Queen's Throne

An outstanding climb. Too much fun, it's like an amusement park ride. Perfect crack, perfect feet, perfect pro.Makes you want to quit your job and get really GOOD at crack climbing. Mar 18, 2002

Try sticking exclusively to the crack on the right ie. don't use the wall on the left. I thought it made for a nice variation. May 23, 2002

Awesome route. After completely messing up the simple approach on Friday (8/5/05), we found the Queen's Throne just begging to be climbed. It is interesting to note that the main crack begins at about 1" and widens to about 4" at the top, thus making use of all sizes of bigger gear. There are lots of ledges (as previously noted), but you still need to focus somewhat on staying balanced. I began with a .75 Camalot and used almost every bigger one in my rack. 1 #1, 2 #2's, 1 #3, 1 #3.5, 1 #5. I also placed one big hex. Small nuts/cams aren't really needed if you have the bigger cams. Ok, I threaded it up, but had a blast doing so. The #5 I placed 3 times (I pulled it the first 2 because the wide crack at the top looked like it needed it). I anchored a TR (you'll want to do it more than once!) with a long sling around the pillar and a nut and cam in nearby cracks.

This climb is way fun and highly recommended. There is shade most of the way up which is quite appreciated. Aug 9, 2005

Great lead for beginners. Also, like the comment above from Anonymous, stick (feet & hands) only to the crack and avoid the wall to your left and the climb definitely becomes a 5.5 jam crack. If you do this, like Birch Tree Crack (5.8), the climb is excellent preparation for the Durrance Crack (P2) of the Durrance route on Devil's Tower. Aug 11, 2007

This climb is great. Whether you can climb hard or easy, it is a fun crack climb and a great lead. Aug 18, 2008

i did the variation. fun route May 4, 2009

Very cool climb! Wife and I were able to climb successfully without prior crack climbing skills knowledge! Recommend to everyone! Jul 23, 2011

This has been my favorite route in Devil's Lake. Such a fun climb. I liked it even better than Brinton's Crack (gasp!). May 31, 2015

Super fun route to lead on passive gear. 70s style!!! Can sew it up pretty well with nuts and big hexes. Sep 21, 2015

This is probably the best route of its grade at Devil's Lake, if not the best lead there, period. It's one of those climbs you wish were 600 feet long, not 60. Jul 2, 2016

Any info on the semi-fixed #3 that showed up on the route? I tried to loose it, as did the group after us, but neither succeeded!! Aug 20, 2017

No fixed #3 when I did it 10/29/17.

Best easy lead at the Lake? It may not be the most 'exciting', but this thing will eat as much gear as you want to give it. It takes gear so well that I threw away my onsight attempt and used it as an opportunity to gain some trad confidence and took a few practice whips. So much fun! I would have done laps all day if I didn't need to get home.

As far as gear goes, I only used cams, and nothing smaller than #1 C4. If you have a #4, it's useful for a few different placements. Oct 30, 2017

Fantastic route and favorite of the grade I've done here. Would be a perfect early lead as the fall line is quite clean and the gear is great. Just save a #3 bd cam or bigger for the final bit. A seam left of the main crack also takes good smaller cams up high. May 28, 2018