Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up the south side of Ancient Art from its base. Impressive!
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up the south side of Ancient Art from its base. Impressive!
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Ancient Art (left) and King Fisher (right).
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Ancient Art (left) and King Fisher (right).
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Nearing the base of the climb. The route (named Stolen Chimney) is more than obvious near the center of the photo.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Nearing the base of the climb. The route (named Stolen Chimney) is more than obvious near the center of the photo.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
A party of three begins up the first pitch ahead of us.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
A party of three begins up the first pitch ahead of us.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leads up the initial difficulties: easy 5th class terrain but the conglomerated mud is not confidence inspiring to say the least.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leads up the initial difficulties: easy 5th class terrain but the conglomerated mud is not confidence inspiring to say the least.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leads up the first bolt ladder to finish off the first pitch. The bolts are very closely spaced, quite luxurious really. The typical procedure on lead is: clip a quickdraw to the bolt, pull on it, repeat. No aiders necessary. This part can be freeclimbed at about 5.10.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leads up the first bolt ladder to finish off the first pitch. The bolts are very closely spaced, quite luxurious really. The typical procedure on lead is: clip a quickdraw to the bolt, pull on it, repeat. No aiders necessary. This part can be freeclimbed at about 5.10.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
I prepare to tackle the first bolt ladder as Dominic belays from the ledge above. I ended up doing most of the moves free while following but caved and pulled on a draw once near the top. I think I could free it completely if I tried; a party of two behind us made me feel a little rushed and self-conscious.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
I prepare to tackle the first bolt ladder as Dominic belays from the ledge above. I ended up doing most of the moves free while following but caved and pulled on a draw once near the top. I think I could free it completely if I tried; a party of two behind us made me feel a little rushed and self-conscious.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic belays from the top of pitch one while the party ahead of us makes their way up the chimney.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic belays from the top of pitch one while the party ahead of us makes their way up the chimney.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic begins to lead the chimney pitch.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic begins to lead the chimney pitch.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking down from near the bottom of the chimney at the belay ledge below. Another pair of climbers are hot on our tails. Such is life on Ancient Art. At least everyone was very friendly.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking down from near the bottom of the chimney at the belay ledge below. Another pair of climbers are hot on our tails. Such is life on Ancient Art. At least everyone was very friendly.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up the chimney... nothing but pure chimney fun. I think I want to try to lead this pitch next time as I felt very comfortable with all the moves and it protects well.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up the chimney... nothing but pure chimney fun. I think I want to try to lead this pitch next time as I felt very comfortable with all the moves and it protects well.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up at the 3rd very short pitch that takes you from the top of the chimney to the start of the famous summit pitch. There isn't much room up there so we waited for the party ahead of us to summit and return to the top of the chimney before moving on. One guy can be seen leading the summit spire on the right side of the photo.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Looking up at the 3rd very short pitch that takes you from the top of the chimney to the start of the famous summit pitch. There isn't much room up there so we waited for the party ahead of us to summit and return to the top of the chimney before moving on. One guy can be seen leading the summit spire on the right side of the photo.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Hanging out, waiting for our turn on the summit. Echo and Cottontail Towers loom in the background.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Hanging out, waiting for our turn on the summit. Echo and Cottontail Towers loom in the background.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Climber atop the chimney. Castle Valley, including Castleton Tower and The Rectory, can be seen in the background.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Climber atop the chimney. Castle Valley, including Castleton Tower and The Rectory, can be seen in the background.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leading pitch three, 5.7 A0 (or 5.10+ free). This is where things start to get a little sketchy... you can place a #2 cam in a very hollow flake down low but its mostly just decoration and probably would not hold. The next available protection is a bolt ladder that begins about where Dominic is standing. The exposure on this pitch is quite noticeable and I did not feel the need to try to free climb this section (it is supposedly tougher than the first bolt ladder)... grab and pull, grab and pull.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic leading pitch three, 5.7 A0 (or 5.10+ free). This is where things start to get a little sketchy... you can place a #2 cam in a very hollow flake down low but its mostly just decoration and probably would not hold. The next available protection is a bolt ladder that begins about where Dominic is standing. The exposure on this pitch is quite noticeable and I did not feel the need to try to free climb this section (it is supposedly tougher than the first bolt ladder)... grab and pull, grab and pull.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Now the moment we've all been dreading.... er, I mean waiting for!!! Can we actually pull off the insane summit pitch? Does Dominic have the bravery and skill to lead it??? He begins to scoot across the narrow sidewalk. Soon enough we'll have our answer.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Now the moment we've all been dreading.... er, I mean waiting for!!! Can we actually pull off the insane summit pitch? Does Dominic have the bravery and skill to lead it??? He begins to scoot across the narrow sidewalk. Soon enough we'll have our answer.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
The problem of getting from the sidewalk onto the diving board is quite famous. A lot of people utilize what has come to be known as the "jump and hump" technique": jumping up and awkwardly mantling onto the diving board head on, legs on either side. That does not sound at all appealing to me. I was elated when Dominic opted instead to sneak around the diving board on the left and then pulled it off with relative ease. However... this has got to be spicy on lead because there is a lot of rope out and you'd take a huge whipper (over many hundreds of feet of air) if you slipped... yikes!!!
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
The problem of getting from the sidewalk onto the diving board is quite famous. A lot of people utilize what has come to be known as the "jump and hump" technique": jumping up and awkwardly mantling onto the diving board head on, legs on either side. That does not sound at all appealing to me. I was elated when Dominic opted instead to sneak around the diving board on the left and then pulled it off with relative ease. However... this has got to be spicy on lead because there is a lot of rope out and you'd take a huge whipper (over many hundreds of feet of air) if you slipped... yikes!!!
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Finally standing on two feet, Dominic prepares to tackle the spire itself. The crux is the first few moves above the diving board. The handholds are not positive and you have to rely heavily on friction. Its a committing sequence but is protected by pitons. The leader would take a little swing but it'd probably be no big deal (scary though!). Although a quckdraw is within reach, the dynamics of the moves are such that pulling on it does not help. Dominic takes a few minutes to evaulate the possibilities and to gather his courage before going for it.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Finally standing on two feet, Dominic prepares to tackle the spire itself. The crux is the first few moves above the diving board. The handholds are not positive and you have to rely heavily on friction. Its a committing sequence but is protected by pitons. The leader would take a little swing but it'd probably be no big deal (scary though!). Although a quckdraw is within reach, the dynamics of the moves are such that pulling on it does not help. Dominic takes a few minutes to evaulate the possibilities and to gather his courage before going for it.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic victorious on the summit!!! You actually have to climb above the top anchor which is a little freaky mostly because the vertigo is INTENSE up here. Very wierd feeling.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic victorious on the summit!!! You actually have to climb above the top anchor which is a little freaky mostly because the vertigo is INTENSE up here. Very wierd feeling.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Me on the summit... I put one foot up there and called it good. I figured I'd be terrified even following this pitch but I was wasn't; I was happy with how well I held it together actually. Going into it I knew I could do the moves. I knew it was going to be a mental game... and I had a plan. From the minute a began scooching across the sidewalk I would not let myself look down... though it was tempting and seemingly a natural reaction. I held my eyes straight ahead as I scooted methodically across. I calmly oozed around the diving board, pieced together the spire moves and executed them with relative ease, never looking down. I resisted the urge to pull on a draw near the top and climbed it all free.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Me on the summit... I put one foot up there and called it good. I figured I'd be terrified even following this pitch but I was wasn't; I was happy with how well I held it together actually. Going into it I knew I could do the moves. I knew it was going to be a mental game... and I had a plan. From the minute a began scooching across the sidewalk I would not let myself look down... though it was tempting and seemingly a natural reaction. I held my eyes straight ahead as I scooted methodically across. I calmly oozed around the diving board, pieced together the spire moves and executed them with relative ease, never looking down. I resisted the urge to pull on a draw near the top and climbed it all free.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic raps to the top of the chimney. Notice the bolt ladder in the foreground. Today we discovered one of the unforseen joys of a crowded route: rapping nearly a full 60 meters from here all the way to the ground with our single 60 meter rope. This was the norm today: whoever was waiting for the summit pitch had the job of untying your rope when you got down.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
Dominic raps to the top of the chimney. Notice the bolt ladder in the foreground. Today we discovered one of the unforseen joys of a crowded route: rapping nearly a full 60 meters from here all the way to the ground with our single 60 meter rope. This was the norm today: whoever was waiting for the summit pitch had the job of untying your rope when you got down.
Ancient Art
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
The Cobra.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
The Cobra.
Stolen Chimney (5.9 A0)
Fisher Towers, Utah
April 1, 2011
The famous Fisher Towers, just west of Moab, Utah. These incredible mud-rock towers are quite the site to behold. Today we'll be attempting the most popular route in the area... it goes to the top of the wacky spire left of center in this photo and is an ultra-classic desert tower climb!!! The spire is known as Ancient Art.