Surf's Up

This route has a long list of First Ascensionists Brad Quinn established the first wide hands pitch. Then followed by Brian Smoot and Garrett Kemper had attempted a similar line and made it to the vegetated ramp below the upper half of the route. Smoot and Kemper’s line of ascent was slightly left of our first three pitches. We later found out that the two pitches above Brad Quinn’s initial hand crack were climbed by Andy Anderson, Rob Duncan, and Ari Menitove in March 2014, but they had also descended from the vegetated ramp. Ethan and I over a number of trips up the wall Established pitches 4-10.

The route is good, though there is a lot of scrambling/route finding between sections on the route and a fair bit of fist and wide climbing. It's great for something off the beaten path but there are many routes on the W Face to climb before this route, 7/10 pitches are good, the rest, is take it or leave it. The photos are of the best pitches, there's plenty of bush whacking and standard Zion adventure choss as well.

The crux is a tips to tight hand crack at pitch 8, that could be easily aided at C1.

Link to the AAJ report on the route;

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214513/The-Watchman-First-Ascent-of-Surfs-Up-and-First-Free-Ascent-of-Cradle-to-Grave

West Face of the Watchmen

The route starts left of the two boulders leaning on the middle of the wall. The photo overlay should get you there.

The first pitch is short, sandy and vegetated

2 60m ropes to rappel the route

Single grey C3, purple C3, #5 BD #6 BD, Double set Green C3 - .5 BD + 4 BD, Triple .75 BD-#3BD Extra #3 BD