Esperero Canyon Towers, Mount Lemmon. From the outskirts of Tucson it is apparent that several notable towers crest the high western backbone of the immense Mount Lemmon massif. It being late February, John Rupley and I had planned a lower altitude wall, but an unseasonable heat wave turned our thoughts upward. Rupley expressed certainty that the towers on the crest above Esperero Canyon were unclimbed. A tedious backpack on the 26th took us to the last water. In the morning a rocky chapparal scramble took us to the foot of the largest and most impressive (western), though not highest, tower. With the heat-inflicted lassitude, we settled on this objective for the day. The rock was a solid granite, steep, but with such good holds that the climb went free. The second pitch had some taxing enjoyment; the summit block was an unprotected 30-foot boulder problem (F9).

Fred Beckey