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Window Blind Peak - North Rib

5.7, Trad, 300 ft (91 m), 2 pitches, Grade III,  Avg: 2.7 from 13 votes
FA: Hal Gribble, Paul Horton, Renny Jackson, Guy Toombes and Cindy Wilbur.
Utah > S Central Utah > San Rafael Swell > San Rafael Swel… > Window Blind Peak Area

Description

The North Rib is the easiest route on Window Blind Peak, but it is a full day and no giveaway. The climbing is hard for 5.7 with questionable rock and gear. Very much an adventure route.

Start from the highest point on the east side of the prominent rib between the window blinds - this rib is the sun/shade line in the morning light.

P1: Climb an excellent 5.5 corner that deteriorates to loose and sandy 4th class after 60 feet. Pass some belay slings around a shrubbery, and work out a belay in the notch below the upper steeper part of the rib. 90', 5.5.

Alternatively, i've seen reports of people climbing up to the notch from the west side. Didn't look terribly appealing looking down that pitch though, and the Bjornstad guide says it is harder.

P2: Climb discontinuous flaring cracks and sandy slabs up the wide blunt rib. The climbing and gear are more difficult than it looks from the belay. After around 150' you reach some tat around a chockstone in a shallow chimney. With a 70 meter line you can keep going to some tat around a tree at the top of the shallow chimney. 150-200' 5.7.

P3: Climb up the shallow chimney if you stopped at the chockstone tat. Do some easy scrambling to another short headwall, and either climb it directly or scramble out right on 4th class ledges to an enormous ledge system. 50-100', easy 5th class.

Unrope(and change into approach shoes) on the huge ledge system and move west around the side of the peak for a few hundred meters until you reach an easy 4th class gully system that reaches the summit plateau. The magnificent summit plateau is expansive, and is a wonderful place to spend time.

Descent: Reverse the route to the top of P3. We did a short rap off some tat on a tiny bush to get down the short headwall to tat around a better shrub. From there, make a double rope rap(60 meter ropes are fine) to the notch belay area. Downclimb to the tat around the shrub 10 feet below the notch, and make a short single rope rap to the ground. We had no trouble pulling the rope on the long rap, but we got the knot down as far as we could and were very careful about how we routed the rope.

There are chains near the summit plateau gully and also 50 feet or so right of the tat at the top of the long rappel. They might be better(the bushes are not the most confidence inspiring things i've ever rappelled from), but you would be a long way from the start of the route. I have no idea what those raps are like so caveat lector.

Location

From the top of the wash in the Window Bind Peak area description, continue up the gully aiming for the west side of the north rib. The easiest passage will be looker's right of the bottom of the gully.

Pass the nasty looking cliff band via tough 4th class moves well right of the wash. Traverse left until you can climb through another cliff band. Several more cliff bands will be encountered on the way to the base of the route, but nothing harder than tough 4th class. Descending the first nasty cliff band is a little exciting.

The approach takes about an hour from the top of the wash, for a total of a tough 2-2.5 hours.

Protection

1 set of cams from yellow alien to 3 camalot, with a few extras in the .5 - 1 camalot size(.5 and .75 are especially nice for working out a belay at the top of P1). Long slings are nice since P2 wanders a bit.

You could do the route with 2 60 meter ropes. You definitely could not rap the shrubbery rappels with a single line, but maybe the chain rappels? No idea.

Helmets are pretty much required since there is significant loose rock on all pitches. Strongly consider bringing approach shoes for the scrambling above P3 - that would be miserable in climbing shoes.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

This is the finished product of the climb. The view from the top is absolutely phenomenal. A 360 degree view of the swell from this standpoint. To access the top of the tower, walk west from the top of the climb and around onto the west face, there is a small canyon that will take you to the top, there is some fourth class hiking here, so bring approach shoes. I looked in the carin and couldn't find the summit book... bummer.
[Hide Photo] This is the finished product of the climb. The view from the top is absolutely phenomenal. A 360 degree view of the swell from this standpoint. To access the top of the tower, walk west from the to…
When it says that this is an adventure route, that is no joke. The rock on this route is far less than desirable. This is the trad anchor i built at the top of pitch two. I had to use two draws instead of another sling here, because pitch two ate slings like nobody's business. I also wished I had a larger piece of gear for one of the pockets, whatever works, works, right? I used a 70m rope on this route, after getting to the top of pitch two we had about 15 feet leftover.
[Hide Photo] When it says that this is an adventure route, that is no joke. The rock on this route is far less than desirable. This is the trad anchor i built at the top of pitch two. I had to use two draws ins…
Beginning of pitch two from the notch at the top of pitch one unrope and walk about ten feet into the notch. Begin pitch two in the most prominent crack on the face. Nut placements were pretty obvious in the middle of this pitch. Micro to hand sized cammalots seemed to work best. The top third of this pitch is the hardest part to protect, because of soft rock and few decent placements. We did pitch two and three as one pitch. The anchor at the top of pitch two are too far out of the way to be effective. So build another trad anchor at the top of the gully with the tat in it. Two slings and a large piece are nice for building this one.
[Hide Photo] Beginning of pitch two from the notch at the top of pitch one unrope and walk about ten feet into the notch. Begin pitch two in the most prominent crack on the face. Nut placements were pretty obvi…
Beginning Pitch one on the north rib of Window Blind Peak. Climb toward the notch on the right, set up first trad anchor. Everything on this climb is hard to protect. Soft rock and loose rock is the hardest part. (We only did two pitches)
[Hide Photo] Beginning Pitch one on the north rib of Window Blind Peak. Climb toward the notch on the right, set up first trad anchor. Everything on this climb is hard to protect. Soft rock and loose rock is th…
Second bolt anchors on the approach. These are not the most useful things in the world on the hike up. On the way down, however, they are key. Once you climb the slab in the middle of the second section of cliffs (carin at the top). There is tat on a bush next to the carin, and the rap anchors are about 15 feet west of that. The rappel is kind of hard, so be ready for your backpack to pull you over.
[Hide Photo] Second bolt anchors on the approach. These are not the most useful things in the world on the hike up. On the way down, however, they are key. Once you climb the slab in the middle of the second se…
This is the rappel from the top of the climb, it goes directly through the west window blind of the tower. I packed two 70m ropes the entire way up and used them both to rappel the entire route. However, if I did it again, I would take one single 70M rope and do two rappels. Only for the sake of weight in my backpack. If you use the first set of rap anchors you come to (larger chains, vertical bolt placement) (meaning the anchor is built with one bolt directly above the other, with a chain reaching to the bottom) you will be able to do two rappels with a 70m rope. 60m maybe... don't quote me on it. There is another set of anchors at the top of the climb just west of the rap anchors we used, I have no idea what they are for. They looked less desirable to get to.The second rap anchors look exactly like the first and sit on a good ledge.
[Hide Photo] This is the rappel from the top of the climb, it goes directly through the west window blind of the tower. I packed two 70m ropes the entire way up and used them both to rappel the entire route. Ho…
First bolt anchor on the approach. To find this, walk up the BOTTOM of drainage till you see two carin, turn in between the carin and head for the shortest section of the cliff band. I put up a small carin on the top of the cliff by the anchor. I free climbed this crack in my approach shoes, placing protection would be an excellent idea. If you don't like the hike from the bottom to the drainage to the cliff band... go home. It does not get any easier.
[Hide Photo] First bolt anchor on the approach. To find this, walk up the BOTTOM of drainage till you see two carin, turn in between the carin and head for the shortest section of the cliff band. I put up a sma…
This may not be the easiest approach. I drive a commuter car (07 Toyota Camry SE) I had to park on the main road and approach from the west. Mexican Mountain Rd was washed out and impassable. The route we took starts up the main drainage at the base of the west window blind, it becomes extremely hard, extremely steep, and extremely stressful. The hardest part of the whole ordeal was getting to the climb. There are a couple sets of anchors on the approach that I will try to point out. You may need to place gear to get passed the first set of cliff bands. I did not. I free climbed in my approach shoes and then pulled up our backpacks and belayed my partner. Most of this approach is fourth class and some of it is fifth so be prepared to free climb some crack and a lot of slab. Hiking shoes are basically a must. This is not a hike for Chacos.
[Hide Photo] This may not be the easiest approach. I drive a commuter car (07 Toyota Camry SE) I had to park on the main road and approach from the west. Mexican Mountain Rd was washed out and impassable. The r…
The hardest part of the entire experience is the approach. If you can't handle hiking about 1400' in 3ish miles... DO NOT do this climb. When I say it was HARD... i mean it was HARD!
[Hide Photo] The hardest part of the entire experience is the approach. If you can't handle hiking about 1400' in 3ish miles... DO NOT do this climb. When I say it was HARD... i mean it was HARD!
Tat in the middle of pitch two. I have no idea what is holding this stuff in, needles to say, I did not use it for protection. However brittany did use it as a hold to get up the sandy stemming section of the second pitch.
[Hide Photo] Tat in the middle of pitch two. I have no idea what is holding this stuff in, needles to say, I did not use it for protection. However brittany did use it as a hold to get up the sandy stemming sec…
Brittany fallowing on pitch two. The notch where pitch one ends is directly below.
[Hide Photo] Brittany fallowing on pitch two. The notch where pitch one ends is directly below.
This is the North approach from the wash. The other North West approach appears to have several cliff bands you have to navigate through. This places you directly below the climb. Correct time is around 11 hours.
[Hide Photo] This is the North approach from the wash. The other North West approach appears to have several cliff bands you have to navigate through. This places you directly below the climb. Correct time is a…

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Stan Pitcher
SLC, UT
 
[Hide Comment] Swell view of the swell from here! Apr 10, 2013
DJ Reyes
Northern Nevada
[Hide Comment] climbed this a few years ago. The crux of the climb is getting to it. Great location though and a great adventure for those willing to tread off the beaten path. From the top you will be rewarded with outstanding views. Jul 24, 2013
ddriver
SLC
[Hide Comment] There are two bolt/chain rappel line options for descent. One starts at the top of the west face route (have not done it). The first rappel described here is from a small mountain mahogany in order to reverse the 15' high headwall. This should be replaced. Once you've done this, descend left to a shelf above the arch rather than descending the rib. A beefy two bolt anchor just gets you to the ground with double 60's. There is an intermediate station, presumably for those with double 50's.

The final walk/scramble to the summit is easy in rock shoes. Jun 5, 2014
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] I'll start with the approach: This may not be the easiest way, but its what we did. This is the hardest part of the entire experience! This is an all day thing. My sister and I just did this route yesterday. We parked my car at about 8:00am, and got back about 5:30pm. We are both in very good shape and everything went nearly perfectly. Because I drive a commuter car (Toyota Camry) I was unable to approach from Mexican Mountain Road like Summit Post had suggested. I parked at the bottom to the drainage from Window Blind Peak's west window blind. About a 1/2 mile passed the Bottleneck Peak sign, on the main road. We started up the drainage, aiming exactly toward the bottom of the drainage. Assembly Hall Peak was north of us, and a long west stretching finger from WBP to the south. once you get into the boulders, continue up the bottom of the drainage until you see two carin off to the left (north) side of the drainage. Turn out of the drainage here between the carin and head through the boulders toward the shortest section of the cliff band. There is a small carin on the top of the cliff that you will need to climb. There is an anchor at the top of this part. I free climbed this part in my approach shoes. I wouldn't recommend that though. Harness up and place some gear. One anchor and some tat for backup at the top. DO NOT CLIMB WITH BACKPACK (pull them up with rope). After getting on top of the cliff turn south east and head toward the large ledge above the anchor. Once you're on flat ground, pick out the huge slab in the middle of the next cliff band. Aim for it as you hike through the boulders and loose shale. Once you get to the slab, get low, on your hands and feet and bear crawl to the top. There is a carin on top of the slab. West of the carin about three feet is some rappel tat around some brush. Another fifty feet west of that, is a set of rappel anchors that are useful on the hike back. After the slap take whatever path that looks the easiest to the base of the window blind. I found staying to the right to be the easiest. This is the steepest part, so zigzag a bit to make it easier. I started climbing right next to the single cedar tree at the base of the west window blind, in the southeastern most corner. I'm guessing every ones route is gonna be different. On the hike back, we did the same thing as we did on the way up, except for using the rap anchors by the slab, and rappelling off some tat on a cedar tree at the dry waterfall in the first cliff band, in order to skip a bunch of down climbing at the first approach anchor. If you rappel the waterfall, a 70m + rope is required.my 70m reached with about six feet to spare. Then continued down the drainage, back to the car. Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] The climb: I started the climb with a single set of stoppers and a full DMM Dragon rack and Metolious rack. Mostly used hand sized cams and smaller. Larger cams are nice for setting up anchors. With a single 70m rope, you can do this climb in two pitches and rappel twice. I also would recommend having 4-5 slings, because the route traverses. An extra long chordalette is nice for the first anchor. I started on the face just behind the single cedar tree, in the corner between the north running finger and the west window blind. There are two bushes on the first face, choose a side of them, and climb straight for the notch at the top of the corner. This is very hard to protect. Any place you find something decent, place some gear. Be very careful of loose rock here! HELMETS ARE A MUST! There are slabs of rock that could easily kill your belayer if they come off. This is not a climb for beginners. If you are not 100% sure of your abilities, do not climb this. When you get to the notch, set up your anchor. I used a micro cam in one of the pockets on the north face and three different size pieces between the opposite wall and a sandy flake. Make sure to seat them well here the rock is awful. DO NOT place a cam in the crack to the right of the bush in the notch. The flake is loose, and is large enough to kill someone if it comes off. I placed and yarded on it, the whole thing displaced. So be careful. Once we were in the notch, we unroped and waked toward the back of it. Start pitch two in the best crack on the north facing wall. There are some good gear placements right off the deck, but it only gets worse from there. Climb the first slab, and onto the next ledge, I imagine this is where original P2 ends, but i kept climbing. Continue up the vertical finger crack where I had some great nut placements. This seemed like the crux of the climb to me. After the finger crack comes the stemming chimney that is less than vertical, there is some old tat in the center of it, I didn't use it, cause it looked old, and I didn't know what was holding it in. Gear placements here are awful! the rock is terrible. Brittany did use the tat as a hold to pull herself up, so it might be okay protection. Once I topped out of the chimney, theres a large flat, full of brush and grass. I walked around for a minute looking for the supposed anchors at the top. They are there, but they are meant to be rap anchors, so they were basically useless because they were about 70 yards east of me. I used a sling, to quick draws, and a large cam to create my anchor. See photo. Two or three slings and a larger cam would have been nice. Unrope, change shoes and walk from here. I give this route 5:9- because its so hard to protect and so easy to grab rocks that are potentially dangerous. Again, if you are leading 5:7, this route is not for you. If you are leading 5:10+ in the desert, and are familiar with sandstone in the swell area, you'll be okay. Honestly, this one scared me often, and I'm fairly comfortable in the swell. Sep 4, 2016
Andrew Gram
Salt Lake City, UT
  5.7
[Hide Comment] Jeremiah, you made things much harder on yourself than necessary on the approach. It is much easier if you keep walking east around Mother Hubbard's Shoe/West Point tower on an old road, and then go up a relatively easy though strenuous gully.

I got suckered into trying the approach you did on my first attempt too, but bailed pretty quickly and then figured out the better approach the next day. Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] Yeah, i'm not saying I did it right, i'm just reporting what i did. Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] Summiting: From the grassy ledge, walk east and then south around the cliff faces until you see a small canyon heading west, this will get you on the top. Fourth class hiking. I looked for the registry in the carin, but couldn't find it. I'm a bit pooped about that. If someone goes up and has room. It needs one. If you get up there in the middle of an overcast / stormy day, DO NOT top out until the clouds are gone. Brittany's hair was standing on end, and my phone was making buzzing noises not associated with regular use. It is the tallest peak, in the area, so be careful! We ran off of there in a hurry. No lighting for us! Hike back to the top of the climb. The top is roughly the size of a smaller soccer field. Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] The Rappel: About 70 yards west of the top of the chimney, there are two sets of anchors. I used the fist set I came to. They had larger chain links and were set up vertically with one bolt being above the other and the chain hanging from the top bolt to the bottom. I used two 70m ropes to rap off the route. I had way more rope than I needed, but was able to rap the whole thing in a single rappel. If I did it again, I would definitely only take one 70m rope and rappel twice. 60m may work too, i'm not sure. the second rappel anchors mimic the first and sit on a decent edge. If you are with someone that doesn't like rappelling, do not send them first. The rappel goes right through the center of the west window blind and undercuts severely. It was nerve wracking for me, and I love to rappel. You'll end up just above the start of the climb. Pulling rope from the top anchor from the bottom isn't easy, but its possible. Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] Andrew, is Mother Hubbard's Shoe the tower connected to WBP to the north, and West Point Tower the little guy between that and assembly hall? Sep 4, 2016
Andrew Gram
Salt Lake City, UT
  5.7
[Hide Comment] West Point Tower is semi-connected to Mother Hubbard's Shoe - both os which are semi-connected to Window Blind Peak. The easiest approach wraps all the way around them to a gully on the east side of Window Blind Peak.

West Point/Mother Hubbard's Shoe:
Far left the West Point Spire, to its right the double summits of Mother Hubbard's formation and to the far right Window Blind Peak
Sep 4, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] Thank you! Sep 4, 2016
John Robinson
Elk Grove, ca
[Hide Comment] We were trying to do the North Rib but don't think we did. As we approached from the west we climbed to the smaller prominent notch on the farthest left side of the peak. We went up a chimney (not a corner) that started less than 100 feet up from the left toe of the peak. There was very little possible places to protect in the chimney. There was no evidence of anyone being there before. Many of the hand and foot holds would pulverise when you used them. When we got to the notch there were no places where the leader could create a belay for the leader to protect the follower. To continue with pitch two we needed to go up a steep face that lacked good protection potential and not very easy. We rapped down by simul rappelling off both sides of the formation. What did we do? Oct 21, 2016
Andrew Gram
Salt Lake City, UT
  5.7
[Hide Comment] That definitely doesn't sound right. The North Rib is a really obvious feature - it is the wide blunt rib between the two very distinctive giant shallow forming arches(the window blinds) on the peak. The start is in a well defined corner system, and if i remember right you should be able to see some rap webbing on a bush from the start. Oct 21, 2016
Jeremiah Luke
Huntington, Utah
  5.9-
[Hide Comment] It sounds to me like you were exactly in the right place, unless you started too far out on the finger, between the blinds. I climbed just to the right of a chimney that went to the same notch at the top. The protection was terrifying, and the holds were crap! Then in the notch there was a sandy finger sticking up next to the north wall, about three feet tall. It was scary to use as protection for Brittany to follow, I places 5 big pieces there! You are correct about pitch two though, awful to protect, I thought I was in the wrong place up until almost the top of the route where I started finding old tat. How was that hike though? c: Oct 21, 2016
david goldstein
[Hide Comment] Pitch two is somewhat run out and would likely be a harrowing experience for someone leading at his/her limit and/or unaccustomed to soft rock. That said, the rock is mostly pretty good by the standards of the genre.

With a 60 meter rope, one can just reach the fixed anchors at the end of pitch two and thus skip the intermediate anchor in the chimney.

Once on the wide ledge, at the end of the short pitch three, traverse right/WEST where five minutes of easy scrambling (mostly class two) leads to the summit. May 8, 2017
Jacob Shirley
Salt Lake City, UT
  5.8 X
[Hide Comment] Please note that when the other comments state that the rock quality is poor, they mean it has the structural integrity of corn bread.
The anchor in the shallow chimney on pitch 2 is in terrible condition. I wouldn't know how to replace it since it's just webbing wedged into a crack. I would recommend the next party comes prepared to change out most of the anchors.
Regardless, I had a great time but I think the rock quality makes this a relatively dangerous endeavor. Standing on top made my day. May 3, 2020