- Edit (TBD)
Description
Historic, quality, and a bit feisty tower right in the Moab backyard. On my first trip to Moab, I remember sitting in Keith's house listening to him recount the tale of running out the crux pitch and cranking his legs in the tight squeeze while he desperately hand drilled the two lead bolts. Epic.
P1. 5.10+
Miscellaneous offwidthing up the north face of the tower. Resist the temptation to walk the ledge skipping the first 40' of fun. There are some giant blocks, but they are wedged solid. Clip a bolt at the top and head left to your anchor on a ledge. Gear to 6". 120'
P2. 5.11+
The money! Overhanging tight squeeze crux to a drilled angle. The squeeze can be easily protected with big bros or a 12" cam, just make sure you allow the rope to stay outside of the crack because next up is a face climbing traverse left under a roof. Save .3-.5" for the traverse! I was a bit confused where to belay, so I continued up the hand crack to a stance 20' higher, then lowered down to back-clean some pieces before belaying. Save 2-3" for the anchor. 100'
P3. 5.11
Face climbing pitch protected by two bolts and an optional .4". Honestly, this was by far the crux for me. I think it's graded 11-, but I got a little worked figuring out the end. Keep it together for the finish, a fall at the end would be very spicy. Belay at a single belay bolt on the summit (not the highline bolts).
Descent:
Rap off the NW face. The tat was getting pretty old. It would be good to bring some to back it up. We had a tag line, so I'm not sure the rope length required for a single rope.
Location
North facing start to the Raptor Tower.
Protection
.3-12"
Routes in Raptor Tower
- 1Prohibition Crack5.11+Trad