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Eight Ball Tower - Rolling with the Eight Ball
5.9,
Trad, 160 ft (48 m), 3 pitches,
Avg: 1.5 from 4
votes
FA: Ray Vought, Greg Anderson 9/91
Arizona
> Northern Arizona
> Oak Creek Canyon
> W Fork
Description
Pitch 1 (5.9) - Climb up a dirty but easy chimney to a ledge. Continue up a harder section to the belay on a large ledge/alcove.
Walk around to the NE face (morning sun).
Pitch 2 (5.9) - Climb up to a ledge with a bush. Continue up the improbable but fun face, fingers to hands and a step right to a short OW. Belay on the ledge above. (This pitch may differ from the FA route, we weren't sure).
Pitch 3 (5.8) - Climb off the ledge through fun blocky terrain and one bolt. Sign the summit register!
Descent - Make one 160 ft. rappel back to your packs - shitty. An intermediate anchor would make this better and possible with one rope.
Location
Two miles up the West Fork trail on the left if you're headed upstream. Cross the creek and head up a steep slope to the base of the chimney.
Protection
A double set of cams from thin fingers to hands. One #4 Camelot or equivalent sized piece.
The rap anchor is original but good. We replaced the webbing 6/15.
![Our shadows projecting on to the top of 8 Ball Tower after we climbed the next square shaped formation to the south (cool and definitely an independent summit but not quite a tower). If for some reason you want to repeat the route go up the chimney on P1 of Rolling with the 8 ball and then bushwhack 40' left to an obvious severely overhanging handcrack/ow start. Go up this and the dihedral to a sloping area (tree belay), and then up the notch and one more short poorly protected pitch to the top. We named the formation something but I can't for the life of me remember what. There is a large summit cairn and a very interesting natural bollard thing for the rap anchor off the summit.]()
[Hide Photo] Our shadows projecting on to the top of 8 Ball Tower after we climbed the next square shaped formation to the south (cool and definitely an independent summit but not quite a tower). If for some re…
![8 Ball Tower, from the 8th stream crossing.]()
[Hide Photo] 8 Ball Tower, from the 8th stream crossing.
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A single rack (with a #4!) and nuts would probably be just fine.
On P2 at the bush you can go left or right. I actually did both (had my partner lower me on TR) and thought the right was better and cleaner, but it still has some large blocks at the base. Both ways seemed like 5.9(+?)
P3 was a little spicy because you have to pull on some edges you'd rather not but the bolt is solid and well placed.
This can be descended with 1 rope in 3 raps. From the summit do a 25' rap to the large ledge. There is a 2 bolt anchor on the north end. do one more 80' rap to the platform between P1 and P2. Finally scramble down and rap off the pine tree just to the climber's right of the P1 chimney.
A good way to approach is after the 7th stream crossing immediately start hiking straight up hill to the base (4-5 mins up). However, the tower is most noticeable and impressive looking where the 8th stream crossing is. Oct 11, 2015
Flagstaff, AZ
I was confused by those bolts on the north side of the big ledge below the summit. They didn't seem like they were placed for rapping, and we didn't climb anywhere close to them on the way up.
Did the first ascent climb to the left from the end of the finger crack to the big ledge and then traverse right from those bolts?
Luckily the fires left this part of the canyon mostly untouched. Dec 2, 2015
Thanks Jake and Kole for resurrecting this great route! Jun 25, 2016