PRINT: Rock Climb South Face, Southeast Utah

South Face

5.11+, Trad, Grade IV,

Avg: 3.8 from 5 votes
FA: Tim Toula & Kathy Zaiser. April 26, 1987 - FFA Bret Ruckman, Tim Coats
Utah > Southeast Utah > San Juan County > Blanding > Texas Canyon > Texas Tower

Access Issue: RAIN, WET ROCK and RAPTOR CLOSURES: The sandstone around Moab is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. Also please ask and be aware of Raptor Closures in areas. Details

WET ROCK: Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN MOAB during or after rain.

RAPTOR CLOSURES: please be aware of seasonal raptor closures. They occur annually in the spring. Indian Creek Raptor Closure walls include: Echos, The Wall, Far Side, Original Meat, Tenderloins, Second Meat, First Meat, Selfish, Six Star, Cliffs of Insanity, Public Service Wall, Disappointment Cliffs, Fin Wall, Broken Tooth, Cat Wall, Slug Wall, Reservoir Wall, Critic’s Choice.

Description

Climbs the obvious crack system on the south face of the tower.

Pitch 1- Climb hands in a corner on the left side of a pillar. Above the pillar climb 5.9 loose to a belay with bolts.

Pitch 2- Climb a 5.9 squeeze slot to a handcrack above then belay at bolts.

Pitch 3- An awkward 10- move leads to a good squeeze chimney. Belay on large ledge with bolt.

Pitch 4- Climb over blocks in chimney then make a stem move and hand traverse right to a good hand crack. Climb the handcrack past a scary loose spot to a good ledge with bolts. 5.10

Pitch 5- Start with 5.10+ fists and into steep offwidth above. This is a long steep pitch with three bolts. Lots of big gear needed.

Pitch 6- Climb a 5.10 offwidth to the top of a pillar and a piton, then 100' of 5.9 chimney to a belay bolt.

Pitch 7- Climb 200 ft of chimney past a fixed piece to a belay at bolts. 5.9

Pitch 8- Make a 5.10 face move then easier climbing leads to the summit.

Descent- Rappel anchors are found on the opposite side of the tower than where you top out. rap fixed anchors to the ground.

Protection

1 each- #.4 - #1 Camalots; 3 each- #2 - #5 Camalots; 1-2 bigger cams; 2 #4 big bros; 70-meter ropes better but 60's okay.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Derek Hersey on pitch 2 of South Face, December 1990

The summit in February! ARRRRRGH! Photo: J Thesenga

Panic emerging as Eric's knee became stuck on the steeep OW pitch. "The unravelling.."

TC, Garrett Kemper and Eric Zschieschie on the summit sometime in 2004. What an incredible, full value desert experience...

Climbing the death block and the end of pitch 4.

Looking down on Pitch 6 from the one bolt belay.

Climbing pitch 6. We tried to combine pitches 6-7 with 70 meter ropes and I had to belay from a stance inside the chimney.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Steve Bartlett

Derek and I did not free this. We did do an early ascent, in December 1990. There was some fixed bail gear on the route, starting with a SINGLE fixed small Tricam somewhere under the crux pitch. Must have been one scary rappel! Tim Toula left a register (a 35mm film carton), but it was gone by the time we got up there.

This is the FFA info, as I understand it:

The first free ascent was done next year: Either by Maurice Reed (who climbed free, he was with Chip Wilson, sometime in 1991). Or by Bret Ruckman (and his brother?) who freed it too, in October 1991. Feb 9, 2005

Ben Folsom

5.11+

Sorry about the mis-information. I think both guide books I looked at said that you guys did the FFA. Feb 21, 2005

Brad White

I'll add a story that may be relevant to the history of freeing this route, that I heard directly from Bret Ruckman right after he climbed it with Tim Coats. Bret, Tim and Tim's brother Larry were fixtures at Neptune Mountaineering back in the 80s/90s.

Apparently, Bret somehow got one of his rock shoes mixed up with a shoe of the same make, owned by his wife. So when he and Tim arrived at TT, he had one rock shoe that fit his feet, and one that was too small. This did not keep him from freeing the route (Bret was, and probably still is a crack master). He simply wore a rock shoe on one foot, and an approach shoe on the other foot.

Another funny aspect of this climb: at one point Tim (no slouch on desert routes) needed to downclimb one of the chimneys as he was leading, for some reason; apparently quite a distance. Perhaps he climbed past a belay and ran out of rope. Personally, when I downclimb anything, it is usually full of fear and extremely slow. I'm not sure how I would handle downclimbing a runout squeeze chimney, but I'm fairly certain I would be gripped. Not so Tim. Bret related to me that Tim down-*slid* (does such a term even exist) the entire part of the chimney that he needed to reverse. Maybe a dynamic approach to the situation was the best, definitely a fast solution. When Bret told me this he was chuckling at Tim's fearlessness.

I'm pretty sure this was the first free ascent of the Toula route, but don't ask Bret. He is the most modest, unassuming guy anywhere. Oct 5, 2006

bruce lella

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I belive that Fred Berman and myself made the second accent of this route in the mid 80's...We did not free all of it. What I remember most was getting our ropes stuck on the descent raps, beware of this. We had only 1 tube chock and 2 #4 friends, as I recall it was real scary! Also remember great cave dwellings in the area. Mar 11, 2008

A. Frost

Hats off to all the 80's and early 90's desert aficionados.

This thing is still terrifying, even with modern gear.

As my partner remarked: "It is best not to confuse and aesthetic summit with an aesthetic climb." Jun 24, 2009

Chris Kalous

Virtually all the fixed gear- anchors to pro- is questionable on this route. With all due respect for their radness, he FA party was less than diligent when it came to drilling angles. Probably a reflection of the times when the idea of future generations repeating stuff like this was an absurd thought.

Anyway, its a tall order to climb this route and take the time to carry and replace hardware, but if a few future ascents beefed an anchor or two, the route would become a hell of a lot safer and at least the belays would give you a respite from the creeping uneasiness/spikes of terror.

Have fun. Climbing, location, and deterioration make this one of the most serious towers out there. Via con dios! Feb 22, 2012

James Garrett
Salt Lake City, UT

In defense of Texas Tower Tim Toula, because I KNOW he does not read any of this MP stuff, most to all of the bolts on Texas Tower were added by other people after him. Feb 22, 2012

James Garrett
Salt Lake City, UT

I stand corrected and I abridged and softened my comments as well, they were hardly pointing fingers. Looks like you climbed it in Cerro Torre conditions! Congrats. Rappelling down manky old fixed gear in the dark in the cold of winter is always unnerving. Feb 23, 2012