A New Route on Devils Tower. On September 6th John Durrance brought a party of four to Devils Tower, Wyo., to attempt the climb made a year before by Wiessner and House, and on meeting the park superintendent, Mr. Newell M. Joyner, was told that two of the party would not be allowed to climb, as permission for them had not been obtained beforehand, The afternoon of that day was spent in studying the Tower from all angles and deciding that it offered but two routes possible for legitimate climbing, the series of cracks on the S. end of the E. face used in the 1937 ascent,1 and another series not far to the left of that route, following up columns almost on the S. E. corner of the Tower. Food is obtainable at a store near the Tower, convenient camping grounds are to be found by the Ranger Station, and a pleasant camp was made. When the weather became bad we were allowed to use the basement of the Station itself, through the kindness of Mr. Joyner.

The next day the party of two worked up from the base to the bottom of the difficult part of Wiessner’s route, which consists of a long column, perhaps 100 ft. or more, the S. side of which forms a cranny against the wall of the rock ; the previous climb was made using the upper two-thirds of this crack as the key to the route, and a single piton remained in the face, halfway up the crack. Wiessner had climbed to the top of the next column to the S. of the long one, which brought him part way up the crack, then had traversed into the crack and gone up ; Durrance tried a more direct way of crossing around the base of the left column to the foot of the crack, thence straight up, but after working up between the two columns to the top of the left one. and deciding that reaching the piton would be quite difficult and the rest of the crack dangerous, that spot was abandoned and other possibilities looked into. Conditions were extremely fatiguing that day, because the sun beats against the smooth, sheer wall and columns to produce a surprising degree of heat. On a bright day the rock actually becomes uncomfortable to the touch, and in the absence of a breeze the thirst and general discomfort to the climber become very trying. Before the afternoon was over a sudden storm came up with rain and hail, and the climbing for the day had to be given up.

Early on the 8th Durrance tried what seemed the last chance, the series of clefts beginning at the S. E. corner of the rock and first going up a 30-ft, column that leans against the Tower at an angle. It was possible to get up into this, then to the top of the leaning column, and from the platform there a channel between two columns rises some 90 ft. The steepness increases near the top of this, and the space between the two pillars becomes too great to bridge, so one has to force a hold in the crack on the right side that leads up to a platform above and behind a difficult chockstone. Pitons were possible on this pitch, but places to drive them were less and less satisfactory toward the top, and the dragging of rope through Karabiners was an increasing burden. A second pitch, not quite as long or as difficult as this brought us, after passing another chockstone at the top, slightly loose, to the usual platform that the flat tops of the columns afford, and, a few feet to the right, one more short pitch put us above the steepest rock. From there it seemed best to drop down a short distance to get onto the broad grassy shelf that leads around to the N. a few hundred feet and after a short rappel to the right, where it happened that one of Wiessner s rappel pitons stood in the rock, we walked around to where two short pitches of easy climbing gave access to the top.

The mosaic effect formed by the tops of the columns throughout the surface on the summit of the Tower was observed with interest, some specimens of soil and flora were gathered, and we made the descent; from the end of the stretch of grass and bushes, at the uppermost rappel-piton left by the Wiessner party, we roped down in four rappels, the second being of considerable length ; the descent was practically straight down, with some bearing to the light to follow down the crack up which the previous climb was made. Further study of this route made it seem no less difficult than it had appeared the day before.

It should be mentioned that the park superintendent, Mr. Joyner, was of invaluable service to the party and proved himself sympathetic to climbers, having waited for us to descend in the storm on the day before the climb was actually done, and seeing to it that a chance was given for our ropes to dry that night, and in general assisting materially in making the climb a success.

Harrison Butterworth.

1 A. A. J., ii, 130.