We got the idea to try this route after reading about it's historical
significance to Zion. The Lady Mountain Cable Route was one of the first
trails in the park and consisted of nearly 2000 feet of cable strung through
iron bolts, 1400 carved steps, and at least two ladders. The trail was
also marked with yellow, red, or white highway paint to mark the way.
Often there are very large arrows painted on the rock. These methods are
widely considered unethical today in much of the United States, but given the
fact that the cable is gone, the ladders are gone, and the paint is faded, the
route beckoned to be done. Even if all these items still existed, this would be
a fabulous route, albeit more crowded.
Looking up from parking area at the Emerald Pools area, across from the Zion
Lodge, it was unclear as to just how this route navigated the southeast face with
just 2 short technical sections. It seemed improbable, but as I've learned
over the years, most peaks and towers that don't look probable have some type of
weakness that can be exploited to gain the summits(with minimal technical
efforts). This is particularly true in the Zion area, as we learned on The
Watchman, just the previous day.
After making our way up the paved trail, near a metal warning sign, we
followed a faint climbers trail up toward the base of the first cliff band. We
spotted the historic paint marking and made our way up the first set of etched
stairs onto the next level of the cliff terrace. The point of entry is
best described as the southeast point of the cliffs above, when viewed from the
parking area. From this point we made our way southwest following a
typical Zion shelf, climbing up small ledges and ramps with intermittent steps
carved into the rock and paint markings. I must admit, after a day on The
Watchman of serious route finding, it was relaxing to follow the marks.
The first area of technical climbing was a small chimney that had a slight
overhang move. This was an area where one of the original ladders was located
and without it, the short section is probably rated 5.5-5.7. There was a
new bolt at the base of this section that provided an easy anchor for the
belayer. Just above the climbing an ancient, but bomber cable bolt made for an
easy clip in. From this point we traversed west, then south, continually
climbing. A few patches of snow were on the ground near the second and last
section of technical climbing. This very short section was more to the
5.6-5.7 rating as the move is awkward, but not as exposed as the first
section. Above this, a section of the route called the staircase ascends a
narrow and exposed ramp back toward the northwest for about 100 yards.
From down below, near some horse corrals, we heard the micro phoned bantering of
some horse packer. The tiny hikers on the Emerald Pool trail below, passed below
by the hundreds. We relished in the fact that we were above all that, and had
Lady Mountain to ourselves.
After the staircase, we encountered a snow filled couloir (Mid March) that
require kicking steps for about 100 feet and post- holing up to our waist in
other spots. This stinging cold felt particularly nice on the dozens of
scratches that I had acquired on from the Yucca, Manzanita, and other prickly
desert plants. Just above the snow, there was a section that was altered
by snowmelt. Normally this section would be easily navigated, but running
water down the rock made a friction area a bit more challenging, especially with
the snow chute looming just below. My partner had fewer issues in his sticky
soled approach shoes, but my plain trail shoes did a poor job of purchase
here. Above this section we picked our way back east a bit toward the
summit ridge.
From the summit ridge, we could see the true summit just to the north of us
as we made our way around an easy path through foot deep snow and onto the
summit. Remarkable, a metal plaque is bolted on the summit with arrowheads
pointing to the various landmarks. Our partly sunny day gave way to
threatening clouds and an approaching wind storm from the west, hastened out
descent. The upper portion of the descent require intense concentration
not to trip or forget about the water laden rock. The descent down the
snow couloir proved easy, as did the staircase and the two technical
sections. We approached our vehicle just as major gusts of winds whipped
up. Lady Mountain proved to be an excellent scramble.
