[Hide Comment] Finally climbed this after thinking about it for a while. It is not a mega classic. Just the tallest climbable (barely) spire in Gallup's vicinity. Dont expect a pure line. Atlest half of the climb is on manufactured holds, which you will be grateful for as you feel the tower crumbling in your fingers. One in our party nearly had a football sized piece land on his head. Missed by inches. Fun climb to a local tower summit. And probably a great mini adventure for anyone passing through. I plan to be back up soon to establish a summit register. Also, the bolts described in the second pitch are drilled angles. Pull down, not out! Feb 12, 2012

[Hide Comment] "Manufactured holds"?
Wow!
We used all natural edges and cracks on the FA. Interesting. Feb 10, 2013

[Hide Comment] A cool, isolated summit with mediocre climbing and dubious rock quality. Issac's comment is accurate, there are chopped steps leading up the lower slab and into the chimney. I climbed around them until the chimney, and it was no harder than 5.8 or so. Very peculiar indeed...it almost felt like the same crew that chopped the many steps on the hiking trail below continued their labors on this spire.

The summit anchor consists of two relatively new bolts and an older drilled angle, all drilled in the large, crumbling blocks that compose the highest point. In my opinion, it could be greatly improved if a couple new 1/2" bolts were drilled in the pink rock ledge about 3' below these blocks on the north side. I didn't have a drill kit or hammer, so I wasn't able to test the rock on this horizontal surface, but it sure looked more solid and compact than what the fixed pieces are currently in.

We linked the 2 pitches into one, with some manageable rope drag, by extending all pieces. I also skipped the 2nd drilled angle on the normal 2nd pitch as it seemed strangely positioned on a friable slab. I simply traversed hard right at the 1st angle into a crack system and followed that up. We used a single rack of cams from .3-#3 Camalot. It was adequate, although I had the feeling many wouldn't hold a fall due to sugary rock quality. Some large stoppers would have felt a bit better in the couple fingercrack sections.

A single 70m rope works perfect to get you back to the ground from the summit anchor. I think a 60m would leave you with some downclimbing on the chopped-step slab (probably not too difficult).

We were only the 5th party to sign the summit register since it was placed 6 years ago. Sep 11, 2018

[Hide Comment] Interesting, guys. Thanks for the comments! Camster. Sep 11, 2018

[Hide Comment] Just find my diary. FA was February 24, 1991. Nov 9, 2021