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Medicine Man
5.12a,
Trad, 4 pitches, Grade III,
Avg: 4 from 98
votes
FA: Andy Petefish and Tom Bratton, FFA Alan Lester and Pete Takeda
Colorado
> Grand Junction…
> Colorado Nation…
> Sentinel Spire
Description
Awesome route. Exposed and steep! This has got to be one of the most classic splitters in the desert. If you don't climb 5.12 you can easily aid the crux pitch and toprope it. The rest of the pitches are very doable and offer some great desert crack climbing on a sweet tower. First free ascent by Alan Lester and Pete Takeda.
Piz's comments were pretty much right on but thought I would try to add some more detail and add the route to the database._
Approach: Two options: 1. Go to the campground and head to the rim. There's a viewpoint building right above the spire. Fix a rope from a tree which you can back up with a good stopper. This is the preferred approach and definitely the easiest. 2. Hike in from the Monument Canyon trailhead, approximately 2 hour approach.
Medicine Man is the obvious line up the center of the east face.
Done in 4 or 5 pitches. Intermediate belay on pitch 2 is probably a good idea but not necessary, I like the way it gives you a rest before the 5.11 section. Described here as 5 pitches.
Pitch 1: (5.10) Obvious start up crumbly bottom layer into nice handcrack in left-facing corner.
Pitch 2: (5.10+) Continue up crack in corner and exit roof to the left to intermediate belay or continue. Tread carefully on the death block that is mysteriously lodged in roof.
Pitch 3: (5.11)(Using intermediate belay or can be combined with P2). Layback flake with bad feet. Watch for loose stuff above flake (gone?).
Pitch 4: (5.12b) The crux pitch. Jam obvious splitter through small roof. Nice kneebar in roof for no-hands rest before pulling crux.
Pitch 5: (5.10) Up corner and traverse left through roof. Continue up crack to summit. Watch for loose stuff before and immediately after roof.
Descent: Two raps from Fast Draw anchors and jug back up your fixed line to the rim.
Protection
Camalots 1 #0.3, 1 #0.4, 2 #0.5, 4 or 5 #0.75, 5 or 6 #1, 2 #2, 2 #3. Runners/draws. Two ropes.
![Spread out at the top of pitch 2.]()
[Hide Photo] Spread out at the top of pitch 2.
![Will F. cruising the thin hands section in his sweet, desert modified helmet (+5 sun protection).]()
[Hide Photo] Will F. cruising the thin hands section in his sweet, desert modified helmet (+5 sun protection).
![Natalie starting up the pitch 3 splitter. #1s for days!]()
[Hide Photo] Natalie starting up the pitch 3 splitter. #1s for days!
![Resting on the crux pitch.]()
[Hide Photo] Resting on the crux pitch.
![Bryan jugging up the crux pitch, which we aided. Stellar splitter that keeps on going.]()
[Hide Photo] Bryan jugging up the crux pitch, which we aided. Stellar splitter that keeps on going.
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Pitch 1 - 5.9/10 kinda sporty with some face holds down low. belay on nice ledge with existing anchor. nice warm up pitch (~90 ft) possibly tricky gear placement down low gear- purple cam to a yellow cam
Pitch 2 - 5.11+ (maybe) thin layback corner straight up, chimney moves and out left side of roof to a beautiful lieback finish. great pitch! (~90 ft) gear- purple to yellow cam probably two of each
Pitch 3 - 5.12b thin hands straight up in a perfect zig zagging thin hands splitter rest comes at mid height then more thin hands to a small roof and final move to belay, awesome! (~90 ft) gear- about 8 red cams and 1 or 2 yellow, if you don't use them all on the pitch you can back up the pin with the extras (reds).
Pitch 4 - 5.9 weird but good, up and left at roof, follow awkward moves to the summit, good pitch for the thinker. belay on summit from giant chain rap anchors. two ~90 ft raps to base of fast draw. Gear- bring what you have (not the 8 red cams) maybe a finger-size piece or two up to yellow cam
- *Note it is possible to set up a traverse from the top of Sentinel Spire to the cliff line (~40 ft), just climb Fast Draw after rapping in from there and proceed). I didn't use it to get off but my partner has seen it done.
Dec 20, 2002Grand Junction, Co
Petaluma California
AZ
Glenwood Springs, CO
Boulder, CO
Golden, CO
Stellar climbing the whole way. As for pitch 4, sounds like a lot of people traverse left under the roof, but pullin' the roof straight on is stellar, maybe 10+ish?
Great route just as fun as Primrose. Mar 29, 2010
Boulder, CO
Pagosa Springs
Great tower and the jug out is recommended but a hell of a work out after climbing the tower. Sep 20, 2011
Evergreen, CO
Broomfield
The crux pitch, #3 or #4, depending on how you do this, is a classic example of where individual climber hand size is going to push the grade one way or another. It will be much harder for folks with larger hands and would be much, much, easier for thinner hands. Like most desert splitters this size. The difficulty factor really changes depending on how well your hands fit the crack. If you red camalots are good hands, your going to love and crush this one. If reds are too small for your hands, your going to need to hang tight and dig deep!! Jul 25, 2012
Grand Junction
Pitch 2 - dump all your 0.75s into the bottom section. You won't need them after the 2 bolts. Chimneying is the ticket up below the block. Why you would stop at the 2 pins in an awful, hanging belay instead of going another 15 feet to a good stance is beyond me. The crux is pulling the bulge past the 2 pin anchor, then it's hands to the anchor.
Pitch 3 - reds, man. All reds. Bring at least 5. Save 2 for the final 10 feet past the roof.
Pitch 4 - it's not over yet. The bulge after traversing left is kinda hard, make sure to have some small cams ready. Pretty fun climbing to the top with mostly hands. Mar 16, 2014
Boulder, CO
Grade: the crux pitch is very hand size-dependent. If comfortable on #1 Camalots, it may feel 5.11 or 5.11+. Those with larger hands will likely find it harder.
Women desert climbers with smallish hands - I highly recommend this route to you! Grab the leads on pitches 2 & 3 (the money pitches, esp. for smaller hands). ;) Mar 12, 2017
Around Boulder, CO
P1: 10 face and easy corner cracks. The hard sizes have good feet.
P2: 10+. 0.75 corner slot to chimney roof to a few fingerlocks to thin hands flake. Lots of features make the slot easier than expected for the size. The fingerlocks and flake are probably easier than the slot.
P3: 11 tight/thin hands (for #2 Camalot-sized hands). Most of the crack was pretty generously sized #1s. The bulge has a few thin moves before opening up to #2.5 Friends. If your hands are #3 Camalot size, I could see 11+/12-.
P4: 9 left traverse or 10+ straight out the roof on thin fingers. Lots of hands in flares and through pods. A few fingers and tips pieces are nice for the straight up variation.
P.S. The crux would be 5.10 for Trump if he laid off the coal smoke and cheeseburgers. May 1, 2017
Golden, CO
Moab, Utah
Medicine Man starts a good bit lower than Fast Draw, so it makes sense to leave packs, shoes, etc. somewhere near the base of Fast Draw to retrieve on your way out. This is pretty obvious once you're there.
You can rappel Fast Draw with a single 60m rope in 2 rappels. The first rap is around 90' and the second is just under 100'.
There's already tons of rack beta here and ours is not much different: (1) 0.3, (1) 0.4, (2) 0.5, (5) 0.75, (6) 1, (2) 2, (1) 3, (6) runners/draws. All belays are bolted.
The crux pitch felt similar in difficulty to Coyne Crack. Medicine Man is a bit wider but also steeper and lacks the boulder problem start of Coyne Crack. Dec 8, 2017
Boulder, CO
If you have larger hands and are going for the OS, know that the kneebar is no gimme; I never found it. The crux is above the roof. Apr 4, 2018
Flagstaff, AZ
We used doubles 0.3-0.5 (would do singles next time), 6 x 0.75, 6 x #1, doubles in #2 and 3. We also had some red TCUs and a red Friend, which came in handy. 2 single 70m rope raps gets you to the bottom of Fast Draw.
Some beta for pitch 2: if you are a stronger crack climber than a sport climber, do not even bother liebacking anything. If you can jam 0.75 on low angle rock, you're golden for the second pitch below the roof. Pull the roof (the crux for me—try to just punch through the finger crack and get to the nice hand jams) and just jam up the flake. It takes a #1 and #2—too stellar to even consider liebacking unless you have big hands.
The challenge with pitch 3 (5.12) is that it is steep at the top. If you are a solid #1 jammer, you will lalalove this. Just keep moving through the crux where it kicks back, it goes by quickly.
Personally, I thought that the 1st and 4th pitches were also super fun, but maybe I've just climbed too much choss and have low standards.
HAVE FUN! Apr 16, 2018
Ridgway, CO
I see multiple comments here suggesting a 10+ grade for that straight-up variation that last roof, but I'd be curious to hear what shorter people think the grade is for that straight roof pull. Seems like it is MUCH harder for the vertically challenged...? Nov 2, 2020
Indian Creek, UT
We used Joe Stern's rack beta. Next time I would ditch the 3. I never placed more than 4 each 0.75/1 on a pitch but was happy to have an extra. Black Metolii are not needed.
P1: full rack, mostly 0.75. Est. 90'.
P2: all the greens, 1-2 reds, and maybe a purple? Save a green and red for after the roof. The intermediate belay is fully aid. Est. 80'.
P3: I placed 1x 0.4, 2x 0.75, 4x 1, 2x 2. Est. 80'.
P4: A full rack. Est. 90'. 5 days ago