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Brian Boyd
Trad climber
Scottsdale, AZ
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 25, 2008 - 07:03pm PT
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Tried to get out to the Tower a couple of summers ago, but it seemed like all of New Mexico was on fire at the time. We managed to get out there recently, and it is a great destination.
The Tower is pretty close to Albuquerque, and about five hours from Phoenix. Easiest access is through private land, and the rancher asks that people not drive in at night. So, we ended up in the free Jackson Park campground in nearby Pie Town NM. This is pretty much most of Pie Town:
This isn't Texas, so they don't make everything big here. Charlie scores a cherry pie to go:
Imagine a gargantuan, looming block of cheese, add some bolts, and that is sort of what the Tower itself looks like. Routes here are pretty long, some requiring a 70m meter rope. The 'beginner' routes on the main formation start at 11b or c and go up to 13a. There are bunch of smaller walls scattered around as well.
The typical Tower route is filled with pockets -- everything from shallow monos to holes big enough to stuff an annoying partner in; assuming that you actually had one of those. Here's a medium sized pocket:
With all the holds to choose from, many of the routes look pretty friendly at first. For example, Technowitch doesn't look all that 12a-ish in this photo:
But, when you factor in the angle of the route, it looks a teensy bit harder:
Given the steep angle of the walls, there was a lot of falling going on:
And even some hangdogging...
Here is Hookah (11d):
Blessed and Blissed (12a):
Pogue's Arete was a popular line:
Here we have the Battle of the Shirtless Foreign Guys -- Poland (R) is taking the lead on South Korea (L):
Not everything at the Enchanted Tower is super steep or super hard. In fact, one of the more enjoyable routes that we did was this 5.6 stemming route up a groove:
We invited these guys over for dinner one night, but they ran off. Maybe it was the scent of barbecue sauce in the air...
Finally, we spent part of the trip teaching the youngest member of our party the dark art of stick clipping. He really took to it, as you can see when he tried to stick clip the entire Pogue's Arete:
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Sep 25, 2008 - 07:09pm PT
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Didja climb Golden Stairs? Does it still have that runout from the crux to the anchors?
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GDavis
Trad climber
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Sep 25, 2008 - 07:10pm PT
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Haha, looks cool. You would like Malibu Creek near LA. Pockets-ga-lore.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Sep 25, 2008 - 07:39pm PT
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RE:
"You would like Malibu Creek"
funny, I was just gonna make the comparison to
to Malibu Creek.
really neat looking climbing...
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Lydia
Trad climber
Tempe, AZ
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Sep 25, 2008 - 08:14pm PT
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That Stick Clip Fishing Incident *still* makes me giggle! Awesome photos, Brian!
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Sep 25, 2008 - 10:09pm PT
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Larry, I believe the runout on Golden Stairs is still intact.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Sep 25, 2008 - 10:15pm PT
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GS was my intro to Enchanted Tower, and that runout took me by surprise. Exciting.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Sep 25, 2008 - 10:58pm PT
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Meant to add, Thanks for the TR Brian! It is a fun place!
Couple shots of Golden Staircase...both my wife. In the first shot, she's the climber headed up to the dual black streaks. Second one shows just how steep it is as she raps off.
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Sep 26, 2008 - 01:32pm PT
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bump for the pockets, bet you had a blast. looking forward to that area.
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susan peplow
climber
www.joshuatreevacationhomes.com
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Sep 26, 2008 - 04:08pm PT
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Brian,haven't been to the taco in weeks. Nice to see something climbing related and see some friendly faces.
More pics of Lydia next time :)
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HoseBeats
climber
Albuquerque, NM
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Sep 26, 2008 - 04:35pm PT
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Sweet! That's JC on Blissed and Blessed. He hung the draws for me.
I hope you guys had a great time. The Tower is badass to have only a few hours from home.
PS- Did you guys end up with the send of Technowitch? It was your group I saw working it, ya?
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Sep 26, 2008 - 04:43pm PT
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Great stuff.
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Brian Boyd
Trad climber
Scottsdale, AZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 26, 2008 - 07:01pm PT
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We didn't get on Golden Staircase this time. MountainProject says that there are more bolts on the upper section these days, though. There were far too may amazing lines to get on, and not enough time. And, I was pumped silly in no time.
Incidentally, we finished the trip off on Prima Donna, which is a steelmonkey FA and a superb line.
No clean ascents of Technowitch, sadly. Next time, perhaps.
Susan, here are a couple more shots of Lydia. She is now, btw, Dr. Pyne. During the trip, we did get the definitive answer to the age-old question "when two Ph.D.s talk in the forest, do they make any sense?"
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Sep 26, 2008 - 08:47pm PT
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Looks like fun!
Climb on.
Zander
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