5.10+ C0,
Trad, Aid, Alpine, 2000 ft (606 m), 18 pitches, Grade V,
Avg: 3.9 from 41
votes
FA: A: James P. McCarthy, Tom Frost, Harthon (Sandy) Bill, 1968. FFA Steve Levin, Mark Robinson, Sandy Stewart, 1977.
International
> N America
> Canada
> Northwest Terri…
> Cirque of the U…
> Lotus Flower Tower
The best rock climb in the world? Most routes to which this moniker is added may seem insignificant compared to the SE Face of Lotus Flower Tower. The route climbs perfect alpine granite for 18 pitches to an amazing summit.
The climb is all about uniformity. The first three pitches climb a well-defined left facing corner. The next five or six pitches climb a long chimney. Then, the fun starts. After a short left facing corner, the last ten pitches or so climb cracks and knobs on the exposed and narrowing face.
Pitch 1: Climb a left-facing corner to a fixed belay. 5.8
Pitch 2: Continue up this corner to a fixed belay 5.9
Pitch 3: Follow the corner until it's end and exit right, skirting below a large roof. This pitch is often wet, but when dry, the exit moves feel about 5.10a.
Pitch 4: Since you are on the face now, wander up the face to the base of a long chimney. 5.7
Pitches 5-9: Climb up the 5.7 chimney. The chimney is long but secure. It's possible and advisable to simul-climb this section, especially if you're doing the route in a day.
Pitch 10: Wander up and right to a large ledge. This ledge is big enough to park a school bus on, well, probably a short bus. 5.8 This ledge is an excellent bivy, as it's totally flat.
Pitch 11: Climb a big left facing corner, 5.9+, to an amazing small ledge at the very edge of the face.
Pitches 12-15: Follow parallel cracks up the face of the tower. Though you protect in the cracks, the preponderance of strange diorite knobs encourages face climbing. There are many ways to ascend this section. Just follow knobs to the base of an unmistakable roof. 5.9
Pitch 16: Climb past the obvious three-foot roof. This move is easily aided, making the route 5.10 C1. Otherwise, expect a 5.11- pull past the route. This move is much more difficult than any other move on the route. It is possible to traverse right and climb a splitter hand crack through the roof, but this may present its own set of problems. Sustained 5.9 cracks lead up to the belay.
Pitches 17 and 18: Gradually widening cracks lead to the summit. The last pitch contains some 5.8 offwidth climbing, but it's really not too bad.
Descent: Rap the route. The upper part of the route has fixed belay stations, so rapping is straightforward (just be careful about snagging your rope on the knobs). Once you reach the ledge, the rap route diverges from the climbing route and heads down the face. There is a serious epic potential here as the stations are tough to find on the big face. Stay out of the chimney at all costs. I know. If you end up rapping back into the chimney, you're in for a long and slow descent as your rope gets hung up on every possible feature.
George Bell's website has a great topo and tips for climbing this route in a day:
gibell.net/cirque/
Standard rack, heavy on the stoppers for the upper pitches. Two 60 meter ropes.
Orem, UT
dailymotion.com/video/xh15m… Nov 8, 2007
Boulder, CO
reno
youtu.be/hVkgSZUwn3k May 2, 2012
Grand Junction
vimeo.com/28475428 Apr 17, 2013
Just FYI to anyone that wants to do an ultra good deed and replace some stuff, every anchor, including on the rappel route bypassing the chimney, is a huge nest of tat. There's generally at least one decent bolt at each anchor but there's also a lot of not amazing stuff. Jul 26, 2017
Squamish, BC
There is a lot of dangerous loose rock in the chimneys that demand caution and respect, and we found the entire route to take much longer than we anticipated. Other parties we spoke to agreed with our assessment. We ended up taking two days and were glad we did so. Think of a longer and harder Beckey-Chouinard.
Having said this, it was an amazing (though expensive) adventure from beginning to end and I highly recommend it. The upper pitches are fantastic and camping in the meadows was sublime. Even the drive along the Stewart-Cassiar highway felt adventurous. Aug 15, 2018
Squamish
Salt Lake City, UT
freesnakeclimbing.com/trip-… Jan 13, 2024
Bellingham WA