PRINT: Rock Climb Sewing Machine Needle - The Treadle, South Central Utah

Sewing Machine Needle - The Treadle

5.8 A2, Trad, Aid, 275 ft (83 m), 2 pitches,

Avg: 2.9 from 7 votes
FA: Fred Beckey, Eric Bjornstad, Lou Dawson, Reid Condiff, May, 1975
Utah > S Central Utah > Hanksville Area > Maze District > Land of Standing Rocks

Description

Quoting Eric Bjornstad:
The Sewing Machine Needle is the spectacularly thin spire in the butte visible from Hite Marina on Lake Powell, when looking to the north. The tower is named on the Browns Rim USGS quadrangle and the Trails Illustrated map "Canyonlands Maze District and Northeast Glen Canyon."
Climb the best looking crack at the base of the southwest face to a belay below the vertical shaft of the needle.
From the third ascent party:
Easy free climb with a move of 5.7 or 5.8 near the top of first pitch.
The second pitch was aid, small pins and cams. The crux was a crumbling spot 1/3 of the way up where TCU's were kind of blowing out. However good gear wasn't far below.

This is included here to differentiate this nice looking tower from the MFT just down the road. I'll need to dig through my photos of the last trip through here, but will post some asap. I also asked the third ascent team for theirs too.

Location

Follow the NP633 road north from near Hite Marina for about 25 miles. It's the only road heading north between the two bridges, and the same road one uses to access the Maze. You'll first reach The Middle Finger Tower about 5 miles before the Sewing Machine Needle, which is located at 37.969002, -110.274533

Protection

Standard desert rack

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

We got started a little early that day...

Topping out

hero shot of Felix on 'The Treadle'

Photo by Trevor or Emily

one of the old relics on "The Treadle"

Big Up to Salty and Malik for doing the much needed bolt replacement on this route!

The business

Photo by Trevor or Emily

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Mike Handjam
Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT

I climbed this a few years ago; it went clean at C3-ish. I first spied this tower from SR-95 near Hite... and instinctively called it the "Hite Saber." It took a bit of research to find any information on it (including its actual name).

For those interested: There are write-ups of the first ascent in the 1976 American Alpine Journal, the 1979 [UK] Alpine Journal, and Climbing Magazine #37. It may also be briefly mentioned in one of Bjornstad's Desert Rock books; but I can't remember for sure. The tower is the namesake of a USGS quad.

For irrelevant photos and worthless beta: check this trip report: mikeclimbsrocks.blogspot.co… Apr 25, 2020

-mn	[Hide Comment] Clean aid ascent, spring of 07, tiny stuff as usual. A fine sliver of Wingate! Feb 23, 2021

tenesmus

Mike, that's a really cool write-up. Thanks for sharing. Feb 24, 2021

matt hoffman
Las Cruces

I climbed this thing yesterday with my good friend and trusted heckler Nick Malik. It snowed on us while we were up there so I'm pretty sure that qualifies this as a "winter ascent." A pretty interesting tower and fun summit, but I seriously don't get the hype about climbing it clean. It's a 5.8 pitch to a 30 foot beak seam (right off a huge ledge) to a 100 foot-long bolt ladder... just doesn't seem worth it to climb the 30 feet of sketchy seam with major ledge fall potential without a hammer unless you feel 100% confident. We fixed the anchors so both have bomber bolts and chains, no need to bring tat going forward.

Anyways here's the breakdown for those who want useful information on the route.
P1: 5.8, 35m, single rack .5-#4
Climb up cracks and ramps to an anchor on a large ledge at the base of the pinned out seam, passing a random two bolt anchor along the way.
P2: A2/C3(?), 38m, single rack 000-.75, single set offset nuts, a few rivet hangers, 5-6 medium-large beaks, slings/draws, bolt kit(?)
Aid up the ~30 ft beak seam to a long bolt ladder consisting of old star dryvins, old rivets, new bolts and new rivets, with a short section of finger crack mixed in up higher. None of the old bolts felt like they were about to pull... but ya never know. Mar 6, 2022

Neil Kauffman
Bishop, CA

Wild climb, great summit! It was nice to have a few large angles, I left one fixed about 15' off the big ledge, to avoid bashing it out and help preserve the rock. Luxurious outing with the ASCA bolt updates, thanks Salty! RIP FRED!! Mar 27, 2024