There’s quite a lot of concern in the desert climbing community about climbing on sandstone after rain – it’s a fragile rock, and gets significantly weaker when wet, when especially the smaller face features (and gear placements) might be more likely to fail. There are varying opinions regarding “how wet is wet?” and “how long do I have to leave it before I can go climbing” and here’s a range from Mountain Project:

After a bit of a wetting on Fisher Towers we decided to take the cautious approach, as befits the know-nothing visiting climber, and seek our next adventure somewhere that was super-dry. The weather looked to have completely missed Castleton Tower and closer inspection (turning over rocks etc) confirmed a situation totally devoid of any trace of H2O. Game on!

Quoting Mountain Project: Castleton Tower is probably the most famous Desert Tower in the world and was the first major tower climbed in the Moab area. Originally climbed by Kor and Ingalls, their eponymous route, a 4-pitch 5.9, is one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America.

There’s a primitive camping spot at the trailhead, though we were actually staying further down the canyon, but you can’t deny it’s got a stupendous “Rest-Room with a View”.

The approach is up a fairly well-worn path, and it’s obviously going to be a grind, but careful zigzags take the worst of the sting out of it, and you’re at the spectacular col between the tower and the rest of the escarpment in an hour.

We were slightly confused here, and traversed leftwards around the base of the tower via a bouldery mantle – I think this is the approach for the North Face but it was easy enough to traverse around to the start of the route.

Pitch 1 is wide, and the theme continues throughout! A surface coating of calcite over much of this face is a mixed blessing – it’s much more slippery than the underlying sandstone, but does offer up the occasional positive hold and even the odd tufa-like blob. Anyway, be sure to pack your #1 Chimney game!

Pitch 2 is allegedly 5.8 – LOL! Sustained and tough, but fun (especially if you are seconding)

Pitch 3 is the 5.9 crux (LOL again!) and the Mountain Project advice is spot-on. It climbs wide but protects small. Unless you have a rack of BigBros, then leave most of the rack with your mate. There are three bolts, a couple of tatty slings, and I’d supplement with a few cams including a couple of tiny ones (black – blue Totem) and if you’re crafty some tiny wires (I didn’t take these but instead lugged the useless big stuff! The crux move isn’t too far above the third bolt, but you’re bridging widely, crimping on limestone blobs and smearing on a sandstone arete. Strangely satisfying. There follows a run-out but straightforward chimney to the stance.

The final pitch is 5.7 face (more LOL) but a breeze after what you’ve just done, and then you are on one of the coolest summits going.

You can rap the route with a single 60m (with care!) and if you are luckier than us your rope won’t get stuck (I ended up re-climbing most of the crux pitch) – alternatively, with more rope, the guide suggests heading down the other side.

In any event, we were up and down in a little short of 3 hours, so not too shabby. Alongside warnings of climbers damaging the rock, they should also mention that the rock can damage climbers!

After the schlep back down, we made the short drive around to Upper Onion Creek Campground

from which we could admire our handywork

and also watch the ethereal sunset light on The Fisher Towers.

If that wasn’t enough entertainment, the film crew were also to be seen in action all around the hillside.

Settling in for the night, it was pretty clear that the Fisher Towers would have been sizzling in the sun all day, and were sure to be dry as a bone. We were debating a grapple with Titan, the biggest of the towers, but decided to get a bit more tuned into the Fisher rock with an ascent of King Fisher. However, the sight of Orion rising over Titan had me wondering if we should jump straight on it.

It turned out to be an irrelevant debate, as we were woken promptly at 7am by a massive thunder clap, and the rain followed soon after.

The Fates had spoken and we wouldn’t be climbing The Finger of Fate on Titan this trip. Check out the next post to see our Plan B!