Unlocking the Fisher Towers

Hey all, I'm curious what a good progression for breaking into the Fishers would look like? As someone who climbs primarily in Colorado, what are the skills that need honed to tackle these giants? I'm talking what a climbing roadmap to them would be.

I've climbed Ancient Art via Stolen Chimney so I have a taste of the manky, gritty climbing that it is. What's next? Is it Colorado Northeast Ridge? Finger of Fate? Are Echo and the Oracle pipedreams?

For a climber who's only aid experience is French Free, what skills are you building and practicing for routes here? Would you tell dreamers to be practicing their off width? Is bouldering a more applicable skill set? Etc...

Lay out your roadmap to experiencing the Fishers in all their dirty glory.

Just be a solid and efficient aid climber, and the trade routes are not that big of a deal.  It isn't a great place to learn to aid because of the awkwardness of thrutching over bulges and the sand, but if you can do Yosemite or Zion 5.9 C2 routes you'll be ok on Colorado NE Ridge on the Kingfisher, Phantom Sprint on Echo Tower, and FInger of Fate on the Titan.  The easiest routes on the Oracle or Cottontail are a step up.

It is a good idea to know how to replace a bolt and have a bolt kit or you may get shut down if something pulls.  The most scared i've been in the Fishers has been on old bolt ladders.  Even when they are replaced they don't last forever.

You can just go try em if you know the aid climbing basics. Dragon's Tail in the Fishers would be a good, shorter starting point (maybe bring a bolt kit). The Pickle in Arches for an even shorter one. Then CO NE Ridge, then the Finger of Fate is a possible Fishers progression. CO NE Ridge you rap the route, and on the Finger you can rap the route up until the traverse pitch (and after that you can bail down the normal descent). Definitely expect aid pitches to take 4x or 5x the time a free pitch would take you while you're still figuring things out, I'd recommend getting at least some sandstone aid practice (either in CO or just doing the lower pitches of one of these) before making a serious send attempt. 

Note that you did not really get a taste of the Fishers from Ancient Art, that thing is basically bulletproof granite compared to the other towers and climbs very very differently.

Aid practice options in CO include the Quarry Wall at North Table, Castle Rock in Bocan, basically any hard crack anywhere really. Read https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/bigwall/ and some other aid/bigwall resources as well.

I’m no aid climber whatsoever and was able to knock out finger of fate without too much stress. It’s quite literally a mud pile but if you have a nice variety of clean aid gear you’ll have no trouble. Go give it a shot!

I also certainly agree that the bolts can be the scariest part of these routes, enjoy!

I'd start with mileage on some desert C1s to learn the basics of aid climbing and figure out what gear you like. Hint: proper ladders, an alfifi, and offset and brass nuts make life easier. Also knowing how to rope solo helps since finding partners can be nigh impossible. Once you know what you're doing I'd tackle Family Plot on the Tombstone as a good introductory multipitch aid climb. Once you've got a basic aid foundation, I would tackle a few short C2s like the Hindu and Sheep Rock that give you a taste of trickier aiding on relatively short routes. 

Let me know if you ever want an aid partner. I've climbed 50 desert towers, about half aid. The only things ive done in the Fishers are the Dragon's Tail, Ancient Art, and the Hindu (in Onion Creek but similar rock). And a few single pitch towers. The CO NE Ridge of Kingfisher and especially Phantom Sprint are high on my to do list. 

Also, bouldering is irrelevant but being a half decent chimney and offwidth climber is an essential skill.

These are all great suggestions and super helpful! Thank.you! I've done quite a bit of reading and video watching on aid the last few days. The Vdiff stuff is a great resource.

It sounds like the next step is to get some basic aid equipment and start experimenting and working on basic aid techniques.

All of the places you mention, Chris, are home turf for me so those will be good places to start getting used to aid and putting some laps in. Thanks for the suggestions and the layout of routes in the Fishers!

Tanner, that picture on FoF is epic! How could you not want to get into some sandy adventure climbing looking at shots like that!!

Aaron Kolbwrote:

I'd start with mileage on some desert C1s to learn the basics of aid climbing and figure out what gear you like. Hint: proper ladders, an alfifi, and offset and brass nuts make life easier. Also knowing how to rope solo helps since finding partners can be nigh impossible. Once you know what you're doing I'd tackle Family Plot on the Tombstone as a good introductory multipitch aid climb. Once you've got a basic aid foundation, I would tackle a few short C2s like the Hindu and Sheep Rock that give you a taste of trickier aiding on relatively short routes. 

Let me know if you ever want an aid partner. I've climbed 50 desert towers, about half aid. The only things ive done in the Fishers are the Dragon's Tail, Ancient Art, and the Hindu (in Onion Creek but similar rock). And a few single pitch towers. The CO NE Ridge of Kingfisher and especially Phantom Sprint are high on my to do list. 

Aaron, this is awesome! I love a good roadmap that lays out practical routes and and progressions for getting some desert mileage in. I don't know that I'll ever be a grade pusher, but I have a big love for adventure climbing and I spend a lot of time in the desert and canyon country. Towers and desert routes really speak to me! I'd love to take you up on your offer to hop on some routes together sometime if you're genuinely interested in a partner. Planning a few trips out that way this year, let me know!

Start with ancient fart, dragons tail, king fisher, the titan, echo tower, the oracle then cottontail. That is easiest to hardest in my opinion. Cottontail rock quality is significantly worse than the rest of the towers.

I'm probably the worst climber to have somehow (i.e. had patient rope guns) topped out a handful of the trade route Fishers, and have plenty of things to improve:

-getting high in the aiders or top stepping. While not strictly necessary on most pitches, the manky bolt ladders or good pro can be far apart such that balancing in a top step is essential, even if stick clipping. Getting the right tension on a fifi, and trusting that tension, helps.

-efficiency in general. The sequence can be repetitive: step up, adjust tension, place, clip, step up, adjust tension, clip rope, etc. There are so many tips online that would speed things up. If gripped, sometimes I clip the rope high or plug in gear too close. This is quite inefficient. Sessions at North Table would help!

-Agree Dragonstail is a good intro. The bolts are good but far enough to force you to get high in aiders. The top out bit on P1 provides some climb transitioning and gear. 

- hauling, ascending, progress capture, and rope management in general. It's quite different from your standard multipitch. There are ropes, bags, and hardware everywhere with many chances to cluster. 

My intro to the Fishers was Dragon's Tail. The finishing moves require some lateral thinking and are not as straightforward as the rest of the route, but it's a low commitment tower. Next we did Colorado NE Ridge which was magic. Following on from that we did Phantom Sprint on Echo which was a step up in difficulty and commitment. It took two days, but we did it safely and with the minimum of nasty surprises. Hard to believe that one has been freed.

After that came Finger of Fate, arguable easier than Phantom Sprint, just longer. It's not the romp some have suggested and you should take it seriously. One of the most memorable experiences of my climbing life, for sure.

Following on from that we tried and failed on Cottontail via West Side Story. That felt huge and super intimidating. We got 3 pitches up before we bailed and I'm still glad we made that decision. Finally, we did River Tower last year and had such a good time on it, although read the beta on the page before jumping onto it.

What I can also suggest is to have a day doing all the small towers - Carsons, Great Googly, Dock Rock, Dunce Tower and Puttermans Pile. Whilst not particularly extreme, it's a fun day out and you'll use a variety of techniques with minimal commitment and it will get you into the Fishers swing of things. Five Tower Friday is a Thing!