make sure to bring a #6 Camalot for overhead bomber pro on the Cussin Crack (which was short but by far the crux for me) and a blue alien adds another piece of pro just after the pin on the Jump Traverse.  A single 70 m rope is nice too (less rope to manage) and the rappels are simple if you do your research ahead of time.  The route is sustained at the grade but I think 5.7/ 5.7+ is a fair rating compared to other similar routes - Durrnace is no harder than Kor's Flake or Osiris (both at Lumpy Ridge).  Hope this helps! 

Brent Monfortwrote:

You guys are getting me a little worried.  My plan is to climb it with my 9 year olds this summer (guided) but you are giving me second thoughts.

What guide service are you using?

i think the biggest problem would be the summer.  ie, i think it would be really hot. the rock is dark and eats up sunlight.

this was a memorable route for me.  my partner and i had a pretty modest amount of trad leading between us.  we sketched a topo from our friend's 50 classics book.  we had a handful of nuts, a few hexes, and i think we borrowed 2 or 3 cams from somebody.  it was october, not long after a snowstorm. it was fucking cold and there was a lot of snow on the ledges.  the "jump" was pretty scary because of snow, and well, it was something we had heard about and were pretty scared of in the first place.  we topped out pretty late, got back down to the first rap at almost-dark.  luckily we had headlamps. got the ropes stuck a couple times. basically everything we could turn into an epic we did.

that was all good.  the bad part was that an attractive young swedish exchange student had invited me to a party that night.  i drove like a bat out of hell, but still didn't get back until around 3am or something.  too late, she got bored waiting for me and some lucky dude ended up dating her.  that stung.

let that be a lesson to you, sonny...  always use the euro death knot.

Curtis Bairdwrote:

What guide service are you using?

I was thinking Devils Tower Lodge, but I'm not married to the idea if there is a better option.  We will be coming into this with no multipitch experience, so I am okay with doing a 2 day deal where we spend a day with a guide that can evaluate our skills and determine our best options for making it to the top.  

Yeah back in 2000 durance was my 1st trad lead.  Armed with hexes and a nut set (that was perfect top rope gear for Devils Lake) my friend and I set out to climb this “easy” classic.  A pure epic, partner sketched out so I had to lead every pitch, no water, topped in the dark, no light, cutting stuck ropes, etc.. Definitely a great route, best done with a friend who has trad experience and a few cams.  

Brent Monfortwrote:

I was thinking Devils Tower Lodge, but I'm not married to the idea if there is a better option.  We will be coming into this with no multipitch experience, so I am okay with doing a 2 day deal where we spend a day with a guide that can evaluate our skills and determine our best options for making it to the top.  

Definitely go with DTL.  That’s who I used to work for.  Gabe and Rachel are phenomenal people and only hire top notch guides.  You will definitely get your money’s worth.

Durance is not a sandbag it's just awkward... You can get a rest every few feet on the 2nd pitch  after that it's just kind of thuggish awkward 5.5 and 5.6. it's really not as hard as everyone is pretending it is.. If you can climb 5.7 crack  you can send it with no issues..  There is no proper wide climbing it's more like foot cams with one foot and stemming with the other. It's  a crack at the crux which means you can put in pro every 2 inches if you really wanted which makes it super safe..  It's also really short like half the climb is the meadows scramble. I think each pitch  other than the second is like 50 feet long.   Don't let people tell you it's harder than what the grade implies.. you'll be fine  1st two pitches are amazing the rest is .... meh kinda awkward but it's worth doing.  Don't skip the jump it's a right of passage.