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Cave
5.9,
Trad, 300 ft (91 m), 2 pitches,
Avg: 2.4 from 5
votes
FA: Pete Oslund and Dave Ingalls 8/1965; FFA Dennis Horning & Frank Sanders 9/1976
Wyoming
> Devils Tower
> S & E Faces
Access Issue: June Voluntary Climbing Closure and Seasonal Raptor Closure
Details
VOLUNTARY JUNE CLIMBING CLOSURE
The National Park Service asks that climbers choose not to climb the Tower during the month of June. The June voluntary climbing closure was selected as part of the Devils Tower Climbing Management Plan by a working group that included two climber organizations, two American Indian organizations, and other agency and local government representatives.
Climbers are strongly encouraged to consider enjoying the many other climbing options available in northeast Wyoming and the Black Hills area of South Dakota, during the month of June.
Rock climbing routes on the East and Northeast Faces of Devils Tower summit will be temporarily closed to protect nesting Peregrine and Prairie Falcons.
Description
A over looked gem, belay on good ledge to the left of dihedral below the roof, pitch 1 climb dihedral (crux)PG, on to friction slab then pull roof on left, watch rope drag, about 25ft to horizontal crack, belay, 5.9 PG pitch 2 climb jam crack to the meadows, 5.8
Location
Take the South Face Approach, traverse the ramp till pass Tad and El cracko, look up you will see the cave hole, climb exposed 4th/5th class to high belay ledge on face between Exit US and the Cave.
Protection
standard tower rack, aka doubles of every thing RPs to 3.5 cams
[Hide Photo] From the paved hiking trail past the wooden-ladder-viewing-tubes. Looking up at the cave. You can't see the cave when at the start of this route.
[Hide Photo] About 20 feet above the top of the cave, there is this anchor on the face. I didn't use it for my pitch 1 anchor since there's nice stance for natural anchor right at top of cave), but this is wher…
[Hide Photo] The top of pitch 2. I am rapping off the Exit Us anchors to the left.
[Hide Photo] Looking down to the base of the route (starts at an old dead tree).
[Hide Photo] The cave. It doesn't open up in the back, and you can't go through it.
[Hide Photo] The path I took, seemed easiest. At the top I traversed left to Exit Us rap station just because I didn't want to futz around with another anchor. A #5 C4 protects that traverse.
[Hide Photo] I hope this isn't the route. As I went up I clawed those bushes out of the crack.
[Hide Comment] I think I found this route, but can't be sure. I counted the cracks/columns to the right of El Cracko, but what I climbed didn't seem like a "gem". Mostly it was gardening - scraping lichen and grass and thorns out of a small crack in the right facing dihedral, getting not great pro into the crack that is mostly a surface flake, then bailed when I saw a few hundred more feet of grassy, thin crack ahead of me. I downclimbed and traversed over to the low rap anchor on Exit Us and then bailed. I started at a tall dead tree. Let me know if I was completely off route (I added a picture of what I think was the route).
Jun 1, 2020
[Hide Comment] I finally found the route. Note that the "cave" hole is easy to see from the paved trail (if you go along the trail way past where you'd normally hike up for the Durrance approach), but when you're at the base of the actual route you can't see it. So my advice is to hike around and look at the cave, take a picture, count the cracks, etc, then go hike up to the base of the route.
Rack beta: small (e.g. DMM offset peanuts) through large nuts, doubles of .2 through 3 cams (Black Diamond Camalot sizes), #4 (for mini roof below cave towards top of P1), and optional #5 (I only used it for the traverse to Exit Us anchors at top of P2). There are anchors above the cave for the top of pitch 1 (but also is a nice stance at right edge of cave for a natural anchor). For the top of p2 I just traversed left to Exit Us to use those anchors. There is a piton and old bong, but otherwise no fixed protection. Some loose rock on pitch 2.
Dec 27, 2021
Avg: 2.4 from 5
votes
Access Issue: June Voluntary Climbing Closure and Seasonal Raptor Closure
Details
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Fargo, ND
Fargo, ND
Rack beta: small (e.g. DMM offset peanuts) through large nuts, doubles of .2 through 3 cams (Black Diamond Camalot sizes), #4 (for mini roof below cave towards top of P1), and optional #5 (I only used it for the traverse to Exit Us anchors at top of P2).
There are anchors above the cave for the top of pitch 1 (but also is a nice stance at right edge of cave for a natural anchor). For the top of p2 I just traversed left to Exit Us to use those anchors. There is a piton and old bong, but otherwise no fixed protection. Some loose rock on pitch 2. Dec 27, 2021