| Lighthouse, 5.9-5.12a Custom Object |
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| Lighthouse, 5.9-5.12a   | 
| Page Type: Custom Object Location: Utah, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 38.63611°N / 110.04694°W | Page By: Dow Williams Created/Edited: Mar 25, 2009 / Mar 25, 2009 Object ID: 500952 Hits: 291 Loading... Page Score: 87.51% - 6 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview/Approach
The River Road climbing area of Moab refers to the incredible stretch of Utah Highway 128 that runs from Moab, up the Colorado River, to Castleton Valley. For anyone who is familiar with this stretch of road, the climbing potential is no doubt endless. If these walls were located most anywhere else in North America, they would be fully developed. But since Moab offers an endless array of climbing objectives, from Indian Creek to Canyonlands, to Castleton Valley to Fisher Towers, only a handful of routes have been developed along River Road.
The walls on both sides of the Colorado River themselves are quite towering, however, there are two distinctive towers located at the big bend in the river to the southeast, Dolomite and Lighthouse Towers. Dolomite resembles a “mini Castleton” on the left. Lighthouse narrows towards the summit as though the very summit would resemble the rotating light of a lighthouse. Only three routes as of 2009 have been established on Lighthouse: Iron Maiden, 5.12a R, four to five pitches; Poseidon Adventure, 5.9+, four to five pitches and Lonely Vigil, 5.10a, four pitches. The position of Lighthouse and Dolomite Towers overlooking the big bend in the Colorado River makes for a fantastic scenic adventure, albeit, not near the remote experience that Canyonlands National Park, Fisher Towers or Castleton Valley objectives offer.
The first published ascent of Lighthouse Tower was made by Ed Webster and Jeff Achey in 1984 via the Poseidon Adventure route, 5.9+, on the river side of the tower (west). Lonely Vigil is the only route on the backside (east) of the Lighthouse Tower. It requires scrambling or climbing up a short 5.7 section of rock to reach the small col on the south end of the tower. Ed Webster and Jeff Achey put Lonely Vigil up in 1985. In my opinion this is an underrated objective and makes for a fantastic day of climbing when combined with cragging a River Road dihedrals. Back on the river side of Lighthouse, Iron Maiden is a much more serious adventure at 5.12aR. Webster and Achey established this route the same year as Lonely Vigil.
Head out on River Road (Utah 128) from Moab and park at a turn off on the left side right at the big bend in the Colorado River (7.5 miles). Lighthouse is the smaller of the two towers up and to the right overlooking the bend. Locate a decent trail that makes switchbacks up to the base of the tower. In the morning you get good shade on this approach and therefore the sun hits the same area in the afternoon. Climb or solo up to the notch on the right side for Lonely Vigil. The other two routes start at the base of the tower on the river side. Route Description(s)The Routes are Listed Left to Right as you Face the River Side of the Tower
Poseidon Adventure- 4-5 Pitches- 5.9+/
Iron Maiden- 3-4 Pitches- 5.12aR/
Backside of Lighthouse
Lonely Vigil- 4 Pitches- 5.10a/ Lonely Vigil is the only route on the backside (east) of the Lighthouse Tower. It requires scrambling or climbing up a short 5.7 section of rock to reach the small col on the south end of the tower. The first two pitches up the east face are really good and long 5.10a pitches that contain the majority of the climbing up the tower. The stem box in the 2nd pitch offers one of the better pitches of tower climbing for the grade. The 3rd and 4th pitches are short mud pitches reminiscent of climbing the last two pitches of Ancient Art at the Fisher Towers, kind of run out and scary, but not hard. The summit is just a tad larger than the summit of Ancient Art. The main difference is that there is not an anchor on the summit of Lighthouse Tower, requiring you to down climb back to the fixed anchors at the top of the third pitch. This is a great route to combine with cragging at River Road Dihedrals to make for a full day.DescentQuite a bit of misinformation out there. Very simple though really. Take a single rappel back to the top of pitch two of Lonely Vigil and then a double rope rappel takes you to the ground. There is also a rap station above the notch, just below the summit.You will need double 60m ropes to rap these routes. Stewart Green has a good description of gear needed for each route in “Rock Climbing Utah” put out by Falcon Guide.External LinksCanyonlands National Park
Island in the Sky
Moab
>Supertopo, Chris provides a Great Topo as Always
Nice VRBO for Rent in south Moab Tell them Dow sent you for a discounted climbers rate.
DowClimbing.Com
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