south six shooter peak - 6154' - south face class 5.6
february 2014
I had been trying for days to find someone to climb with...after all, it was the middle of February and all my friends were either skiing or ice climbing. I however was itching for another desert trip since I had been stuck in the middle of Wyoming all winter. Some warm sun was just what I needed. I finally found someone while I was eating dinner in Park City, UT. A guy living in Durango agreed to a two day trip and we agreed to meet in Monticello.
So I got right back into the car and drove down as quick as I could. He was waiting at the Monticello Information Center when I arrived shortly before midnight. We decided to do South Six Shooter Peak the first day, then Eagle Plume Tower the second day. (See that trip report here)
We crashed not far outside Monticello and early the next morning we started up Highway 211 leading towards Indian Creek. Luckily I had my 4Runner because it was quite a bit of driving through deep sand and big rocks to get to the start of the route. A nice cairned trail led us up the 800 foot talus cone surrounding the tower and before we knew it, I was leading up the first pitch. An easy 5.6 pitch ending on a big ledge, then traversing right through a crack with a bolted anchor just on the other side.
The second pitch started up a 15 foot vertical hand crack, then eased to Class 4 terrain to another ledge below the summit pitch. The final pitch goes at 5.6 but my height was actually a disadvantage for this pitch since I had to make a huge mantle up on a small ledge with no pro below me. I was never able to get my feet on the ledge and there were no good hand holds above me so I ended up clipping the bolt and pulling the draw (doh). Once that was done it was a couple more easy moves to the summit. Looking east I noticed another peak about the same elevation and thought about going over to climb that one too but with a lack of bolts and any cracks for traditional protection, we decided against it. Later on we read we did the highest peak, if only by a few inches!
Two rappels got us back down to the base of the route. I decided I would try the 5.10b leftward leaning crack which is the harder alternate to the first pitch. Scott had lent me an aider and I wanted to try it out since I knew I would likely be aiding parts of Eagle Plume Tower the next day. So I started up and it was wide at first. I was able to free climb about halfway up the crack but when it started heading left about 45 degrees (and still vertical) and thinning, I started plugging cams everywhere and using the aider for me feet. I plopped atop the large ledge atop the first pitch and was lowered. Aside from spending an extra hour trying to get a stuck cam out afterwards, I felt confident using the aider and was happy with the day.
The hike down was quite nice and the views across to North Six Shooter were spectacular. We drove out and since we had a couple hours of daylight left we went to the main parking area for Indian Creek, and we did a single pitch 5.8 crack opposite the valley of The Incredible Handcrack. I don't remember the name but remember it was a full 100 foot sustained pitch! Once the sun set, we drove south, down to Comb Ridge and crashed for the night.
So I got right back into the car and drove down as quick as I could. He was waiting at the Monticello Information Center when I arrived shortly before midnight. We decided to do South Six Shooter Peak the first day, then Eagle Plume Tower the second day. (See that trip report here)
We crashed not far outside Monticello and early the next morning we started up Highway 211 leading towards Indian Creek. Luckily I had my 4Runner because it was quite a bit of driving through deep sand and big rocks to get to the start of the route. A nice cairned trail led us up the 800 foot talus cone surrounding the tower and before we knew it, I was leading up the first pitch. An easy 5.6 pitch ending on a big ledge, then traversing right through a crack with a bolted anchor just on the other side.
The second pitch started up a 15 foot vertical hand crack, then eased to Class 4 terrain to another ledge below the summit pitch. The final pitch goes at 5.6 but my height was actually a disadvantage for this pitch since I had to make a huge mantle up on a small ledge with no pro below me. I was never able to get my feet on the ledge and there were no good hand holds above me so I ended up clipping the bolt and pulling the draw (doh). Once that was done it was a couple more easy moves to the summit. Looking east I noticed another peak about the same elevation and thought about going over to climb that one too but with a lack of bolts and any cracks for traditional protection, we decided against it. Later on we read we did the highest peak, if only by a few inches!
Two rappels got us back down to the base of the route. I decided I would try the 5.10b leftward leaning crack which is the harder alternate to the first pitch. Scott had lent me an aider and I wanted to try it out since I knew I would likely be aiding parts of Eagle Plume Tower the next day. So I started up and it was wide at first. I was able to free climb about halfway up the crack but when it started heading left about 45 degrees (and still vertical) and thinning, I started plugging cams everywhere and using the aider for me feet. I plopped atop the large ledge atop the first pitch and was lowered. Aside from spending an extra hour trying to get a stuck cam out afterwards, I felt confident using the aider and was happy with the day.
The hike down was quite nice and the views across to North Six Shooter were spectacular. We drove out and since we had a couple hours of daylight left we went to the main parking area for Indian Creek, and we did a single pitch 5.8 crack opposite the valley of The Incredible Handcrack. I don't remember the name but remember it was a full 100 foot sustained pitch! Once the sun set, we drove south, down to Comb Ridge and crashed for the night.
View of North Six Shooter
The summit
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Hiking to South Six Shooter
Myself rappelling South Six Shooter
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Looking up to the summit from the big ledge atop the first pitch
The left leaning alternative to pitch 1
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