Echo Rock, Window Route. Echo Rock, a few miles southwest of the Moab airstrip, was first climbed six years ago. In 1974 Ken Wyrick, Terry McKenna and I made a new route, the north edge, on this 275-foot sandstone citadel. We started on the east flank, a lead below an eight-by-ten-foot square tunnel which runs completely through the rock. Once within this phenomenally square passage, it is apparent that the window is the product of eons of wind, rain and frost erosion. The second lead took us through the window from east to west. With a shoulder-stand we climbed a high-angle jam-crack, using chocks and pitons for aid. Near the top of the pitch, the crack split the wall in two. The tower thins and gives an engaging view to the exposed other side. A short traverse to the right from beneath the summit overhangs put us on the top of the most amazing tower structure I had ever seen. Since our ascent, the Window Route has been reclimbed four times. NCCS III, F7, A2.

Eric BjØrnstad