Cable Mountain, Hammer and Sickle. In September, Ron Ramonde and I did the first ascent of Cable Mountain in Zion. The route climbs the thin, diagonaling seam on the left side of the wall, summitting about 100 feet left of the cable ruins. It’s seven pitches of aid plus a few hundred feet of fourth class. We named the route Hammer and Sickle (VI A3+) for the way the cracks intersect a section of rock that looks like its name. Cable Mountain is in a scenic location with an interesting history. Ruins of the cable structure still exist on the summit. They were used by the settlers to get timber into the valley before the tunnel was dug.

Dan Stih, unaffiliated