Cowboy Bob Goes to Zion, 5.10+

4th Pitch- 55m- 5.10-/ This pitch is the crux of the climb as well as offers the best climbing on the route (without completing the original final pitch which is considered 5.11 R/X). Follow the tall right facing corner. Eventually a wide crack appears on your right (the twin crack). This wide crack is what prompts MP.com to specify a rack of three each through #5 C4s along with several big bros. Bryan calls for a single to C4 #6 along with extra 2” to 4”. We took one C4 #4 and #6 with no #5’s or big bros and were well short on gear thus dividing the pitch in two. The issue for me was the lack of trust of my small to micro placements in the white sandstone corner. The large crack halfway up the corner and out right takes all the C4# 4’s and 5’s you are willing to bring. Although this corner and eventual roof pull is aesthetic, the rock in the corner itself is suspect. Place tons of gear up the tall corner, pulling the roof out left above and traverse white sandstone slab to a ledge up and left for a gear belay. Cowboy Bob Goes to Zion, 5.10+, 8 Pitches, First Tower of Fate, East Temple, Zion National Park, November, 2012